Report: Disney+ Rangers of the New Republic On Hold
The third announced spinoff to The Mandalorian is not currently “in active development”….
Firstly, If you blinked, you probably missed it. There, in a much bigger story in Variety regarding Dave Filoni’s “new” role in the Lucasfilm hierarchy was a throwaway line you may have missed.
In December, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced that Filoni and Favreau are executive producing several “Mandalorian” spinoffs for Disney Plus, including “The Book of Boba Fett,” which is currently shooting and premiering in December, and “Ahsoka,” starring Rosario Dawson, and based on the character Filoni created in “The Clone Wars.” (A third announced spinoff, “Rangers of the New Republic,” is not currently in active development.)
Moreover, our own Josh Ryan posted about Dave Filoni’s new title:
Dave Filoni Promoted to Executive Producer and Creative Director at Lucasfilm
Star Wars Scoops on Instagram?
Of course, by nature, Instagram is NOT my go-to spot for Star Wars scoops. However, Bespin Bulletin remains a trusted, staple stop on my scouring for Star Wars news. They were — seemingly — the first to notice the note in the Variety.com story.
I’ll admit it, I read that important story last night and totally whiffed.
Of Rangers, Bespin Bulletin reported:
Since the announcement, the lead of the series, Gina Carano, was let go by Lucasfilm and this is most likely the reason why the development of Rangers has come to a grinding halt.
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The (Other) Shows Go On…
However, it stands to reason that much of the original plan for The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka will continue.
Kennedy also said these spinoffs, which all take place within the same timeline, will ultimately culminate in a “storytelling event.” Filoni’s title as executive creative director captures the complicated role of overseeing both individual series and a larger storyline that weaves together several shows.
A few notes:
- Gina Carano’s firing made this move by Lucasfilm inevitable.
- Although I very much liked the character of Cara Dune, I felt that Rangers of the New Republic was the least intriguing of the new Star Wars TV projects. Whatever story details needed to be rolled out in terms of Rangers can certainly be tucked into one of the other series.
- I am hoping that Filoni can help foster a soup-to-nuts curation of canon from the Star Wars upper echelons. For example, story notes in The Bad Batch directly refute details from an earlier canon novel. Seriously not the biggest deal — most Star Wars fans are not as invested in the non-screen environment — but it would be nice to say, acknowledge the change, and perhaps explain why it was made from a storytelling standpoint.
Finally, there’s certainly more to be found in and around this story, so stay tuned to MickeyBlog.com for all the latest on Star Wars and the Filoniverse.
Were you waiting for Rangers of the New Republic? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below.
Feature Image: Lucasfilm