Where Does Lucasfilm Go After Kathleen Kennedy?

After a storied tenure in the galaxy far, far away, one rife with excitement and battles won and lost, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down. And in her place, are new heirs to the empire: Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, who split duties to focus on the creative side and business side, respectively.

For the force-sensitive, the news, long rumored, doesn’t come as a surprise. But it does raise questions about what the future of Star Wars will look like, especially without Kennedy’s hard-fought experience, and whether this current theatrical landscape will embrace what’s to come.

Star Wars is in a bit of an odd spot. There are plenty of directions the franchise could go, but a hesitancy to commit to anything more than one-off stories. Lucasfilm may have put an end to the “A Star Wars Story” branding after the box office disappointment of Solo (2018), but that’s still essentially what its upcoming film lineup is. These decisions also come down to Disney and Bob Iger, who I’d say is more risk-averse than any of the leaders at Disney’s satellite studios, despite his encouragement to Kennedy to “be bold.” But in this era, where it takes more than brand-recognition to get audiences into theaters, former safe bets now feel like risks.

The Jon Favreau-directed and Filoni co-written The Mandalorian and Grogu, is set for a May 22 release this year. Produced by Kennedy, it’s the first Star Wars film since The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Yet, the franchise’s return to the big screen seems relatively muted. The film was greenlit in lieu of a fourth season of The Mandalorian during labor strikes of 2023, but the release of the first trailer left many wondering why Lucasfilm didn’t simply wait to make season four.

At this point in the film’s marketing, there’s little to distinguish it from looking like the Disney+ series. And the synopsis describing the premise as the New Republic hiring Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu to take on remaining Imperial warlords threatening the galaxy doesn’t suggest anything outside of what could be a three-episode arc of the series.

And that’s not to discredit the TV series, which has been a highly enjoyable ride, especially for those who love the deep lore of the franchise. And it has shown some interesting galactic developments between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. But the theatrical Star Wars experience should feel different than a TV show you can enjoy while eating breakfast.

Also set for release is Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, the last Star Wars film to be produced by Kennedy as president of Lucasfilm. Little has been revealed about the feature, which will be released in May 2027, other than that it takes place five years after The Rise of Skywalker.

Forward motion, new heroes and threats, along with a star-studded cast comprised of Ryan Gosling, Mia Goth, Matt Smith, Aaron Pierre and Amy Adams could certainly prove to be a hit for Lucasfilm. But should the film, expected to be a single movie rather than a franchise launcher, avoid all things Jedi, Sith, and lightsabers, then we’ll be approaching almost a decade without some of the most popular aspects of Star Wars. If only there were some way to include bounty hunters, cute sidekicks, starship pilots, aliens, politics, and lightsaber battles between the dark side and the light into one movie, maybe even, a trilogy.

Formally announced projects like Filoni’s movie that would’ve seen characters from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, The Book of Bobba Fett, Ahsoka,and The Skeleton Crew deal with the threat of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), has been placed on the backburner. But Ahsoka is getting a second season, while Favreau has stated hope for a fourth season of Mandalorian.

As for the other projects announced at Star Wars Celebration over the last few years? In an exit interview with Deadline, Kennedy detailed the status on several of those projects. James Mangold and Beau Willimon’s origin of the Jedi movie has a great script, but the film is on hold. Taika Waititi turned in a script Kennedy described as hilarious, but said it getting greenlit was out of her hands. Donald Glover turned in his Lando script. And of course, Steven Soderbergh and Adam Driver pushed for a Kylo Ren movie with the script written by Scott Burns. Will any of these actually happen? Well Darth Vader may find my lack of faith disturbing, but I’m doubtful.

What Kennedy does seem confident about is Simon Kinberg’s Star Wars film he is writing and producing. Kinberg is expected to deliver a script this year, and Kennedy said Filoni and Brennan were on board with it. No details have been revealed about Kinberg’s project outside of the fact he has plans for a trilogy. Filoni, protégé of George Lucas himself, is known for his in-depth knowledge of all thing Star Wars, and like Lucas, tends to lean more towards the space-fantasy space than sci-fi with Star Wars. Force gods, prophecies and witches are all in his wheelhouse, which could give some indication of what Kinberg is working with. I’ll add the caveat that Kinberg’s screenwriting has proven to be divisive in the fan space, as several of the X-Men films he wrote have proven. The writer may inspire confidence in Lucasfilm’s new leaders, but can the same be said of Star Wars fans?

Oddly, what hasn’t been mentioned by Kennedy recently is the Rey-led movie starring Daisy Ridley, tentatively titled New Jedi Order. The film, announced by Kennedy in 2023 and set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is set 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker, and will follow Rey rebuilding the Jedi Order. Filming had been expected to start last year, with a script penned by George Nolfi, but there’s been no movement yet. Ridley gave an update on the status of the project to IGN in December last year, saying, “I think over the years, I’ve learned how the reality of getting any film made is so massive. The hurdles are vast… But with this particularly, I know that incredible voices and creatives are part of it, and I know the wait will be worth it.”

Of all the Star Wars projects in various states of development, this one seems like the safest bet. Even with the mixed reception to The Rise of Skywalker (which stems more from adults than younger audiences), the characters in the sequel trilogy still have a sizeable invested fanbase who want to see more interactions between Rey, Finn, Poe and BB-8.

And given the vocal desire for Soderberg’s Kylo Ren movie, Driver’s excitement, and petitions to bring Ben Solo back, the most obvious answer to the future of Star Wars might be the simplest – make Star Wars Episodes X, XI and XII.

There’s a brand-new galaxy out there, with new force sensitive beings, new ways in which to understand the force, and new opportunities to step away from nostalgia and push Star Wars forward. Whether or not it happens sooner or later remains the question, but a sequel-sequel trilogy feels inevitable. Until then, Lucasfilm has to prove it can make Star Wars into epic, theatrical events that excite fans old and new again. There’s plenty of reasons to hope, but also, expect more growing pains than an adolescent Wookie.