Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu wants to make a Rose Tico show for Disney+. Kelly Marie Tran made her debut as Rose in the second installment in Disney and Lucasfilm's sequel trilogy, Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The movie followed the Resistance mechanic on a side-quest with Finn (John Boyega) that not only facilitated Finn's arc in the film, but also set the stage for the plucky Rose to become a lead in the followup (similar to how The Empire Strikes Back set up Lando Calrissian to play a larger part in Return of the Jedi). Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way.
Instead, The Last Jedi's sequel, The Rise of Skywalker, leaves Rose behind at the Resistance's base to study star destroyer specs while Finn and the others head out on their latest adventure. In fact, Rose only has 76 seconds of screen time in The Rise of Skywalker total. Fans have since taken to Twitter to voice their disapproval of how the movie sidelines Rose, starting the hashtag #RoseTicoDeservedBetter to express their frustration. Now, a prominent filmmaker is also calling for #JusticeforRose.
Chu, who is best known for helming Crazy Rich Asians and his work on the Step Up franchise, has joined the cause by tweeting his support for #RoseTicoDeservedBetter. Not only that, he's expressed a desire to give the character her own show on the Disney+ streaming service, saying "Put me in coach. Let's make this series happen".
A Disney+ series would be a great way to give Rose the screen time she deserves. It would also fall in line with Lucasfilm and Disney's approach to their live-action Star Wars shows so far, which is to focus on the stories of individual characters. For example, The Mandalorian (which dropped its season 1 finale today) follows the adventures of the titular bounty hunter after he unexpectedly becomes a surrogate father to his would-be target aka. Baby Yoda. Similarly, the upcoming Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series will focus on their leads' experiences fighting for the Rebel Alliance pre-Rogue One and living in exile on Tatooine, respectively. A Rose show could follow in their footsteps and highlight her days working for the Resistance in-between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, or perhaps even after The Rise of Skywalker.
The Rise of Skywalker's sidelining of Rose is all the more disappointing because of the response to the character in The Last Jedi. Tran was actually harassed off social media in 2018 when her Instagram account was flooded with sexist, racist, and otherwise terrible comments from those who took their dislike for both Rose and The Last Jedi too far. As a result, her reduced role in The Rise of Skywalker comes across as an attempt to acquiesce those complaints (whether that was the intention or not). By giving her a spinoff series (one from an Asian-American director, no less), Disney and Lucasfilm would not only counter that narrative, but have the makings of what sounds like an otherwise fun Disney+ show on their hands. And while there are other ways of getting #JusticeforRose, this one would actually allow Tran to play the character again, too.
Source: Jon M. Chu