All the updates for Disney’s live-action Star Wars shows

Dave Filoni just got rewarded for the success of Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and other Star Wars shows with a promotion to chief creative officer of Lucasfilm. According to details in a new Vanity Fair interview, he’ll work alongside head developer Carrie Beck, reporting directly to Kathleen Kennedy, and together, the duo will determine the direction of Star Wars overall — not just the streaming shows.

Filoni told Vanity Fair he’ll now be involved “at the inception” of everything that happens in the franchise. He’ll keep his executive vice president title and his director role on the New Republic film that connects to the stories of Ahsoka, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett. For many fans, that’ll be a thrilling prospect — I know I’m not the only one who hopes to see Grand Admiral Thrawn on the big screen.

Disney provided some more details about its second live-action Star Wars series, a Rogue One prequel spinoff, during its Disney+ announcement yesterday. Alan Tudyk will be joining the cast of the series to reprise his role of the droid K-2SO. The company also revealed a planned 2021 release for the series, which goes into production later this year.

The new series is being billed as “a rousing spy thriller will explore tales filled with espionage and daring missions to restore hope to a galaxy in the grip of a ruthless Empire.” Stephen Schiff (who previously worked on acclaimed spy thriller The Americans) will serve as showrunner and executive producer.

Disney announced today that it is developing a second live-action Star Wars show for its upcoming, newly named streaming video platform, Disney+, with actor Diego Luna reprising the role of Rebel Alliance spy Cassian Andor.

Andor was a pivotal character in the 2016 standalone Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He played one of the Rebel Alliance spies who helped transmit the plans for the Death Star to his compatriots before perishing on the planet Scarif, setting up the events of A New Hope. In the announcement, Luna noted that he’s looking forward to reprising the character, and that “this new exciting format will give us a chance to explore this character more deeply.” Disney also confirmed that it’s developing a series based on Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Tom Hiddleston set to reprise his role.

Industrial Light & Magic, the company that invented modern cinematic visual effects with its work on the original Star Wars trilogy, is embracing television with a new division it is naming ILM TV. According to a press release, the new group’s focus will be on episodic and streaming television series, and it already has two projects lined up: the second season of Syfy’s Krypton, and Jon Favreau’s upcoming live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian.

“We are seeing a real convergence in our creative approach used on films and in our immersive entertainment division ILMxLAB,” ILM head Rob Bredow said in a press release, “and now we’re proud to be able to offer these ILM innovations in a way that’s suitable for streaming and television work to creatives around the world.”

Jon Favreau’s live-action Star Wars TV show for Disney’s streaming service finally has a name and a plot: The Mandalorian. In a post to his official Facebook and Instagram pages, Favreau posted a brief synopsis that offers a glimpse into what we might expect for the show, which will follow a Mandalorian gunslinger in the years following Return of the Jedi.

There have been rumors in recent weeks that the show would be about the warrior culture exemplified by bounty hunters like Jango and Boba Fett. Favreau’s synopsis confirms that the show will follow one such renegade — but not, it seems Boba Fett.

Details on Disney’s forthcoming streaming platform are thin. We know it’ll have Star Wars and Marvel films and shows (although it appears that the original films won’t be exclusive to the service), it’s expected to launch in 2019, and it’ll be “substantially cheaper” than Netflix. A New York Times profile of the executive in charge of the platform sheds a bit more light, hinting that the company will put some incredible resources into its productions.

Former film marketing chief Ricky Strauss will lead the service as its president of content and marketing. He has long overseen Disney’s larger marketing efforts, promoting movies like Black Panther and The Force Awakens.

Solo: A Star Wars Story premiered last night, and on the red carpet, Iron Man director Jon Favreau revealed a bit of news about his upcoming live-action Star Wars show: it’ll be set in the period between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

Favreau spoke with Nerdist senior editor Dan Casey on the red carpet, telling him that the show will specifically be set three years after the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, and that it’ll feature new characters utilizing the same sort of motion capture technology that he used in his live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book. He also indicated that half of the show has already been written.

Iron Man and Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau has been tapped to write and produce an upcoming live-action Star Wars show, which will debut on Disney’s still-unnamed streaming video platform, Lucasfilm announced today.

In November, Disney announced two projects: a new trilogy of films written by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, and a live-action show for the company’s upcoming streaming service, which is expected to launch sometime next year. Disney also announced last month that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are developing their own series of films. In addition to a Star Wars show, Disney has also said that the streaming service will have other original content from its various holdings, including a live-action Marvel show.