Getting a handle on the big-screen future of Star Wars has been a foolish errand. Some huge projects with notable names have been out there as potential projects for years. The key word is “potential”, because none of them have come to be. And if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that if a franchise project doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, it’s because it ain’t going anywhere. And with that knowledge, exactly NONE of this Star Wars news comes as a surprise.
According to Variety, the Star Wars projects that Patty Jenkins and Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige were attached to have been scrapped. Jenkins had been set to direct Rogue Squadron, and it looked like something she would jump into after Wonder Woman 3. However, the film was yanked from the schedule indefinitely. leaving it in limbo. There was a brief moment, after she quit/fired the Wonder Woman sequel that it looked like Rogue Squadron was back on, but now studio sources say “it is no longer in active development at the studio.”
Oof. Rough few months for Jenkins, eh?
As for Feige, his Star Wars movie never actually felt like a real thing, anyway. There was never any idea of a plot, a timeline, or anything. Sure, he hired Doctor Strange 2 writer Michael Waldron to get working on a script, but then Feige set him to start crafting Avengers: Secret Wars, instead. It looked as if Feige’s Marvel commitments would always take priority and someone at Lucasfilm finally recognized that.
Meanwhile, there’s also the anticipated film from director Taika Waititi. It actually continues right along and could be the one that lands the open December 2025 release date. The supposed surprising bit of this news is that Waititi will do more than write and direct this Star Wars movie, but also give himself a role in it “similar in prominence” to what he gave himself in Jojo Rabbit. Have these people ever seen a Taika Waititi movie? He always gives himself something to do. And given that he’s already part of the Star Wars universe, as IG-11 in The Mandalorian, this is even less of a shock. Sometimes, Waititi gives himself too much to do and it hurts the movie, as it did in Thor: Love & Thunder where his Korg was a big, unfunny distraction.
Finally, Rian Johnson’s supposed trilogy of movies are technically still a possibility. Lucasfilm wants him to do them, and he wants to, as well. But with Knives Out 3 and season 2 of Poker Face taking priority, it’ll be a while before he ever follows up on the greatness that was The Last Jedi.
