Star Wars fans are getting restless in the run-up to the release of spin-off movie Rogue One in December. Some 110,000 people have signed a change.org petition addressed to Disney and LucasFilm demanding that Netflix make a series based on Star Wars: The Old Republic and Knights of the Republic, the online role-playing games set 3,000 years before the Battle of Yavin.
“The popularity of this era in Star Wars history is felt throughout the fanbase, and I feel it would do a massive disservice to us if these stories weren’t told,” the petition states.
“Why Netflix was chosen was because of the wealth of great content they have produced over the years, such as Narcos, House of Cards, and especially everything that Marvel has done and is still currently working on.
“Not only that, but Netflix can serve as a platform to tell these stories as they were meant to be portrayed: dark, foreboding and a touch on the mature side. This can also give us fans our healthy dose of Star Wars while we’re waiting on the new movies or the new season of Star Wars Rebels.”
Dear Netflix,
Please put Star Wars on your service.
Sincerely,
Everyone in the universe.
— Emperor Palpatine (@LordPaIpatine) October 23, 2016
Jasmine St-Philippe, creator of the “Bring the Old Republic era of Star Wars” to Netflix, adds: “Our fanbase would love to see this on Netflix, and I feel that you would enjoy creating and adapting these stories as much as we would enjoy watching them.”
Spoiler alert: ‘Old Republic’ prequels stand zero chance of getting made because Disney and EA Games (Electronic Arts) own the rights to Star Wars computer games; Disney owns the rights to all future Star Wars films going forward. Although Marvel and Netflix have enjoyed successful creative collaborations with Daredevil and Jessica Jones, there’s no way in whatever galaxy you inhabit that Disney would let the streaming behemoth have anything to do with Star Wars.
The 110,000 people, who “feel that you would enjoy creating and adapting these stories as much as we would enjoy watching them,” will just have to be satisfied with the four new Star Wars movies in four years.
Or some of the petitioners could take a page out of Indiana Jones’s book and start making some fan films worth caring about…