Star Wars: 70,000+ sign petition for Old Republic era series on Netflix

The petition seeks to have 'the stories from over 3,000 years before the Battle of Yavin be told to both new and old fans of the franchise'

Star Wars fans have taken the philosophy that if you want something, you may as well just ask for it.

Which is presumably the thinking behind a petition declaring that it's the right time for, "the stories from over 3,000 years before the Battle of Yavin be told to both new and old fans of the franchise." Fans are calling on Netflix to take on the vast history of Star Wars' Old Republic, for a new series for the streaming service.

Speficially, the proposed series would look to draw from the well of storytelling established by the Knights of the Republic series of videogames, as well as the MMORPG Stars Wars: The Old Republic; looking to focus on existing characters such as Darth Revan, Darth Malak, Bastila Shan, Darth Traya, Meetra Surik, Darth Malgus, and Satele Shan.

As decribed, "The Old Republic era is a pivotal point in the Star Wars timeline because that's where everything changed, from the Jedi Civil War and the fall of Revan, the First Jedi Purge, and an omnipresent darkness that not only watched the chaos from afar but also kick-started the downfall."

The petition rather dramatically describes the neglect of telling these stories as a "disservice' to the fandom, but it's actually a fairly strong direction for the franchise to go in the future; specifically if Disney were looking to change up the tone even more dramatically than the upcoming Rogue One with something, "dark, foreboding, and a touch on the mature side".

There's no doubt Disney has explored the option of taking the Star Wars franchise to Netflix, considering Marvel's own success with the likes of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage; in fact, it wouldn't be entirely surprising if the studio didn't already have something in the works in collaboration with the streaming giant.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits UK cinemas 16 December.