Leslye Headland’s Female-Led ‘Star Wars’ Series Has Martial Arts Elements

Earlier today we had a story on possible The Mandalorian spinoffs and the casting of Sophie Thatcher for one of them. As part of that report, I also referenced Leslye Headland’s female-centric series, which was first revealed last April. But also in Deadline‘s update were details on what Headland has in store, and this doesn’t sound like any Star Wars spinoff we’ve seen thus far.

Headland’s Star Wars series is “believed to be a female-driven action thriller with martial arts elements and set in an alternate timeline from the usual Star Wars universe.”

So there are a couple of interesting things here. We’ve never seen a Star Wars series that leaned heavily on martial arts aspects, but I have to confess the first thing I thought of was that rumored samurai project Zack Snyder was going to be involved with. Remember that? Also, I thought about Donnie Yen’s character Chirrut Îmwe from Rogue One who practiced the martial art of Zama-shiwo. Not saying there’s a connection, but there’s one Headland could make if she wanted.

What they mean by “alternate” I’m not so sure of.  It’s possible they’re doing a Multiverse sort of thing here but I doubt it. The likelihood is that a different period of time from The Mandalorian will be the focus, perhaps many hundreds or even thousands of years before The Skywalker Saga. In a way, it could be giving fans of Knights of the Old Republic the era they’ve been begging to see.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.