Greg Daniels says his idea for a reboot of The Office is a bit like The Mandalorian

The Marvel Cinematic Universe could have a rival to its world of complex and interconnected storytelling. Enter: The Office Televisual Universe. In an interview with Collider, Greg Daniels, creator of the American version of The Office, discussed what he envisions for a reboot of the beloved NBC series.

His idea involves new characters set in the same universe of the original show. He explains, “I can’t tell whether fans would want more of it, and when I say more of it, I don’t think it would be the same characters. I think it would just be sort of like an extension of the universe, you know what I mean, like the way [The] Mandalorian is like an extension of Star Wars. But I don’t know if that would be something people would want or not, it’s hard to tell.”

This expanded universe reboot concept isn’t new for the NBC comedy. Daniels’ 2009 Parks and Recreation was reportedly intended as a sequel to The Office. A bad copy machine from Dunder Mifflin would have been sent to the local government office in Pawnee, Indiana. However, that idea changed in favor of making the Amy Poehler-led series a spiritual sequel instead.

Although Daniels isn’t sure if The Office fans would be down for this type of reboot, he does know NBC would “certainly be very excited to do it.” NBC content chief Susan Rovner has previously said that they’re ready for a reboot whenever Daniels is.

“Obviously certain parts are just personal,” Daniels adds. “Like I’ve got all these other projects that I’ve been working on. [The Office] was such a wonderful and rare experience that obviously you don’t want to just go back to it and kind of possibly disappoint people when right now, they couldn’t be happier about it.”

Fans’ reaction to a reboot seems a bit more unsure for Daniels, as he does point out that enthusiasts of the original British series weren’t too keen on the U.S. adaption at first. “A lot of people were very down on it because they were like, ‘It’ll never be as good as the English show.’” he said. “And then it took a while, but we sort of turned that boat around.”

With NBC’s streaming service Peacock selling subscription tiers based on varying access to the series, it’s no doubt that the reboot would still have loyal watchers. Years later, lovers of the show even made everyone’s favorite chili connoisseur Brian Baumgartner more than $1 million on Cameo. Perhaps the new series could follow an office of podcasters, hmm?