After Disney’s announcement of all the new Star Wars series coming to the Disney+ streaming service, there’s been a lot of conjecture about what the new shows will be about. For most of the series we’re familiar with main characters such as Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cassian Andor, Lando, and Boba Fett.
One of the new series that stands out with the least details is Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic. We got a glimpse of some New Republic rangers in Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian. In “Chapter 6: The Prisoner,” a trio of X-Wing pilots (played by Mandalorian directors Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa, and Deborah Chow) patrolling the Outer Rim tracked down the attackers of the New Republic prison transport and blow up Ranzar Malk’s station. Thanks to the Mandalorian planting a New Republic homing device on Twi’lek Qin.
In Season 2’s “Chapter 10: The Passenger,” we once again find Filoni returning as Trapper Wolf, along with the first appearance of Captain Carson Teva (played by Korean Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) as New Republic rangers. Teva showed up again in “Chapter 12: The Siege” on planet Nevarro after the heroes’ infiltration and destruction of the Imperial facility.
The Mandalorian gave us a few glimpses of some rangers, but not much to go on. What can we expect from the new series?
TIMELINE
The timeline for Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic was confirmed by Filoni as being set after the events of Return of the Jedi and concurrent with The Mandalorian series. The new Ahsoka series will also be set in this time period, which will lead to crossover episodes for the three series and culminate into a “climactic story event” according the Lucasfilm.
This timeline also contains the events that happened after the destruction of Death Star 2, as written about in Chuck Wendig’s trilogy of books in Star Wars: Aftermath series. That’s appropriate because those stories may provide the best idea of what Rangers of the New Republic will be like.
In Aftermath, X-Wing pilots Wedge Antilles and Norra Wexley (and others) go on missions to weed out Imperial holdouts on various planets. It wouldn’t be surprising if some of the characters introduced in the Aftermath trilogy show up in Rangers. The Mandalorian already boosted one character from the books in the form of Marshal Cobb Vanth.
STARS OF RANGERS OF THE NEW REPUBLIC
Disney and Lucasfilm have not been forthcoming with more details of the Rangers series. However, it’s speculated that Gina Carano will reprise her role of Cara Dune, the former Rebel shock trooper-turned-mercenary-turned-marshal of the New Republic. At the ending of “Chapter 12: The Siege,” Teva offers Dune an official role with the New Republic, which we find out in “Chapter 14: The Tragedy” that she accepted the position of marshal.
It’s unlikely that Filoni will return as Trapper Wolf (except maybe in cameos) because he’s going to busy writing, directing, and running multiple series.
The actor most likely to return in character is Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. His character Captain Carson Teva was already introduced in The Mandalorian. The actor is also a hardcore Star Wars fan and cosplayer. He’s been constructing Star Wars armor and costumes for years. The CBC did an interview with Lee in November about how Filoni requested he appear in The Mandalorian. It was revealed that Filoni is a fan of Lee’s hit Canadian comedy TV series Kim’s Convenience. (It’s on Netflix in case you’re interested).
Lee also posts his Star Wars costume builds on his Instagram account: angryappa. Lee is a bonafide Star Wars fan and a terrific actor, so it makes sense his character Carson Teva will be one of the stars of Rangers of the New Republic.
In related news, Lee’s Kim’s Convenience costar Simu Liu plays the title character in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. The Marvel film is targeted for theatrical release on July 9, 2021. Hopefully theaters will be back at 100% by then because Marvel films deserve to be watched on a giant screen!
RELEASE DATE
Disney announced their slate for Star Wars shows in 2021. While we will be getting The Book of Boba Fett (December 2021) and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the animated Clone Wars spinoff series (Late 2021), we’ll have to wait until 2022 for Rangers of the New Republic and the other new Star Wars TV series. We expect 2022 to be a very good year to be a Star Wars fan.
Before you go, do you know why the Mandalorian took off his helmet?
