The Mandalorian is easily the most popular show on Disney+. The appeal of a live action Star Wars TV show, even one whose first season run-time will barely cross the four-hour mark, can not be understated. No matter how much fans fell in love with Clone Wars, or took to Rebels with fondness, there’s nothing like a live action series with special effects and cinematography to rival the films. Mando’s second season has already been confirmed as have additional shows based on Obi Wan Kenobi and Cassian Andor. There’s also a rumored continuation of Solo’s storyline in TV-form, since risking another movie bombing in theathers is probably not in Disney’s best interests. Considering Mandalorian’s first season cost Disney roughly 120mm (half the production cost of a Star Wars movie, not counting the extra money needed for marketing), it makes more financial sense to move the majority of Lucasfilm’s projects to Disney+. So who else might get a show? Who else has a story interesting enough to adapt into eight-episode chunks? Here are a few names for Disney and Lucasfilm to consider…
Boba Fett
The most famous bounty hunter in Star Wars history has had a rough go of it lately. Originally he was slated to receive a stand-alone film but, after Solo laid an egg last year, nearly every film in development was either put on hold or outright scrapped. Enough work was done on a Boba Fett movie that’s it’s reasonable to think it could be expanded and adapted into a series. The success of The Mandalorian might make a Fett show redundant, but no one ever accused Hollywood of milking an idea to the point of exhaustion. Besides, Fett’s the OG and there are a number of directions to take his story.
Darth Bane
One of more untapped gold mines of the Star Wars mythology concerns the Knights of the Old Republic and the era that long-preceded the timeline of the films. Darth Bane was the first Dark Lord of the Sith, sole survivor of the near-extermination of the dark religion at the hands of the Jedi, and the progenitor of the Sith “Rule of Two” that ensured the survival of their people all the way to the era of Darth Sideous and Darth Vader who succeeded in destroying the Jedi. There is a wealth of material to mine and though almost all of it has been relegated to “Legends” status, that only means current Star Wars writers have the luxury of picking and choosing what parts of the story they want to adapt and bring into canon. A Darth Bane show could be every bit as epic as Game of Thrones and would make the small “space cowboy goes on weekly adventure” feel of The Mandalorian look like the minor leagues in comparison.
The Podrace Gang
Star Wars fans who, like me, grew up with the Original Trilogy, ended up receiving the Prequel Trilogy a bit more coldly than those who came along a generation later. It’s important for my generation to remember that Star Wars is a big playground where a lot of different stories and styles can coexist and suit the needs of different audiences. In that respect a show set during the prequel era that focuses on Podracing might not seem like the most appealing show to a fan of, say, thirty-five years old, but not every Star Wars show needs to appeal to someone in his or her thirties.
Imagine a show with a diverse case of characters, an emphasis on high speed racing, and all the feuds and drama that go with it. No Jedi. No lightsabers. No Storm Troopers or Star Destroyers. Think of it like the story mode of F-Zero GX or a tame, toned-down version of The Fast and The Furious (the early movies). George Lucas wrote the podrace sequence into Episode I to scratch a long-time itch for his love of hotrods and drag racing. A kids-oriented show with a similar feel wouldn’t command as big of a budget as something focused on the Knights of the Old Republic and it might succeed in giving the younger fans something to enjoy on Disney+.
Rose Tico
And speaking of controversy, it’s a shame what some of the more toxic elements of the Star Wars fanbase did to Kelly Marie Tran. She played her part well in The Last Jedi but was sort of forced, very unfairly, into being the Jar Jar Binks of the sequel trilogy. Her character needs some redemption. A show set during the era of the Resistance, but told from the perspective of a young, earnest, low-level solider would be a fun change of pace from other shows that tend only to focus on the big players and heroes. If Hawkeye can get a Disney+ show then so can Rose Tico.
Rogue Squadron
Late-90’s/Early-00’s Star Wars fans lived for the Rogue Squadron games on the N64 and Gamecube. The first game set its story between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, as Luke and Wedge led the crack squad of X-Wing pilots through various missions against the Empire. The sequel stretched across the whole original trilogy, with some missions playing out alongside scenes from the movies and others set in between the filmed stories. Rogue Squadron was later developed into a popular series of novels, giving plenty of source material to mine for a limited-run show. Much like the Rose Tico show, a Rogue Squadron series could focus on a minor character—not Luke or Wedge—and show some of the highlights of the original trilogy from the perspective of someone who wasn’t in the front lines of the fight.
Ahsoka Tano
Perhaps no non-movie character has broken into the collective consciousness of Star Wars fandom like the one-time apprentice of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. Tano’s story, as it played out in the Clone Wars TV show, is arguably the series’ greatest plotline, tracking the originally-devout Jedi down a path of disenchantment and solitude. Her reappearance in Rebels was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one, and though she seemed to have found closure as a character, there is still plenty of story potential and several years of activity to develop into a short-run series.
The key, however, and the way to really sell fans on an Ahsoka show, would be to make it live action. Seeing a fully-realized version of the beloved force warrior would bring hype levels to the maximum. Even the vague rumor by JJ Abrams that Tano might appear in The Rise of Skywalker sent fans into a frenzy. Imagine a whole live action show starring her!
No matter what Disney does, and despite some hand-wringing by a minority-segment of the fanbase, it’s clear that Star Wars still has a lot of stories left to be told. It’s also clear that Disney+ is the best avenue to tell them. Hopefully we’ll learn something soon about when we can expect to see Obi Wan or Cassian Andor, and maybe one of the characters or ideas on this list will be right behind them as well.
We’ll find out soon enough.
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