No, Disney+ isn’t remaking the Star Wars sequel trilogy as a TV series

They say that a lie can get halfway round the world before the truth gets its boots on. In the age of high-speed internet, the lie can circumnavigate the Earth a few times for good measure.

Recently, a rumor started to spread that Disney was going to “remake” the Star Wars sequel trilogy as a three-seasons TV show on Disney+, complete with unused footage of Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher as Han, Luke and Leia, and that George Lucas would return to direct. It came from the YouTuber Overlord DVD, aka Doomcock, and it’s so self-evidently silly you wonder how it catches on, but outlets like The Express have spread it around, and fans are chattering.

Doomcock, FYI, had an entirely different report about how Disney would “erase” the Star Wars sequel trilogy a while back, explaining plans to cordon the movies off in their own universe by means of an incredibly convoluted series of plot twists more hack than anything the sequel trilogy actually gave us. This seems like more of the same, which is the first red flag that it’s not worth taking seriously. These “decisions” from Disney are so obviously tailored to please a certain subset of whining fans that it’s clear they’re not real.

Look, I know a lot of people didn’t like The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker — I wasn’t that big a fan myself — but they both made over $1 billion at the box office and that’s all studio executives really care about. The sequel trilogy got backlash but the Star Wars franchise is in better health than ever, with The Mandalorian a huge hit, Taika Waititi and Patty Jenkins both signed on for new movies, and approximately 300 new Star Wars shows coming to Disney+. There’s just no need for anything like Doomcock is suggesting, especially given the problems it would create.

The idea of Disney remaking the Star Wars sequel trilogy is fun, but c’mon, people

Jason Ward, who’s actually a reliable voice on Star Wars leaks, shared his incredulity with Inverse. “There is nothing that makes me think anyone has any inkling of reworking the sequel trilogy,” he said. “In fact, the idea is preposterous. Each of the sequel trilogy films is performing rather well for Disney/Lucasfilm financially. To ‘erase’ those would weaken a consistent revenue stream that is currently being capitalized on.”

"The idea of erasing those films would likely anger more fans than it would please. Can you imagine trying to convince the general public that the films they just saw do not matter? This isn’t the Terminator franchise."

Aw, poor Terminator franchise.

And if that’s not enough, the notion of Disney just having unused footage of Ford, Harrison and Fisher lying around is pretty silly, to say nothing of George “I sold Star Wars to Disney for $4 billion now leave me alone” Lucas getting involved again. “The idea of erasing Carrie Fisher’s final films would be a slap in the face to Fisher’s legacy,” Ward continued. “These are the films she believed in and agreed to make with J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson.”

Rumors are fun, often more fun than reality, and I get that people are mostly just enjoying themselves…but sometimes they’re taken seriously and even though I know I shouldn’t engage I fail to act on my better judgment. It doesn’t take much to think your way out of this one.

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