‘The Mandalorian’ Director Rick Famuyiwa Discusses the Evolution of the Western Influence For Season 3, Production of Season 4
In a podcast interview published by Deadline, The Mandalorian director and executive producer Rick Famuyiwa talked about the Western influence on the series and how it evolved with season 3, the episode he submitted for Emmy consideration, and the status of season 4’s development.
Rick Famuyiwa has helmed six episodes of The Mandalorian so far, making him the show’s most credited director. While Famuyiwa was onboard the show since season 1, he took on a larger role in season 3 as an executive producer, alongside the likes of Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, and Kathleen Kennedy.
While season 3 of the show doesn’t depart from the Western influences that have inspired the show from its inception, Famuyiwa talks about how it went beyond the “lone gunslinger” theme to focus more on the Mandalorians and the communal/societal themes that can also be found in later Western films:
“Much like with the West, as it started to grow and the stories started to go beyond rugged individualism to ‘how do we make a society work?’ there was an evolution in Western storytelling too around that because obviously, things had to change…
This season, it was a natural evolution in that way in that you have this group of people that have a legendary background that we don’t really know much about, except through our limited interactions, first through Din Djarin, then as he started to meet other Mandalorians, like Bo-Katan. I think we still stuck to that inspiration of the Western. But also, just the evolution of [Western films] and the way that classic Westerns evolved, we took [The Mandalorian] a similar kind of way.”
Disney Plus has submitted The Mandalorian for consideration in all categories, including Directing for a Drama Series for all six directors in the third season. But in Famuyiwa’s case, since he directed three episodes, they submitted him for his work on Chapter 23 “The Spies”; speaking to Deadline, he explained the reasoning behind that decision:
“It was an episode where we started to see these groups we heard a lot about come together and how Bo-Katan as a character started to emerge in many ways as the voice of these people. But also, we get a sense of her as a character and what she lost, and what she feels she needs to regain… It culminates in the Mandalorians back on their planet, but then, in the effort to fight for it, they lose one of their own…
It had everything: from humor, to pathos, to tragedy, to action. That, for me, represented a lot of what the season was.”
Lastly, the director was asked about season 4 of The Mandalorian and whether or not fans can expect to see it anytime soon. There weren’t any concrete details given, however, his comments do signify that it is in active development.
“A lot of this stuff has to be thought through, built, conceived, and prepped… That work takes time. That work has to get done… Jon [Favreau] has written the scripts. He’s excited about continuing to tell stories in the world. When and how that happens, considering everything, we’ll see…
I felt like this season was a nice culmination, but I’m excited about season 4. It’s certainly coming, I just don’t know exactly when.”
With the ongoing writers’ strike, it was reported that production of The Mandalorian season 4 may face delays. The series was in the early stages of pre-production when the stoppage was announced. In the meantime, there are also several other live-action TV series in development and soon to be released, including Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, The Acolyte, and the second season of Andor, which is still in production.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
