'Star Wars 9' Should Have Live-Action Neeku, According to 'Resistance' Star

One Star Wars Resistance voice actor dreams of reprising the role in one of the live-action Star Wars movies, despite how much time he’d have to spend in make-up being transformed into a green-skinned alien for Star Wars: Episode IX.

We spoke with actor Josh Brener about his role as the timid assistant to a sports agent in What Men Want, but we also talked about his work voicing Neeku Vozo, the overly-enthusiastic green Nikto mechanic in Star Wars Resistance.

“I am mortified to reveal that I actually spent J.J. Abrams a fan letter about this,” Brener tells Inverse. “I was like, ‘I play this character Neeku in the Disney animated series. If you ever need him to be in the background of a scene for say, you know, Episode IX, consider me available!’”

Star Wars Resistance is set six months before the events of The Force Awakens. In the animated series, Poe Dameron recruits a young pilot named Kazuda “Kaz” Xiono to become a spy for the Resistance aboard the Colossus, a refueling station on an ocean planet in the Outer Rim. There, Kaz teams up with Neeku and a host of other characters to become a pilot in local races while also trying to spy on the First Order.

Neeku is one of several mechanics on the team, but he’s by far the most positive in their ranks.

“I’m such a nerd — and Neeku is as well,” Brener says of his character. “He’s such a sweet, naive dorky guy. You can be in a bad mood and then come in to voice this purely sweet, lovable guy, and it puts you in a good mood no matter what.”

A character like Neeku works well as a core character in a show like Star Wars Resistance. He’s goofy and comes across as extremely silly, so it’s perfect for a show that, as Brener puts it, “skews a little bit younger” than the movies. It might not be as good a fit for the more adult live-action movies, but an Episode IX cameo for Neeku in the background of some cantina would be a nice nod Resistance that didn’t overstep its bounds.

“I’m such a fanboy that I got the idea in my head that I could do it,” Brener says. “You know, there were all these all these Easter eggs from Star Wars Rebels in Rogue One. If they’re doing crossover stuff between those, then there’s no reason why they wouldn’t do it between Resistance and Episode IX!”

There’s even a precedent for green Nikto like Neeku appearing in live-action Star Wars already. (There are red Nikto, too.) Jabba the Hutt employed several green Nikto during the events of Return of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker murdered several of them!

Because Star Wars Resistance takes place shortly before The Force Awakens, it’s likely that Neeku is still alive by the time the newer trilogy happens — unless he dies somehow before the show inevitably crosses over with Episode VII. But sadly, Brener’s dreams of appearing in the next Star Wars movie might not come to fruition.

“At this point, I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Brener says. He sent the letter to J.J. “months ago” and hadn’t heard back. Since then, filming officially wrapped on Episode IX, pretty much guaranteeing it won’t happen.

In terms of what fans can expect as Star Wars Resistance Season 1 wraps up later this month, Brener did tease that “There’s definitely some major stuff coming up that I think fans of the films are going to be excited about.”

To see what he’s referring to, we’ll all have to wait for the season finale.

The Star Wars Resistance Season 1 finale airs March 17 at 10 p.m. Eastern on the Disney Channel, and Star Wars: Episode IX will be released in theaters on December 20, 2019.