Leia & 6 More Picks for the Female-Led ‘Star Wars’ TV Show (VIDEO)
May the Force be with her! According to Variety, a new, female-led Star Wars series is in the works for Disney+, thanks to the streaming platform’s success with its drama The Mandalorian. Citing sources, Variety reports that Russian Doll showrunner Leslye Headland has been enlisted to create “a female-centric series that takes place in a different part of the Star Wars timeline than other projects.”
Based on those clues, fans have been speculating about the character in question—and so has TV Insider. Scroll down to see our seven contenders, both familiar and arcane, for this latest entry in the galactic franchise.
Princess Leia
We saw Leia as a baby in Episode III—Revenge of the Sith and as an adult—Alderaan princess, Imperial senator, Rebel Alliance agent, Resistance general—in many of the other Skywalker Saga films. But we haven’t really seen the Carrie Fisher character’s formative years on screen, aside from a glimpse of the teenage Leia in Disney’s animated Star Wars Rebels.
Rose Tico
This Resistance mechanic became a hero in Episode VIII—The Last Jedi but then was sidelined in Episode IX—The Rise of Skywalker, appearing in just over a minute of the film, according to Slate. If the franchise wanted to do right by actress Kelly Marie Tran, it would greenlight a show about her post-Skywalker Saga life.
Qi’ra
When we last saw Qi’ra in Solo, Han Solo’s first love—played by Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke—had reaffirmed her loyalty to the criminal syndicate Crimson Dawn after killing her boss. Her new supervisor? None other than Darth Maul, Crimson Dawn’s true leader.
Doctor Aphra
A breakout character from Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Darth Vader comic book series, Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra is a criminal archaeologist with “all of [Han Solo’s] swaggery, scoundrel-y charm,” per IGN. She worked for Vader before escaping his potentially lethal grip.
Asajj Ventress
Clone Wars viewers know the animated Ventress as Count Dooku’s deadly acolyte. Her tragic backstory: She was stolen from her clan of Nightsister witches and raised as a slave. A Jedi Knight named Ky Narec rescued her, only to be killed by pirates, and she fell to the dark side.
Nomi Sunrider
Jedi Master Nomi Sunrider, a lead character in the Tales of the Jedi comic book series, helped end the Great Sith War by using her powers to excise the fallen Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma (her former lover) from the Force. She was later chosen Grand Master of the Jedi Order.
Ahsoka Tano
There isn’t much of Ahsoka Tano’s life that hasn’t been depicted on screen, so she’s a long shot for a TV show taking place in a different part of the Star Wars timeline. Besides, this Clone Wars hero—a former Jedi Padawan of Anakin Skywalker—might pop up as a Rosario Dawson character in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
