After being revived as a Disney Plus exclusive, Star Wars: The Clone Wars went on to become one of the most acclaimed projects of the entire Disney era, with the finale in particular being cited as one of the finest stories set in a galaxy far, far away in a long time. With Disney and Lucasfilm keen to keep milking one of their most lucrative cash-cows for as long as possible, many fans have been hoping that the hit animated show could eventually return down the line and adapt more of the expanded universe’s canon.
However, Dave Filoni has since moved on to become embedded in the very fabric of the live-action arm of Star Wars by serving as a director and executive producer on The Mandalorian, and it isn’t exactly a coincidence that the second season will be diving further into the franchise’s back catalogue given his heavy involvement and encyclopedic knowledge of even the smallest pieces of trivia.
We’ve already heard that Filoni could be spearheading an MCU-style Star Wars universe for Disney Plus, which makes sense given that The Mandalorian is set to act as the driving force behind the next generation of adventures, with Filoni’s extensive knowledge of the source material making him the ideal candidate for such a role.
However, this comes with the caveat that The Clone Wars might well and truly be over for good, and the 46 year-old admitted in a recent interview that he’s more focused on looking forward than returning to the well.
“Personally for me, probably not. I have a lot of things I’m excited about that we’re doing looking forward. I think it’s hard because I so appreciate the fan support, and I appreciate just how excited everybody was they we were back. I understand them wanting more and more episodes. We’re really thankful that we got to finish it. But I also think creatively, you always want to move forward. I think you could get stuck in a situation where suddenly we’re doing all these stories again, but where is the ending? I don’t want that feeling. I want you to feel like this had a purpose, and it rounded it out, and let’s find something new that’s exciting.”
You can completely understand Filoni’s position, because not only did The Clone Wars draw a definitive line under the show’s run, but he’s also being positioned as one of the key creative minds behind the entire Star Wars franchise, and that affords almost unlimited scope in exploring new stories instead of simply doing the same thing over and over again just because the fans want to see more.