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Leslye Headland Teases ‘Star Wars’ Series, Set in a Timeline Fans ‘Don’t Know Much About’

Tyler Hersko
·2 min read

Leslye Headland, the creator of Netflix’s acclaimed “Russian Doll,” is making steady progress on her untitled “Star Wars” series for Disney+.

Headland discussed the upcoming streaming series in a YouTube interview with Fantastic Frankie in early November, where she discussed her lifelong affinity for the franchise and its broad appeal. Though the interview was short on concrete details — there’s still no release date or casting details — Headland promised that the show, which was first announced in April, would take fans to an era and regions of the “Star Wars” universe that have been relatively unexplored throughout the previous decades of the franchise’s history.

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

Headland will serve as showrunner and writer for the upcoming show, which will star a female protagonist. She noted that she grew up reading “Star Wars” books such as “Heir to the Empire” and said that working on “Star Wars” was a dream come true, as well as a significant undertaking. She stressed that creating a “Star Wars” show was more complex than simply inserting her ideas into a “Star Wars” backdrop and said that it was integral for the show to be based on a specific event or point in the franchise’s timeline.

“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,” Headland said. “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.”

Headland’s upcoming “Star Wars” show is one of several in the works for Disney+. The streaming service is also expected to premiere an Ewan McGregor-led Obi-Wan Kenobi series, as well as a Cassian Andor “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” spinoff series. Release dates have not been provided for either series.

Though new “Star Wars” shows are unlikely to premiere in the near future, Disney+ recently premiered the second season of its popular “The Mandalorian” series.

Headland’s full interview with Fantastic Frankie can be viewed below:

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