Jon Favreau & Dave Filoni holding out hope for greatest 'Star Wars' cameo ever: George Lucas

Whether in the latest movie trilogy or on the small screen, Star Wars has been attracting some pretty epic star power to round out its latest constellation of characters. From Benicio del Toro’s tech-savvy thief in The Last Jedi to filmmaking titan Werner Herzog’s sinister role as The Client in The Mandalorian, fans are all but conditioned to expect the unexpected when it comes to casting.

It’s tough to describe some of the Disney+ series’ more epic walk-ons (like Mark Hamill’s return as Luke Skywalker in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian) as “cameos.” But viewers still get much the same thrill whenever the Star Wars universe attracts a fresh big name.

As it turns out, viewers aren’t the only ones: In a recent video interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mando creator Jon Favreau and do-it-all Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni confessed they already know which person they’d pick to send the cameo wow factor into hyperdrive — and we’ve gotta admit, if their guy ever does agree to it, the galaxy would never be the same.

“George Lucas,” Favreau shared, with more than a hint of true Jedi conviction. “That would be the best cameo.” But, interjected Filoni, “he’d have to be the son of Baron Papanoida or something like that. I don’t know; I wouldn’t even speculate on that. It’s hard for me to imagine what that day would be like.”

Not that we don’t think Filoni’s joking about the whole Baron Papanoida thing. But, for what it’s worth, Baron Notluwiski Papanoida was a background character who was first introduced in Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. The joke, if there is one, is that Papanoida was played in the movie 17 years ago — under heavy makeup, of course — by none other than Lucas himself.

Since The Mandalorian launched a whole new era of small-screen Star Wars projects at Disney+, Lucas has been content to remain off camera, showing up on the set only for a couple of well-publicized visits; the kind of buzz-worthy drop-ins that kept the creative joystick firmly in the hands of the show’s present-day team.

But the fan in us sees that as a signal that he’s at least on board with how his Lucasfilm progeny are shaping his original creation…not to mention he’s already suited up for a Star Wars cameo once before. Favreau sounds optimistic about his chances: “He’s been on the set when Dave’s been directing,” he pointed out. “I love watching Dave and George together.”

Lucas cameos aside, Favreau and Filoni say the Force has definitely been with the rest of the present-day Star Wars TV cast, including those who smuggled their way into the galaxy far, far away without a conventional casting call. “I tell you, we’ve been pretty lucky with who we’ve had,” Favreau said. “We’ve had everyone from Mark Hamill to Werner Herzog,” and, prompted by Filoni, “Amy Sedaris…but she’s just Star Wars fabric now. Like, [at first] she had no idea — and now she’s in it, which I love.”

Favreau and Filoni are both currently hard at work prepping The Mandalorian for its Season 3 premiere sometime next spring at Disney+, as well as the later 2023 debut of spinoff series Ahsoka starring Rosario Dawson. Fans won’t have to wait that long to get their next small-screen Star Wars fix, though: Diego Luna is set to reprise his role as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s do-or-die Rebel spy when Season 1 of Andor premieres Sept. 21 at Disney+.

If you’re looking for more sci-fi adventure, check out Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Warehouse 13, Eureka, SYFY's Resident Alien, Sliders, Intergalactic and more on Peacock now.