Last week, rumors began swirling that James Mangold and Robert Rodriguez will be directing episodes of The Mandalorian season two. But they were just that, rumors. However, the situation escalated when director Ron Howard tweeted out a report, which seemingly confirmed the news.
The Mandalorian Season 2: James Mangold, Robert Rodriguez to Direct Parts, Bryce Dallas Howard to Return – IGN https://t.co/AdSVCik3Oo
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) February 29, 2020
Considering Howard directed Solo: A Star War Story and his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard is directly involved in The Mandalorian production, it’d be fair for fans assume that he’s a credible source of information. If someone would be in the know, it’s Ron Howard. There was just one small problem. Howard wasn’t sharing his inside knowledge. He was simply linking an IGN report, which was not accurate and led Mangold to debunk the news.
Hey Ron. I'm so pleased if it's true about Bryce directing another part of Mandalorian, but I can tell you its not true about me. Not doing it, never discussed it. And I suggest fans should look at who's "reporting" this & make a note that these sites present conjecture as fact.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) February 29, 2020
Fortunately, Howard was quick to apologize and explain his blunder.
Hey James. Apologies. I saw my daughter’s name, went into stage-dad mode and retweeted w/out even reading. Dumb. This is why @BryceDHoward never tells me anything. But I loved #FordVFerrari & I’m looking forward to the Christmas Special!
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) March 1, 2020
What’s this about a Christmas Special? Following Mangold’s debunking, director Taika Waititi decided to jump in and have a little fun with the confusion.
Don't lie, James. Be proud of your Mangoldorian Christmas Special.
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) February 29, 2020
In the end, Mangold had no hard feelings and completely understood why Howard tweeted the report.
I knew you were being a proud Pappa, Ron! All good! But you have a lot of followers and my timeline was going crazy so i felt like i should says something. At minimum to protect the integrity of my Xmas special…
— Mangold (@mang0ld) March 1, 2020
As for why Mangold’s name suddenly got attached to The Mandalorian, there are two possible reasons. Variety reports that Mangold is close to replacing Steven Spielberg as the director of Indiana Jones 5. If that reporting is accurate, then it would make sense if Mangold was already working with Lucasfilm on something like an episode of The Mandalorian.
However, Mangold’s relationship with both Lucasfilm and the bounty hunting series goes back a bit further. In 2018, the director was reportedly attached to a standalone Boba Fett film, which was scuttled after Solo underperformed at the box office and Disney began shelving prequel films. But what fans didn’t know is that those projects were being repurposed into original series for Disney’s fledgling streaming series. The Boba Fett movie became The Mandalorian, and the Obi-Wan movie became, well, whatever the title of Ewan MacGregor’s Obi-Wan series will be.
Considering Mangold’s previous attachment to Boba Fett, having him helm an episode of the bounty hunting series that sprang from the aborted film tracks. Too bad it’s just a rumor. For now.
