A female-centric Star Wars TV show set in a new era of the franchise timeline is in development at Disney+. Lucasfilm plans on continuing to produce new Star Wars movies, but the next feature film won't hit theaters until December 2022. In the interim, the studio is giving the franchise a huge presence in live-action TV, with a bevy of Star Wars shows in the pipeline for Disney+. The Mandalorian ranks as the crown jewel of that slate (and already has a third season in the works), and there are also shows centering around Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi planned.
Three shows means Lucasfilm will be plenty busy over the next few years, but they aren't stopping there. Last fall, former Disney CEO Bob Iger said there were more Star Wars TV shows being developed for Disney+, outside of the main trio viewers already knew about. Now, months later, fans have some info about what one of those will entail.
According to Variety, Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland is spearheading a new, female-centric Star Wars show for Disney+. She is writing the scripts and serving as showrunner. In typical Lucasfilm fashion, plot details are virtually nonexistent, but this series will be set "in a different part of the Star Wars timeline than other projects." Screen Rant reached out to Disney for comment.
Back in February, Lucasfilm unveiled the new High Republic publishing initiative, with stories set 200 years before The Phantom Menace. However, it's already been confirmed the High Republic books will not overlap with Star Wars movies and TV shows in development. Based on that, it would appear Headland's series won't be set in the High Republic, instead exploring other uncharted territory in the Star Wars galaxy. That may be disappointing for those who enjoy seeing all mediums of Star Wars canon connect, but Headland should benefit from having maximum creative freedom to tell the story she wants in an era that's never been covered before. With the Star Wars books looking towards the past, perhaps Headland's show will be set in the future, centuries after The Rise of Skywalker. Another possibility is the new show will go even further back in time and finally dive into the Old Republic. Regardless, it's great to see Lucasfilm be committed to getting outside the confines of the Skywalker saga.
With the exception of The Mandalorian (which, again, is cruising towards a third season), Disney+'s Star Wars shows have unfortunately been plagued with problems. The Rogue One prequel was nearly cancelled before Tony Gilroy came in to steer the ship, and the Obi-Wan show is being rewritten. Hopefully, Headland's show runs smoothly and doesn't encounter any setbacks that Star Wars has unfortunately become infamous for the past handful of years. This project has a lot of potential, and it'd be nice to see it come to Disney+ without a hitch.
Source: Variety