Disney+ would benefit from a Rose Tico series with Kelly Marie Tran
Last month, fans descended on Anaheim to star wars Celebration, the first such galactic gathering in years. The passion for a galaxy far, far away is burning hotter than ever, and this time Lucasfilm has decided to highlight only its next fare for Disney+. Most of it takes place in the Prequel or post-Original Trilogy eras, and no announced projects take place in the sequel era. Disney+ could solve this very easily by signing a deal with Kelly Marie Tran to direct a limited (or ongoing) Rose Tico series.
Currently star of Obi Wan Kenobi Moses Ingram faces racist and hateful comments from trolls on social media. The last person to face this onslaught of unwarranted hate was Tran, when people angry at The Last Jedi succeeded in bullying him off social media. Some time later, she wrote about her experience in The New York Times, a challenging essay. Yet such an experience could – and perhaps should — leave a bad taste in the actor’s mouth when it comes to star wars. Fortunately, Kelly Marie Tran is braver than most. Every time she shows up at Star Wars Celebration, the fans in attendance show her nothing but love. During her last appearance, host Krystina Arielle had to stop three times for the volley of cheers coming her way. For this reason, and how criminally underutilized Rose Tico was in The Rise of SkywalkerTran is due.
Even if Lucasfilm didn’t owe her a solid, Rosie Tico’s character is the perfect character to tell a new story. star wars story in the sequel era. The moment she first appears in The Last Jedi, she is “we”. Sure, she’s a Resistance mechanic in a fictional universe, but she’s a fan of all the star wars characters that we are. These types of fan-inserted characters are usually very popular, especially if they are “fans” of the heroes of the story. That wasn’t the case with her, whether because of misogyny, racism, or the fact that Rose voiced the (arguably lukewarm) political viewpoint of The Last Jedi. But Rose remains one of the most serious and credible star wars franchise characters. She’s only a hero because she idolizes the heroes who came before her, like Leia Organa.
In the next film, director JJ Abrams wanted to place Rose at the center of resistance command. Yet, due to the limited amount of footage they had to work with after Carrie Fisher’s untimely death, Rose’s story was cut to the point of being a cameo. Yet despite this believable reason for how this movie came together, some Rose fans believe it was something more sinister. They believe Lucasfilm succumbed to online pressure from trolls who bullied Tran on social media. Lucasfilm is unlikely to bow to racists and misogynists. And what better way to prove it than to give Rose Tico a chance to shine in a Disney+ series?
One of the downsides of the very many franchises going on is the studios’ perceived need to constantly raise the stakes. The first Arrowverse crossover was just Arrow and Flash helping each other out with their villains of the week. The last erased and rewrote all reality. Of course, sometimes audiences need a reason to tune in, and the fate of the entire galaxy is as good as encouragement. However, not all star wars history must threaten all life as we know it. The Mandalorian proved it in Season 1. All eight episodes of that first year were about a guy trying to make a living in a dangerous job while protecting a child.
In fact, there’s a certain kid in the star wars universe that has a link with Rose Tico that we could revisit. Now this is father racing! Whether fans think a series like this would “rehabilitate” the character of Rose Tico or do her justice, Lucasfilm should just go all the way. Send Rose Tico back to Canto Bight, and maybe this time her mission won’t end in failure. Bring her back to this weird little casino world and let us watch her put her fist in this ugly and beautiful town.
Alright, maybe this is something best saved for the second season of a Rose Tico show on Disney+. Still, it represents the kind of story a show like this could tell. Set it after the events of The Rise of Skywalker and tell a simple but important story about Rose doing what she does best: helping people. Of course, there will be action and blaster shots taken from the bad guys. Rose stormed a (Death) Star Destroyer while riding a horse-like creature, after all. She can handle the action with the rest of the star wars crowd. It makes sense that Abrams would want to put Rose next to General Leia Organa in the film, because aside from the Force talent, they’re remarkably similar characters.
They both lost their homes and families to the machinations of an authoritarian destruction machine. Rather than give up or, even worse, go wrong, both Rose and Leia engaged in the fight to ensure no one else suffered such a loss. This impulse is at the heart of all great characters in this galaxy. Bringing back Rose Tico is a no-brainer, especially because they have Kelly Marie Tran to reprise the role. When kids, the sequel trilogy was made to grow up, star wars fans will find out exactly how much Tran’s performance resonated with them. Lucasfilm would be wise to do whatever it can to keep these kids and giving them more Rose would be a good bet to do so.
Kelly Marie Tran deserved better her first time with star wars, but at least she saw the fan appreciation firsthand at Celebration. Still, not only would a Rose Tico show for Disney+ continue to right the wrong done to her, it would be a great move for the franchise. A Rose Tico series could, like Andorshow a side of the Resistance that we haven’t seen.
You can watch all the Tico Rose we got in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on Disney+.