Crazy Rich AsiansdirectorJon M. Chusaid, “Justice for Rose Tico!” this week when he called for theStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkercharacter to get her own Disney+ TV series and yes, I’m all in on it. First seen inStar Wars: The Last Jediand portrayed byKelly Marie Tran, the character of Rose Tico has been unnecessarily divisive and unfairly (almost cruelly) scrutinized by a portion of theStar Warsfandom. Now, after her pitifully short amount of time onscreen inRise of Skywalker, Chu is just one of many making their voice heard on social media as they call for a fairer treatment of Rose plus more screen time.
On Friday, Chu took to Twitter with a simple call for action: “Ok@disneyplus. Put me in coach. Let’s make this series happen.#RoseTicoDeservedBetter@starwars.” Simple and direct, just the way I like it. There were no details spilled in the tweet about what Chu was envisioning but honestly, anything focused on getting Rose Tico back onscreen and in the spotlight is good enough for me. Plus, Chu is a seasoned director with credits includingG.I. Joe Retaliation,Now You See Me 2, and the upcoming movie musicalIn The Heightson his resumé; the man is skilled at directing in a variety of genres which would make for some fun results in a Rose Tico Disney+ TV series.
It was revealed earlier this week viaSlatethat Rose spends just 1 minute and 16 seconds onscreen inThe Rise of Skywalker(it runs 2 hours and 22 minutes, FYI) and, in a very much out-of-character turn of events, rejects the call to adventure during that time onscreen rather than joining her Resistance pals in taking down the First Order. ConsideringThe Last Jediestablished Rose as a fearless, kickass character, seeing her sidelined while other characters were introduced in lieu of just keeping her in the mix felt screwy. Furthermore, seeing Rose treated thusafter Tran enduredsome truly brutal, racist, and disproportionately critical dislike IRL in the wake ofThe Last Jedito the point she left social media felt like a real punch to the gut. As such, it feels right and good for Chu to publicly call for reparations to Rose’s — and Tran’s, by extension — honor while also giving space to expand on her world.
So, basically, #MoreRoseTico2020. You heard it here first.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkeris in theaters now. For more on the latestStar Warsmovie, check out Collider’s own Matt Goldberg breaking down theproblem with theRise of Skywalkerending.
