Lucasfilm has announced a new live-action Star Wars TV series, something we’ve been salivating over for a long time. And if you thought that they’d find anyone other than a white guy to deliver that series unto us, you’d…be…wrong. Happy International Women’s Day?
Jon Favreau, director of Iron Man and The Jungle Book as well as “the dude from the movie Swingers,” has been signed to Executive Produce and write a live-action Star Wars series. That series would be exclusive to Disney’s new direct-to-consumer streaming platform.
According to StarWars.com, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy believes that she has found in Favreau a perfect combination of skills to make this first live-action Star Wars TV series a reality. “I couldn’t be more excited about Jon coming on board to produce and write for the new direct-to-consumer platform,” she says. “Jon brings the perfect mix of producing and writing talent, combined with a fluency in the Star Wars universe. This series will allow Jon the chance to work with a diverse group of writers and directors and give Lucasfilm the opportunity to build a robust talent base.”
At least she mentions a “diverse group of writers and directors.”
Meanwhile, Favreau is of course excited as all get-out to be doing this, saying, “If you told me at 11 years old that I would be getting to tell stories in the Star Wars universe, I wouldn’t have believed you. I can’t wait to embark upon this exciting adventure.”
There’s no question that Favreau is a competent, experienced choice. Not only has he written, produced, and directed a lot of great work, he already has a pretty significant relationship with the Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm family, having directed Iron Man and Iron Man 2 for Marvel, The Jungle Book and now The Lion King for Disney, and having performed roles in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story.
There’s nothing wrong with the choice of Favreau to do this, and yet I can’t help but be a little disappointed. I keep trying to have hope that the Star Wars franchise will become this place that takes some chances.
I came to be a Star Wars fan, because of Rey, Finn, and Poe, because I thought that The Force Awakens symbolized the beginning of the end of the old way of doing things. I thought that maybe, with the closing out of this current trilogy of films that Star Wars, as a franchise, might become as different behind the scenes as it’s clearly been trying to become in front of the camera.
The fact that this is not only not the case, but that this new live-action series will be exclusive to this direct-to-consumer Disney streaming platform I already hate the idea of makes this announcement all the more irritating.
I want to be thrilled about a new live-action Star Wars series, but what I want even more is for a woman of any ethnicity or race, or a man of color, to finally, at long last, be given the opportunity to take the reins on a Star Wars story. It’s all very well and good to consider them for staff writer positions and episodic directorial gigs. They absolutely should. But ultimate creative control is still in the hands of a white guy. The way it almost always has been.
Maybe I should just stop being so surprised by this. Just because a company creates a story about rebels who take risks doesn’t mean they’d be willing to take risks themselves. Even though they, of all companies and of all franchises, could because there’s not really any danger of them not making a crapton of money at this point. Star Wars is basically bulletproof.
Then again, it might be this continued insistence on playing it safe, coupled with the sheer bombardment of Star Wars product that Disney seems to want to churn out, that might be the franchise’s undoing. Who knows?
What do you all think of this news? Tell us below!
(image: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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