That first idea was focused on doing a prequel which showed a young Cookie with her family, but some of that was likely due to Empire itself still being on the air.
It was as early as August 2015 that Lee Daniels spoke openly about wanting to do more with Cookie in a potential spinoff.
Now that the parent show has moved on to that TV graveyard in the sky, it’s the perfect time to give current day Cookie her own show.
The character is obviously one of the major reasons for the fast and furious success of the series, as Taraji P. Henson brought a lot of flash, sass and sarcasm to the role.