Leslye Headland Teased The Next 'Star Wars' Timeline As Something You 'Don't Know Much About'

Out of every piece of modern human media, there is arguably none more beloved than Star Wars. First released in 1977 by relatively unknown filmmaker George Lucas (who previously directed the hit American Graffiti, for which was nominated for Best Picture as well as writing and directing, on top of having directed the post-diner montage in The Godfather), the film was an instant mega-hit, becoming the highest grossing film of all time not adjusted for inflation, but only taking second place when adjusted for inflation. It garnered ten Oscar nominations (including Best Picture and another nominations for Lucas for writing and directing), winning seven of them.

Yes, the same George Lucas who is hated for "ruining Star Wars" with the prequels has four Oscar nominations for two films widely regarded as among the best of all time. How things change.

Over the course of the next 43 years, there would be more Star Wars media in every avenue than the human race had ever seen. Eight more saga films, two standalone A Star Wars Story films, several TV shows, the Holiday Spe-- uh, not that one--toys, books, video games, board games, comic books... Star Wars has been everywhere for decades. Every new generation since the original film has discovered the films and grown to love them just as the previous generation did.

However, one point that some people criticize the series about is how centered it is on one family and the eras they live in: the Skywalkers. That is not totally unwarranted, as they are the protagonists for the films, but even most of the outside media is set in the time where the Skywalkers are central to the galaxy, whether canon or Legends. That's why it's such a breath of fresh air to see a Star Wars story that has nothing to do with the Skywalkers or the era in which they live, such as the masterpiece Knights of the Old Republic games.

Well, that appears to be changing. Disney+ is releasing a lot of new Star Wars media, such as the highly anticipated Obi-Wan miniseries. It has been announced that there's something completely new in the works. Leslye Headland, creator of Netflix's Russian Doll, is working on something for Disney+ completely outside of what we've seen before. According to her in an interview:

“It’s in a pocket of the universe and a pocket of the timeline that we don’t know much about."

This is an intriguing prospect. Almost every bit of Star Wars media focuses on pre-Empire, Empire, and post-Empire stories, again, with anomalies such as the KOTOR stories. The galaxy in Star Wars is, well, a galaxy. We've met dozens of unique characters throughout the years, but the galaxy has tens of thousands of years of history and quintillions of inhabitants, each of them with a story to tell. There's much more to the universe than the rise, height, and fall of the Galactic Empire.

With how few details Headlands has actually revealed about her project, there are almost unlimited possibilities of what we're going to get. Obviously nothing to do with the Skywalkers or the Galactic Empire based on her comment about the timeline, but it's also possible that the series won't touch on the Old Republic stories, as those have also seen a rise in popularity. We won't see anything centered around Coruscant.

Something to keep in mind is that it still has to feel like a Star Wars story, but Headland appears to know that full well. She stated in a YouTube interview with Fantastic Frankie that it can't just be an original idea with a coat of Star Wars paint. It has to fit in the universe.

“For me, it’s less about going through the Star Wars universe cinematically or artistically, I’m actually kind of combing through it geographically and go on a literal journey. When we were pitching, I had my designer create that Indiana Jones-like ‘we go here and then we go here,’ with the little dotted red line like this is our journey, this is where we’re going.”

Seeing more media outside of the Empire stories will be a breath of fresh air, and considering the power and talent of Disney behind it, the sky is literally the limit. The Mandalorian has shown that we're still eager for new, innovative Star Wars stories. It looks like we're going to get one that we can't even imagine yet.

Written By Paul Durbin

Syndicated From Culture Slate