Fan momentum seems to be building for a Star Wars spinoff series centered on Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico after her lack of screentime in The Rise of Skywalker.The former Resistance mechanic made headlines when the newest Star Wars film seemed to sideline her character. In fact, she's only onscreen for a mere 1 minute and 16 seconds, as opposed to 10 minutes and 53 seconds in The Last Jedi. This screentime shrinkage has prompted anger from fans, including Jon M. Chu, director of Crazy Rich Asians and the upcoming movie musical In the Heights.
"Ok @disneyplus," he tweeted. "Put me in coach. Let's make this series happen. #RoseTicoDeserved Better @starwars." Chu is alluding to a groundswell movement among fans to petition Disney for a standalone series fo4 Rose, much like the company is doing to Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Rose's minimization in Episode IX is unfortunately understandable, given how she was one of the most polarizing elements of The Last Jedi. After the release of the film, she became the target of a racist social media harassment campaign, leading her to delete her Instagram and nearly disappear from social media altogether. While this is another element of The Rise of Skywalker erasing the actions of its predecessor, a spinoff series could be a nice way to put the spotlight back on a sidelined character.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film is now in theaters.