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‘Star Wars’ Spin-Off Series ‘Ahsoka’ and ‘Rangers of the New Republic’ Among New Set of Content Offered by Disney

By Anusha Sundar

The Walt Disney Company announced several new spinoff in the Star Wars franchise on Thursday.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic (two new spin-off television series set in The Mandalorian timeline), Obi-Wan Kenobi (a new series for which Hayden Christensen will be returning as Darth Vader), and Rogue Squadron (a feature film that will be helmed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins) were among some of the titles announced by the entertainment giant.

The company also announced that in the next few years, it will release roughly about 10 Marvel series, 10 Star Wars series, 15 Disney live-action films, and the Pixar series on Disney+. The announcements were made during the virtual Investor Day 2020 meet held on Thursday.

Streaming app Disney+ will offer two spin-off television series set in The Mandalorian timeline. The Mandalorian (2019) starts five years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), and was created by Jon Favreau for Disney+. It is the first live-action series of the franchise. The Investor Day meet announced two series set in the same timeline of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka starring Rosario Dawson, who will be reprising her role as the title character, and Rangers of the New Republic. More details are awaited on the series. Both the shows will be executive produced by Favreau and Dave Filoni.

According to The Verge, both the shows will crossover with future seasons of The Mandalorian and culminate in a “climactic story event”.

Disney announced that Hayden Christensen will be returning as Darth Vader for its original series Obi-Wan Kenobi that will stream on Disney+. The series will be beginning 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith (2005). Christensen will be reprising his role as Darth Vader after he played it in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith, alongside Ewan McGregor, who will be starring in the title role in the original series Obi-Wan Kenobi. McGregor also played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

In 2022, Disney+ will star streaming Andor series starring Mexican actor Diego Luna. The new live-action series will see Luna reprising his role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) as Cassian Andor. Disney also released a teaser of the Andor series, along with a few behind-the-scenes making of the creation.

Disney+ is planning to bring a new Star Wars series called The Acolyte. According to Disney, the show will be brought by the creator of Russian Doll Leslye Headland and is touted to be a mystery thriller. As per the franchise, the series will take into “a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era”.

Disney announced a new film from the Star Wars franchise which will be helmed by filmmaker Taika Waititi and produced by Lucasfilm. The New Zealand filmmaker has already directed one episode of the series The Mandalorian.

Patty Jenkins is set to direct the next feature film of Star Wars, that will be titled Rogue Squadron. As per the franchise, the story will be based on a “new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy”. In a video posted by Jenkins, she said that her best memories were from seeing her father’s squadron take off. Saying that her father’s demise while he was in service has ignited the desire of her dream as a filmmaker to make fighter pilot film, Jenkins said, “When the perfect story arrived in combination with another true love of mine, the incomparable world of Star Wars, I knew I’d finally found my next film. I’m extremely honored and excited to take it on, and grateful to Lucasfilm, Disney, and the fans for extending that thrill to me.”

The film is expected to hit the theaters in Christmas 2023.

A Star Wars adventure film titled A Droid Story is in the developmental stages. Lucasfilm Animation will be collaborating with Lucasfilm’s visual effects team for this film that will feature robots R2-D2 and C-3PO guiding a new hero.

Centering around Star Wars character Lando Calrissian, Disney+ will be coming up with a new event series Lando. The project, which is in the early stages of development is helmed by Justin Simien.

Disney+ will be bringing some new animated content inspired by the Star Wars universe. Japanese anime creators are set to collaborate with the franchise to create animated short films that will explore the Star Wars galaxy.

Coming soon on Disney+ will be Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an animated series that will revolve around the clones from the 2008 TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The synopsis according to the franchise reads, “The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find a new purpose.”

Disney+ will be also presenting Willow series, that will be produced by Lucasfilm starring Warwick Davis. The pilot episode is set to be directed by Jon M Chu and is expected to release in 2022. As per the franchise, Willow will commence filming in March 2021 in Wales.

Willow, an Original Series from Lucasfilm starring Warwick Davis, with pilot directed by @JonMChu, is coming in 2022 to @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/pZSvG6T7cf

Apart from this, Disney also revealed the price hike of Disney+ streaming services in the US and Europe and the introduction of international general entertainment content brand Star, that will be launched in February 2021.

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Anusha Sundar is a Senior Correspondent at Silverscreen India, and can be reached on Twitter at anusha16_ or by email at anusha@silverscreen.in