Russian Doll co-creator and showrunner Leslye Headland is reportedly working on a new Star Wars TV series for Disney Plus, according to a new report from Variety. The series is said to be a “female-centric” show set in a different part of the timeline than other current Star Wars projects, although there aren’t too many details on what the premise of the show will actually be.
Headland is best known for her work as the co-creator, showrunner, and co-writer for the popular Netflix series Russian Doll. According to Variety, Headland will serve in a similar showrunner / writer role for the new Star Wars show, too.
The show would be the fifth confirmed Star Wars show in development for Disney Plus, alongside The Mandalorian — whose second season is set to premiere this October, with Variety reporting that work on its third season has also begun. Other Star Wars shows include the Diego Luna-led Cassian Andor spinoff from Rogue One and the highly anticipated Obi-Wan series that will see Ewan McGregor reprise his role as the character. Disney Plus has also been the home of the final season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
The choice of Headland to helm the new show is also a welcome addition to the recent trend of adding more diversity behind the camera for the long-running franchise, which has tended to favor men almost exclusively for lead creative roles. (To date, every single Star Wars film that has been released or announced has been directed or written by a man, with the exception of The Empire Strikes Back, which was co-written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan.)
That trend has begun to shift with the more recent Disney Plus series, however. The Mandalorian was the first major live-action Star Wars property to feature female directors, with Deborah Chow and Bryce Dallas Howard behind the camera. Chow is also set to direct the upcoming Obi-Wan series for Disney Plus. And in February, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy implied that a woman would be chosen for a future Star Wars feature film.
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