The Perfect Star Wars Comedy Show Is Already Written

Before I dive into why Wraith Squadron would make for hilarious television, it’s important to address the bantha in the room: Star Wars hasn’t always been great when it comes to comedy. The last real attempt to focus on this was Star Wars Detours, a non-canonical comedy cartoon that was canceled before it even came out. And the comedy we get in mostly serious films and shows is often downright awful (we’re all still cringing at The Last Jedi having a yo’ mama joke, right?).

However, while Star Wars has struggled with bringing comedy to both the big and small screen, writers have created some hilarious books and comics set in a galaxy far, far away. This includes comics featuring Tag and Bink, the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-inspired comedic duo created by Kevin Rubio and Lucas Marangon. And it also includes Wraith Squadron, the sublimely funny series of books by Aaron Allston that center around X-Wing pilots.

This series began with a book simply titled Wraith Squadron, and this tale had a wild premise: Wedge Antilles, ace X-Wing pilot and leader of Rogue Squadron, decides to form a very different kind of squadron. As the publisher’s summary helpfully describes, this new squad is made of “pilots drawn from the dregs of other units, castoffs and rejects given one last chance.” The veteran pilot believes that such a squad would bring some very unique skills to the table and be effective as both commandos and pilots, and this theory is proven correct when the squad takes over an Imperial ship and must continuously fool enemy forces.

So, cutting to it: why do I think Wraith Squadron would make for a great Star Wars comedy show? For one thing, the assortment of oddball pilots lends itself to comedy…this is a squadron, mind you, that includes a genius Gamorrean. Also, the crew has a weird sense of humor, including a running joke about an Ewok X-Wing pilot that turns into a series of pranks that make everyone feel more like weird roommates than a military unit.

Additionally, as Allston’s books help prove, there is a lot of comedic potential in the squadron’s unorthodox assignments. There’s usually not much room for laughs when X-Wings and TIEs are just mixing it up and blowing each other out of the sky. But a crew having to constantly impersonate other Imperials while keeping track of their prisoners and struggling with unfamiliar equipment lends itself to many funny scenarios.

Plus, a show could take after the books by constantly sending Wraith Squadron on different missions, giving us a different adventure each episode instead of building entire seasons around a single mystery or character. Each mission brings new locations, characters, and situations, all of which a good writing staff can transform into comedy gold. Plus, with characters like Garik “Face” Loran, a former child star of Imperial propaganda who now uses his acting skills for the good guys, every scene has the potential for hilarious surprises. 

As an added bonus, a Wraith Squadron show would have a built-in audience if Disney ever releases Patty Jenkins’ X-Wing movie. That way, Star Wars fans can have the best of both worlds: a serious, blockbuster film and then a lighthearted show featuring entirely different pilots. All of this adds up to more onscreen dog-fighting adventures (always a good thing) and an easy expansion of this fictional universe beyond a handful of Force users and their buddies.

Honestly, if I were to sing all the praises that Wraith Squadron deserves, we’d be here all day. Summing things up, these Aaron Allston books are the funniest thing to come out of a galaxy far, far away, and adapting them for the small screen would let Star Wars finally have a great comedy TV show. Plus, it would be a fitting tribute to Allston himself, who sadly passed away in 2014.