Perhaps one of the more overlookedStar Wars-related announcements from Disney’s Investor Day concerns the upcoming Disney+ live-action seriesRangers of the New Republic. Since the reveal showcased little more than a logo, that’s not entirely surprising. But fans ofThe Mandalorianmay not want to sleep on this one.
While virtually nothing is known about the series itself, one bit of info that’s set in stone is its timeline.Rangers of the New Republicwill take place during the same time asThe Mandalorianand Disney’s now highly anticipated seriesAhsoka. As yet another production from the new dream team of Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, fans already have plenty of reasons to get excited.
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Not only that, but all 3 series from the duo (The Mandalorian,Ahsoka, andRangers of the New Republic) will eventually intersect in acrossover eventas a culmination of all the building action. Right now, it sounds like that crossover will mark the climax ofRangers, but it’s also entirely possible that each of the shows involved will treat it as their respective finales. Such a plan would end things nice and cleanly, allowing Filoni and Favreau to make an easy break off to their next projects. Of course, that’s only speculation at this point.
Frankly, speculation is pretty much all there is right now. Audiences don’t even know what characters will be involved. However, one repeated guess from fans offers that Carasynthia (Cara) Dune fromThe Mandalorianwill serve as at least one of the titular Rangers, due to her recent promotion to New Republic Marshal of Nevarro. If so, it’s unclear if recentcomplaints brought against Dune’s actress, Gina Carano, will affect such a casting. Maybe Disney would have announced her as the star under normal circumstances, but held back due to the incident. Again, this is simply more guesswork.
InThe Mandalorian, audiences have seen four New Republic officers so far, all pilots. Three were shown in season 1 episode 6 as theX-Wing pilotswho answered the tracking beacon activated by an unfortunate prison guard (and served as cameos for directors Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, and Rick Famuyiwa), while the fourth appeared in season 2 and may have been the one who gave Dune her promotion. While the first three may show up as cameos again inRangers of the New Republic, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the fourth (named Carson Teva and played by Korean-Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) in a starring role.
However it turns out,Star Warsfans are sure to be happy knowing they’ve got plenty more entertainment on the horizon. The New Republic, at least outside of the “Legends” continuity, is woefully underrepresented in the franchise, so more stories expanding on that time will certainly be welcome. Plus it’s moreStar Wars. Come on, that’s always cool.
