In perhaps the most surprising movie news in a little while, Deadline revealed on Thursday that Disney and Lucasfilm had reached a deal with longtime X-Men producer Simon Kinberg to write and produce a new trilogy of Star Wars movies. According to the initial report, these three films could be continuing the Skywalker Saga, picking up the story after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Other reports suggest that this trilogy will tell a new story in the Star Wars universe.
Either way, there’s a big new initiative in Star Wars, and Kinberg is at the helm. He may have some failures on his resume from his time with the X-Men, but Kinberg is also the filmmaker that co-created and wrote Star Wars Rebels alongside Dave Filoni. With an entire trilogy at his disposal, though, where might Kinberg be planning to take the world of Star Wars?
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If these movies are a continuation of the story that began in the sequel trilogy, then they’ll likely pick up with Rey and/or Finn continuing on in the traditions of the Force and Jedi. However, given that Rey’s standalone film is still happening, this doesn’t make very much sense.
The more likely scenario is that the Rey movie, from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, will continue the story that left off in The Rise of Skywalker. If that’s the case, and many of Thursday’s reports turn out to be true, Kinberg’s trilogy will be breaking new ground somewhere later in the Star Wars timeline.
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As disappointing as it will be for some to hear, this new Star Wars trilogy is probably going to follow the template of The Force Awakens as closely as possible. There will be a new force of great evil in the galaxy, trying to replace the Empire and First Order. There will be a new set of heroes trying to stop them, with at least one of them having a deep connection to the Force they don’t exactly know how to control (and another that’s a wise-cracking pilot). There will be legacy characters from previous Star Wars projects that connect the new films to what we already know and love.
That may sound a little boring since we’ve already seen it, but this feels like Lucasfilm’s chance to recapture the hype from the start of the previous trilogy without making its same mistakes. This plan sees Kinberg writing the whole trilogy, so it will be a singular voice and story, hopefully avoiding the whiplash the last three films gave us.
In this scenario, there will undoubtedly be well-loved Star Wars characters either appear or get referenced in these new movies. Nostalgia played such a big part in selling The Force Awakens and that will likely be a key in getting a divided fan base invested in this new direction. The original trio of Luke, Leia, and Han are off the table. Din Djarin, aka the Mandalorian, is probably also a safe bet to exclude here. His story is the biggest thing Star Wars has going at the moment, there’s no reason to show how it ends when he’s still got more in front him.
However, that logic doesn’t apply to Din Djarin’s adorable companion. Grogu (Baby Yoda) is the most iconic Star Wars character of the Disney era, and it’s not even close. He’s 50 years old in The Mandalorian and still appears as a baby/toddler. Now feature him in the future, years beyond the events of both his era and the sequel trilogy? Well you’ve got a walking, talking Jedi on your hands, one that is widely loved by the fans and can still feel fresh.
It would frankly be surprising if an older Grogu wasn’t involved in this new saga in some capacity. Think of it as the opportunity to really utilize the Yoda character from a young age, making him a focal point of the trilogy instead of a grizzled veteran on a ticking clock from the moment he’s introduced. George Lucas was a master at killing his darlings, but in this age of franchises and IP, Lucasfilm is craving a character who can live forever.
Grogu should not, under any circumstance, be the main character of this new saga. Let’s hope Lucasfilm and Kinberg can avoid that. But having him be a supporting character that connects one era to another? That’s a Disney Star Wars move through and through.
It would make sense to tie all this into at least one or two sequel trilogy characters as well. Rey has her own film, but we could still see an older version of the character jump into the mix at some point. If that’s the case, both Finn and Poe have to be on the table as well. Let’s also remember Jannah, the character from Rise of Skywalker who turned out to be Lando’s daughter.
Depending on how far into the future this saga goes, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if the children of those heroes turn out to be the leading characters.
It would be awesome if Kinberg shocked us all by doing literally none of these things and starting something that’s actually brand new, filled with characters that have no connection to the things we already love and creating a corner of the Star Wars universe we’ve never seen before. But we already know the chances of that are slim and none — and slim just hopped on the fastest speeder headed out of town.
