Jon Favreau Just Gave Me Permission To Take My Kids to the Grogu Movie

I have twin five-year-olds, and last year, when they were four, I tried to give them their first Star Wars experience. We were on vacation at a (very) little house by a beach, made hot dogs, and popped on A New Hope, ready to blow their minds. But, to put it mildly, they were pretty distracted. We haven’t tried again since, but the interest is still there. One of my children will excitedly (and incorrectly) yell, “Star Weres” every time he spies even the title font. They’re ready, man, and what better way to prove it than to have their real first experience in a galaxy far, far away be on the big screen.

My kids have had plenty of experiences with movie theaters at this point. They saw Dog Man for their first movie theater trip and had an absolute blast. Then, they saw Elio, and, look, it was fine. It got really intense at one point and made one of my kids cry, and they don’t remember it very much. More recently, they saw the new Mario Galaxy movie, and that’s all they’ve cared about ever since. They just loved it. They’re good with theaters, so if I mix that with Star Wars, it’ll be a surefire hit. Right?

I could wait for a re-release of some kind. It’s safe to say that Episode IV will find itself on screens again next year for its fiftieth anniversary. But The Mandalorian and Grogu is releasing this next month, and, dammit, who better than to get them absolutely hooked than that lil cute green guy? Surprisingly, my wife was uncertain when I brought this up to her, but not for the reason I expected. There were no concerns about whether it would be too intense, but whether or not it would be a good entryway for these new fans.

There were three seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney+ before it pivoted to the big screen. I liked it a lot, and even I became overwhelmed at one point by all the Star Wars getting released and just fell off. I never even watched season 3! But I know, as an adult, I’ll probably be fine understanding it. My wife will as well. As I told her, they aren’t going to put one of their biggest merchandise money makers onscreen without making it accessible. And now, Jon Favreau just confirmed my suspicions.

“We wanted to introduce these characters to a new audience,” the director recently said at CCXP, according to THR. “But for the fans who have been there forever, like [this crowd], we wanted to evolve the relationship. It’s not no longer about the Mandalorian rescuing Grogu. Now Grogu has leveled up. He’s a Mandalorian apprentice. He’s studying under Luke Skywalker. He’s coming into his own, and now he’s discovering and unleashing his abilities.” How much money you wanna bet that he talks at least a little by the end of the film?

At the end of the day, even when it was just called Star Wars, Episode IV throws you into the deep end of the pool. They’re talking about this galaxy like it’s real and just expecting you to catch up, and it works. My hope is that The Mandalorian and Grogu will do the same for my kids, and not ruin the special effects of the original films. But they saw Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla this weekend, and all the “that’s just a costume” talk went out the window pretty fast, so I bet I’ll be alright.