One of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars producers just offered a plea to his company to emulate Marvel Studios’ work with the Special Presentation format on Disney+.
That Special Presentation format has worked wonders for the MCU over the past few months, with the franchise bringing its first one in October 2022 centered on Werewolf by Night. After that hour-long entry earned rave reviews, the MCU team brought an equally well-reviewed Special Presentation with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in November, which left fans cheering and clamoring for more.
Star Wars has had its own dips into the television special format over the years, although these projects have been on the lower tier of the franchise’s history in terms of reception from fans and critics. There’s Lucasfilm’s own Holiday Special from 1978, which many feel is one of the worst entries in Star Wars history, but the studio has also had more success in the world of LEGO Star Wars, which has largely earned positive reviews for its animation and stories.
Now, one Lucasfilm producer has offered his own opinion on what Star Wars should do for potential future Special Presentations – look at the MCU.
Star Wars Producer Wants to Emulate Marvel
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Solo: A Star Wars Story producer Jonathan Kasdan discussed what he wanted to see happen with Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra from Solo: A Star Wars Story.
While he’s nervous to ask Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about the character, he looked to Marvel Studios’ Werewolf by Night special on Disney+ as a potential piece of inspiration for Star Wars. He wants to see Lucasfilm “embrace a short-form novella version” for Star Wars certain projects, seeing an avenue for success in the Special Presentation format:
“I don’t honestly know. I’m always afraid to ask Kathy because she can see right through me. Despite all my resistance, she instantly sees right through me, and she can see my desire to tell more stories there. But in recent months, I have been intrigued by the wonderful Werewolf by Night as a potential form of storytelling on Disney+. So I would love to see Lucasfilm embrace a short-form novella version for telling some of their stories. That certainly seems like a place where future stories about those characters could live.”
Will Lucasfilm Take Inspiration from MCU Special Presentations?
Throughout the three years of Disney+’s existence, Lucasfilm has only embraced the episodic series format for its streaming ventures, which started with The Mandalorian the day the service went live. Although Mando has earned a great deal of success with its format, the reception for the following three entries has varied widely amongst fans and critics.
This same trend happened with the MCU, with wildly mixed reviews coming from the seven live-action series that have debuted since early 2021. And even though Star Wars had more than a year of a headstart on the MCU in terms of tenure on Disney+, Lucasfilm has yet to embrace the one-hour Special Presentation format for any of its entries.
Even though Star Wars doesn’t release content at the rate that Marvel currently does, this could be a way to add a new flavor to the galaxy far, far away with a shorter, one-week adventure on the streaming service. And considering how much fans are praising the MCU’s use of this format, it would be a shock if Marvel’s Disney neighbors at Lucasfilm didn’t consider trying it out for themselves.
