Recent reports indicate that Disney is moving full-steam ahead on a new Star Wars theatrical release. Originally spearheaded and written by Damon Lindelof, with direction from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the film comes after a time when all Star Wars content was relegated to Disney’s streaming network, Disney+. Though the shows have received varying levels of critical and fan acclaim, devotees and the entertainment world have been waiting with bated breath for real movement forward on a theatrical release from the legendary franchise.
Along with confirmations of the next Star Wars entry’s guiding hands, tantalizing hints about the film have come to light. The most significant detail is the confirmation that the movie will feature Daisy Riddley as Rey (with rumors still circulating as to the inclusion of other characters from the 2010s Star Wars sequel films). No word has leaked regarding what other characters might appear or in what capacity, but the inclusion of Rey and the sudden changes regarding who is leading this project suggest that Disney has yet to learn its lesson on the proper handling of Star Wars moving forward.
Updated by Christopher Raley on July 17, 2024: What was once Damon Lindelof’s Star Wars film has now shifted to other leadership. Lindelhof’s script (or whatever he was able to complete of it) is being moved to the side in favor of a movie that focuses on Rey rebuilding the Jedi order. This article has been updated to include recent news of the project and to conform to current CBR publishing standards.
Disney Has Yet to Step Away From The Skywalker Saga
Clinging To The Original Films Holds Back New Ideas
Trivia
The recent Acolyte series has a 6 on IMDB and an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
At one time, Disney announced several projects and quickly tossed them on the back-burner, most notably a proposed trilogy from Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. But Lindelof’s movie is the first to see true momentum building both while he was spearheading it and after. Doubts as to the trajectory of the film now seem to confirm what fans have worried about.
Time and time again, Disney has proved reticent to explore corners of the Star Wars universe hitherto untouched. The 2010s trilogy featured a bevy of legacy characters and carried on the fundamental narrative elements of the previous six chapters. This was frustrated by the fact that the only role the legacy characters seemed to play was to be killed in some fashion. So the sequels squirmed around in the awkward place wanting to move forward while having to formally appease fans with the appearance of the old characters before unceremoniously dumping them like old baggage.
Even details outside the main throughline of the Skywalker Saga constantly returned or played major roles in the plot — namely, protagonist Rey’s connection with Emperor Palpatine. All the Star Wars television properties, too, tie directly to previous movies or eventually feature legacy characters to some degree. Both spinoff movies follow this pattern, as well.
And So The Trend Continues
Are The “New” Old Characters Now Dead Weight
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The Star Wars sequels are mostly noted for being divisive, with some fans hating them and some fans loving them.
To date, George Lucas has made no public statements about the last two entries, but the Star Wars creator did express his disappointment that The Force Awakens offered nothing new.
By making characters from the recent trilogy central or ancillary figures in the new Star Wars movie, Disney seems to double down on this paradigm, extending the legacy character umbrella to ones less than a decade old. If this is indeed what Disney intends, the strategy is overly optimistic if it assumes that the sequel characters have a legacy that survived the hate many fans directed toward those films.
One would think Disney would be in a hurry to distance itself from the sequels, and yet it cannot seem to muster the courage to fabricate a complete narrative without having it connect tangentially to the supposedly concluded Skywalker Saga. The end of the Star Wars (to this point) main narrative should, in theory, allow for complete freedom in crafting whatever comes next. But if the creatives at Disney can’t stand the risk, there’s no real chance of any new compelling stories coming from the Star Wars universe again.
Damon Lindelof’s Style Hews Closely J.J. Abrams’
Perhaps He Was Too Close to That Controversial Figure
Trivia
Damon Lindelof is known for his work on Lost, The Leftovers, and HBO’s Watchmen series.
Despite going downhill in the last season, Lost has an RT score of 86% and an 8.3 on IMDB.
Before he was asked to leave the project, Lindelof’s involvement alone indicated that Disney hadn’t learned its lesson. J.J. Abrams is a close collaborator and creative peer to Lindelof. The two famously pioneered the “mystery box” style of storytelling with their long-running television show Lost. Their story-telling style is problematic, to say the least, as Lost proves in its final season when fans confronted the possibility that maybe there was no mystery there at all.
This style of plot structuring worked well as an opening salvo in the sequel trilogy, but Abrams was unwilling to take any narrative risks with his grand finale, retconning elements of Johnson’s middle entry to better connect to the original trilogy. The “mystery box” questions that were asked in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens were never satisfactorily answered, and several were left dangling entirely. This made Lindelof a dubious choice for a Star Wars film to begin with.
Has Disney At Last Broken From the Past?
The Company Teeters On the Edge
Trivia
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was the director of Ms. Marvel, a successful Marvel Studios TV series that has a 98% RT score but a 6.2 from IMDB.
Obaid-Chinoy said that the new movie will be “taking [Rey Skywalker] on an adventure to a Jedi Academy.
So when Disney asked Lindelof to leave, it seemed to be a step in the right direction. Bring in new blood to produce a new story. But soon after hearing of Lindelof’s departure, fans learned that the new director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and writer Steven Knight were helming a movie that will be a sequel to Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.
In other words, as soon as there was reason to hold out hope for a fresh Star Wars movie, Disney dashed them to pieces. Of course, there are other projects slated to hit the big screen that may give fans a fresh look at the Star Wars franchise. But if Disney is ever going to craft a new and original story in the Star Wars universe, it has to finally detach from the past and its legacy characters.
Star Wars May Finally Be Going In The Right Direction
If Not With Rey’s Movie, Then Maybe WIth Others
Trivia
Longtime Star Wars producer/director Dave Filoni was named the Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm in 2023.
In 2005, George Lucas hired Dave Filoni to create Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the company’s first entry in the world of animation.
While the original Star Wars movies are beloved, Lucasfilm is making the right choice by differentiating its upcoming stories. Currently, there are four films in production at Lucasfilm: one following Rey Skywalker’s New Jedi Order, two featuring the culmination of The Mandalorian‘s ongoing storyline, and Dawn of the Jedi, which takes place 25,000 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. While three of these films are deeply rooted in the Skywalker Saga, Dawn of the Jedi, which will be helmed by Logan‘s James Mangold, shows Lucasfilm’s willingness to move on to fresh stories. The premise and name suggest it could take cues from the Dark Horse comic book series of the same name, chronicling the early days of the Jedi Order.
Dawn of the Jedi may be a risk for Lucasfilm, but it could pay off in the end. Audiences have deep connections to the events of the Skywalker Saga, which makes anything set therein highly controversial because of how strongly fans feel about the franchise. However, new storylines featuring fresh characters largely disconnected from the Skywalker Saga are not nearly as emotionally charged and therefore have greater creative freedom. Furthermore, with Dave Filoni now in charge of the creative decisions at Lucasfilm, Star Wars may finally (all things considered) be headed in the right direction. Who knows? Disney may yet prove you can teach an old dog new tricks.
