Jon Favreau’s Live-Action Star Wars Series Will Take Place After Return of the Jedi

Years before the Star Wars franchise was reignited with The Force Awakens and Rogue One, there was the promise of a live-action TV series by George Lucas and Rick McCallum focusing on the seedy underworld during the consolidation of the Empire that was described as “like The Godfather” in space. That project never came to fruition because of production costs and it seemed like we would never get a live-action series after Disney purchased Lucasfilm; at least, not one populated by alien drug dealers and prostitutes.

It appeared as if the project was alive after all when it was announced in March that Jon Favreau would be writing and producing a live-action Star Wars series for Disney’s new streaming service. Sure, Favreau is currently on his second family-friendly live-action remake of a Disney animated movie, but he is no stranger to tough-talking gangsters as the writer and director of the indie Made (2001). Plus, a streaming service is the perfect platform for familiar franchises with a harder edge, a la Marvel’s more adult-leaning series like Punisher and Jessica Jones.

Now, it has been revealed that the series Favreau is writing is not related to the Lucas-McCallum series after all. The underworld series would have taken place between Episodes III and IV, “when Luke Skywalker was growing up as a teenager,” and Palpatine was still plotting to dissolve the Imperial Senate council. The new series will apparently take place in the aftermath of the Empire’s defeat in Return of the Jedi, seven years after the Battle of Endor. There’s still no word on whether it will involve space gangsters.

Exclusive: @Jon_Favreau confirms that his live action #StarWars series takes place 7 years after Battle of Endor, between #ReturnOfTheJedi and #TheForceAwakens. Will feature all new characters, using cutting edge tech a la THE JUNGLE BOOK. Story coming to @nerdist… pic.twitter.com/iRyPS8hPDR

— Dan Casey (@DanCasey) May 11, 2018