While we didn’t exactly need more proof about Dave Filoni being the ultimate Star Wars geek, Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow has recently revealed that the celebrated producer of The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett has served as something of a lore fact-checker for the upcoming Disney Plus series starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen.
The Book of Boba Fett star Jennifer Beals called Filoni a “walking encyclopedia, and he encouraged the Obi-Wan Kenobi creators to add Darth Vader to the narrative, so he’s a pretty good resource.
Chow has explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly how she respected the established Star Wars lore and how Filoni helped her out in that regard by being a “touchstone.”
“And I think for me having gone through The Mandalorian — and thank goodness I did — that was really my introduction to the responsibility to this universe and how to tell stories in this galaxy. So, it was so helpful having gone through that already before taking this one on. But there really is a responsibility to it. You want to respect the canon, but you also want to have your voice in the canon, and you don’t want to just retread or do the same thing again.
So there were definitely people that were extremely helpful. Lucasfilm has a great team that helps support that. But I would say Dave Filoni was very pivotal for me, both in terms of The Mandalorian and in terms of the Star Wars of it all, as well as Jon Favreau. But Dave also was a touchstone, and remains a touchstone for me for this series. Anytime I have a question about canon, I go to him.”
Filoni is currently busy with the first season of Ahsoka and the third season of The Mandalorian, but it’s still interesting to see how between the two series, he and Jon Favreau have essentially taken over Star Wars after Disney’s middling attempt at the sequel trilogy. And while McGregor’s solo outing might not have been their brainchild, per se, the duo’s influence will still be felt if all of these interviews and reports are to be believed.
Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on May 27 on Disney Plus.