The fifth episode of The Book of Boba Fett gave us a nostalgia-filled ride down memory lane to the prequel era. The Mandalorian got a new N-1 Starfighter that he took out for a quick test drive. What stood out was that we revisited the race track from The Phantom Menace, where a young Anakin took on podracers like Sebulba and Ben Quadinaros. While watching this sequence, I thought back to loving the sequence and how I ended up playing hours of Star Wars Racers on the Nintendo 64. It made me wonder how Lucasfilm still hasn’t announced a Disney+ series yet. So, here’s my pitch so that we can soon make our return to the world of podracing.
While Episode 1 mainly focused on the Tatooine racetrack, the game took us on a cross-galaxy tour exploring some of the most dangerous race tracks a podracer has to face, may it be on Malastare, Theron, or even Cantonica. So, a Disney+ series could explore a different race track with each episode, as the danger continues to grow with each new track. not only do we get to explore parts of the galaxy we haven’t seen in live-action yet, but it can also build up tension as you never know which racer might make it out alive.
Speaking of, while there’s a risk of losing your favorite character at any point in the race, it adds a similar element that The Suicide Squad toyed with as you never know just who might make it out alive. Imagine we get introduced to an interesting set of characters, each with their arcs only for a wrong turn to instantly end their story. It would not only cement the dangers to the drivers, but also the viewer. The prequel film did give us explosions but most of the racers got out pretty unscathed.
Imagine the story of a young hotshot racer, who has always dreamed of his time as part of the pod racers. Suddenly, he lucked out as they suddenly needed a new driver and he took his opportunity. Surprised by the fact that no one else would jump at the opportunity, he slowly learns just how dangerous the races truly are. The only thing keeping him moving forward is a promise he made a long time ago that he refuses to give up on. Perhaps it’s exactly the thing he needs to keep going no matter what heads his way.
He makes friends along the way, an unrelenting rival, and witnesses the galaxy like never before. Maybe throw in some Speed Racer-like conspiracy, as fixed games are dragging down his chances of making it to the top but he makes some unlikely allies that may be the key to his success. While the story may be disconnected from the other shows, it would offer some fun distracting that helps further establish the galaxy with locations that we may end up visiting in other stories. It’s just time to finally bring podracing back Lucasfilm.
