Exclusive: Secret Star Wars live-action show may hit Disney+ in 2020
Filming for the unannounced series is reportedly already underway.
The next live-action Star Wars series might not be the one you expect. Filming on the officially announced Obi-Wan Kenobi series is set to begin in 2020, but according to our sources, another, top-secret Star Wars show based on the Marvel Comics character Doctor Aphra is 100 percent happening, and may already be filming.
“A new Star Wars show is starting about now that nobody even knows about,” prominent leaker and Making Star Wars editor Jason Ward tells Inverse.
Inverse interviewed Ward about his work as a renowned Star Wars leaker — he previously broke the story that Yoda’s species would play a role in The Mandalorian. Ward originally reported it would come later in the season, and his website was one of few outlets ahead of the curve on this surprising twist. (Lucasfilm even avoided making Baby Yoda toys lest the secret get out.)
Now, according to Ward’s sources, Star Wars already has a future on Disney+ beyond what’s been officially announced. In fact, he says that a new, live-action Star Wars show is filming right now and that series is Doctor Aphra.
“I’m hearing it’s a Lucasfilm-Marvel venture with both companies teaming up to bring a Star Wars show to the small screen,” Ward tells Inverse. “It’s not clear if Kevin Feige, who Disney recently approached to work on an unannounced Star Wars project, will be involved with the Doctor Aphra show in any way.
For those who haven’t been following the Marvel Star Wars comics, Doctor Aphra originates in the 2015 Darth Vader miniseries. She’s a criminal archeologist working for the Dark Lord. Eventually, Aphra severed her ties with Vader and even crossed paths with Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Her adventures are mostly confined to the classic trilogy era, but that doesn’t rule out the ability for her to crossover into the post-Return of the Jedi-era of The Mandalorian.
Aphra is one of the only in-canon Star Wars characters depicted as queer. Her creator, writer Kieron Gillen, has gone on record saying: “I normally say Aphra’s a lesbian.”
If an Aphra series is happening, it would be a huge move for the Star Wars franchise. Inverse can’t independently confirm this, but this rumor also popped-up a few weeks back on ComicBook Resources without the crucial detail that the top-secret show was already in production and tentatively scheduled for a 2020 release.
If a secret Star Wars TV series is filming right now, that means Doctor Aphra herself has already been cast, which would be an amazing bit of secrecy on the part of Lucasfilm and Disney. And, it’s one more reason that the game of Star Wars speculation and excitement certainly won’t end when The Rise of Skywalker is released in one week. If a Marvel-Lucasfilm co-venture is indeed happening, then the excitement about the future Star Wars projects is just getting started.
Representatives from Disney did not respond to a request for comment from Inverse.
