Gary Whitta Details The Star Wars TV Idea He And Fellow Rogue One Writer Chris Weitz Wish They Had Made
While it started out as a predominantly cinema-based franchise, "Star Wars" has become increasingly prevalent on television in recent years. Following up on efforts such as the short-lived "Droids" and "Ewoks" cartoons, as well as the monumentally popular "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" animated series, Lucasfilm has pumped out live-action shows left and right via the Disney+ streaming service. "The Mandalorian" has taken the world by storm, and the likes of "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Obi-Wan Kenobi," while not the most well-received, certainly have their fans out there.
The most recent live-action "Star Wars" series to arrive is "Andor," which wrapped up its 12-episode first season on November 23, 2022. As the title implies, the program explores the life of future Rebellion leader Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), chronicling his experiences prior to truly taking the fight to the oppressive Empire. It also covers the early days of the Rebellion itself and details how names like Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly), Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), and Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) became people of interest within the Empire. Of course, there's also plenty of action and adventure to enjoy.
"Andor" is a fine companion piece to 2016's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," where Cassian Andor made his "Star Wars" debut. Although, a few years ago, "Rogue One" scribes Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz had a slightly different TV show in mind to bookend the film.
Whitta and Weitz wanted to explore a post-Empire world
On the day that the "Andor" Season 1 finale dropped on Disney+, Gary Whitta took to Twitter to share his and Chris Weitz's concept for a "Rogue One" companion series. "Chris Weitz and I had a cool idea for a TV show about a Mossad-style Rebel team hunting down Imperial war criminals who fled and disappeared after the fall of the Empire. Could have been a cool bookend to R1," he wrote in his tweet, sadly noting that the concept didn't get very far. Based on the positive reactions below this post, though, it seems like many "Star Wars" fans would love to see this idea realized in some form or fashion.
The time period between "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi" and "Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens" is one that has been explored quite thoroughly over the past few years. 2017's "Star Wars Battlefront II" touched on it throughout its campaign, "The Mandalorian" and "The Book of Boba Fett" both take place in this range, and comics like "Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren" also flesh this era out. Still, given the broad scope of "Star Wars," it stands to reason that if Disney and Lucasfilm ever wanted to make Whitta and Weitz's story into a full-on series, they could do so without hurting existing canon.
While it's unlikely that Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz's show about a Rebel team seeking out Imperial war criminals will ever get made, if nothing else, it's a cool idea to think about.