With 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has said it would be the last we’d see of The Skywalker Saga on the big screen. And yeah, that’s true…so far. But in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Kennedy reiterates the mission statement to tackle new corners of the Star Wars universe…
“I think it is vital. Just staying within the construct of George’s storytelling, to keep chipping away at that, I think would be wrong.” Kennedy said. “It’s our job to step away now, but still, have a connection to the mythology that George created. That won’t stop. But we are moving on from the Skywalker saga. That’s what’s taking a lot of time, discussion, and thought right now.”
Of course, when one looks at the TV landscape on Disney+, it seems the Skywalker Saga is alive and well. At this point, every show has been set within that timeframe, filling in the gaps so to speak, with only Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte set in a completely different era.
Kennedy also gave a small but significant update on Star Wars‘ theatrical future, which includes films by Taika Waititi, Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Loki writer Michael Waldron, and Patty Jenkins’ delayed Rogue Squadron. That last one might have appeared dead, but Kennedy suggests it’s merely in a holding pattern…
“We have a road map,” Kennedy said. “I would say that Taika’s story fits more specifically into that. ‘Rogue Squadron’…we kind of pushed off to the side for the moment. Patty is developing the script further. Then we will talk about how that connects to the central spine that we’re working on. There’s a couple of [filmmakers] that we’ve been in conversation with over quite a long period of time that I’m hoping will come in and make the overall commitment that Jon [Favreau] and Dave [Filoni] have made. That’s ideally what I would love to see happen in the feature space.”
Next up is Obi-Wan Kenobi which hits Disney+ on May 27th!
