Star Wars Animated Series Going R-Rated?
Is Lucasfilm ready to dare into making an animated Star Wars series with an R-rating?
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Of all the Star Wars material that has been produced for either feature films or television, the one thing it can hang its hat on is that, for the most part, it’s been kid-friendly. But now, if the rumor is to be believed, Lucasfilm may be looking to shake things up a bit. As in an R-rated shaking.
When it comes to feature films, the Star Wars original trilogy ranks as the best of the bunch. Those films, while having some dark elements to them, kept their sense of kid-friendliness. As time went on and the prequel was produced, the writing and elements surrounding those films were a bit more mature. The same went with the sequel trilogy. Still, though, the material never strayed into R-rated territory.
As for the animated series Lucasfilm has produced, reception to these series has fared much better across the board than most of their feature films, especially the animated series in which Dave Filoni had a hand in. The Disney+ new series, The Bad Batch, is no exception. Fans are loving it but if there is any criticism to it at all, it’s that the series may be too kid-friendly.
Fear not, adults in the room, for it is said that Lucasfilm is now developing an adult Star Wars animated series, one that would carry an R-rating. This news comes from sources for We Got This Covered. Details are nil as to how this will work, but with the material jumping into R-rated territory, don’t expect this new series to be available on Disney+. More than likely, Hulu (another Disney-owned streaming service) would carry the series.
At the present time, the entire Star Wars line-up is available on Disney+ because of its family-friendly slant. A new R-rated animated series could break this string but just what would an R-rated Star Wars animated series look like? What characters, if any from the present canon, would be involved? Would it be a whole new set of characters?
Back in 2020, Marvel’s Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson tweeted out that he was asked what type of Star Wars movie he would make if given the opportunity. He said, “Just asked what kind of Star Wars movie I would make. I answered that I would make Hoth, an R-rated frozen planet horror film in the vein of The Thing or Lovecraft’s In the Mountains of Madness, with zero connection to any previous characters or storylines.” Interesting.
But what about an animated series, like the one Lucasfilm is rumored to be putting together? Just how would this look with an R-rating? Adult Swim has shown how to tackle R-rated material in animated form with their slate of shows and with their immense popularity, it’s no wonder Lucasfilm is pondering their own venture into more adult-oriented material.
How, though, would it be presented? Darker storylines? Would the language in a galaxy far, far away be saltier? Would the animated violence be turned up a notch, becoming graphic enough to bring in an R-rating? Would they even chance drawing in some nudity?
For sure, the adult Star Wars fan would probably take to the more mature approach and Lucasfilm, if done right, could stand to gain in its Star Wars fandom. But should they? Is the Star Wars content set right where it needs to be with only their ability to tell a good story the overwhelming issue?
As for Disney and its Disney+ channel, they seem to be more willing to open up things more for adults. Recently they introduced the Disney+ Star channel for subscribers in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. This channel is aimed at adults, offering more mature feature films and TV series with titles such as Deadpool 2, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Devil Wears Prada, and the many more mature titles Disney now has access to after their purchase of 20th Century Fox. Unfortunately, the Disney+ Star channel is not available to customers in the United States as Disney has been pushing the more mature material over to Hulu. It is not known if Disney plans to continue going this route with their adult fare or if at some point Star will be available to Disney’s U.S. customers.
Okay, GFR’ers, who out there is ready for some R-rated Star Wars animation? Let us know your thoughts on this mature matter.
