Lucasfilm is fast-tracking plans for a young Mace Windu spinoff series, according to Star Wars insiders, with original star Samuel L Jackson set to make his franchise return as part of the planned Disney Plus prequel series.
Star Wars has had major success in the world of streaming in recent times and, according to behind the scenes reports, are now doubling down on Disney Plus.
The latest news on that front comes from trusted Star Wars insider Daniel Richtman. He has reported Jedi master Mace Windu will be taking center stage in his own limited-run Disney Plus series, set years before The Phantom Menace.
According to Richtman, the green-lit Disney+ series will cast a new, younger actor as Windu. Samuel L. Jackson, 71, is also in talks to shoot multiple “flashforward” scenes, set during the Clone Wars.
The Star Wars insider also suggested this project could be a single-shot prequel film based on a young Windu. Lucasfilm has not responded to the rumors.
If the reports are true — and remember these are rumors, so things may yet change — then Samuel L. Jackson would likely sign on the dotted line soon after talks begin.
“I’d really love to give one more run at Mace Windu in Star Wars,” the veteran Hollywood star said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last year. He also told JOE.co.uk he was waiting by the phone: “I’m that guy. All they gotta do is call.”
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“I’ve still got my purple lightsaber. I’m ready,” Jackson joked at ComicCon last year.
Jackson last portrayed Mace Windu in animated Star Wars movie “The Clone Wars,” before handing the voice-acting reins to Terrence C. Carson for the series.
The 71-year-old played the Jedi master in three Star Wars films. The character made his debut in The Phantom Menace, and had major roles in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith before being killed by Anakin Skywalker and Darth Sidious.
The rumored Mace Windu spinoff project joins a host of other reported shows apparently set to debut on Disney Plus over the next few years.
These include an animated Kylo Ren show, similar to The Clone Wars and Rebels, as well as a rumored Ahsoka Tano solo series and a plotted Boba Fett revival.
Disney Plus also has a number of confirmed Star Wars series already on the run. The second season of The Mandalorian will drop next month, The Bad Batch will arrive next year, and the Obi-Wan limited-series run is coming in mid-2022.
