Star Wars: Kathleen Kennedy On Future Stories for Sequel Trilogy Characters, the Planned Return of Palpatine, and Potential Old Republic Era Content

MTV News' Josh Horowitz spoke with Kathleen Kennedy during Star Wars Celebration this past weekend. Lucasfilm's President spoke on future stories for sequel trilogy characters, the return of Palpatine, and the development of Star Wars content taking place in the Old Republic era.





From old, to new, and the future, Kathleen Kennedy makes it clear that all aspects of this vast galaxy of storytelling are being explored as we move to the future beyond the Skywalker family, which doesn't necessarily mean we have to say goodbye to all familiar faces. The interview touches on several different topics, as we mentioned above.



(from MTV News):

Kennedy's initial response here is very interesting. To me it is clear she is saying she wants to see more stories from our new main characters, Rey, Finn, Poe, and perhaps even Kylo Ren, though villains typically don't survive final acts (even if redeemed). The 'Skywalker saga' can end without the episodic films ending. We can say finally say farewell to this family and move on with this generation taking full center-stage.







The early promotion for the film out of Star Wars Celebration is focused on the new generation. There is no trace of Han, Luke, or Leia in the Episode IX portion of the saga mural, nor was Mark Hamill at the panel for the film (even though he is confirmed in the movie), and none of the original trilogy characters are featured on that leaked poster from a few weeks ago.



It appears, at least in the early going, that Lucasfilm and Disney are making a concerted effort to showcase this new generation of characters, releasing the franchise from the crutch of hanging on to the past heroes that built the franchise into what it has become. To me this is a great move, because while hanging on to nostalgia can rekindle popularity, it can not move a franchise forward. As Luke Skywalker himself says in the teaser for The Rise of Skywalker, 'This is your fight now.'

Earlier this year I reported information given to me by someone who had proven to have worked on all of the Disney-era Star Wars films. They were told Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would be telling their Star Wars stories in this era, though I cautioned people should take this as nothing more than a rumor since I was unable to lock down a second source confirming it. This quote from Kennedy indicates that is it something they have been discussing in-development, and though she may be simply playing her cards close to the vest, something being in-development doesn't mean it is or will be in production. So we'll have to keep an eye and ear out for more information in the future regarding Star Wars content visiting the Old Republic era.

Unless Kennedy is using her response as a PR (public relations) move to squash criticism that this trilogy had no pathway, it sounds like there was always a plan in place to implement Palpatine back into this story to complete the saga surrounding the Skywalker family.



The belonging we seek is not behind us, it is ahead, and it sounds like Lucasfilm has a path set in place for the next decade of Star Wars story-telling, from several Disney+ streaming series to what put Star Wars on the map in the first place: big budget, big screen movies.



As we prepare ourselves to say farewell to the Skywalkers, we can take solace in knowing that we are about to enter an era in Star Wars with more content that we could have possibly imagined when the episodic films first graced theaters 40 years ago. If the teaser for The Rise of Skywalker, footage from The Mandalorian, and trailers for upcoming parks, animated series, and video games are any indication, this really could be where the fun begins.



Here is the three minute exchange between Josh Horowitz and Kathleen Kennedy, via Twitter:



https://twitter.com/MTVNEWS/status/1118270840989192192





Click HERE to check out and comment on this topic on our main site

 

MTV News' Josh Horowitz spoke with Kathleen Kennedy during Star Wars Celebration this past weekend. Lucasfilm's President spoke on future stories for sequel trilogy characters, the return of Palpatine, and the development of Star Wars content taking place in the Old Republic era.





From old, to new, and the future, Kathleen Kennedy makes it clear that all aspects of this vast galaxy of storytelling are being explored as we move to the future beyond the Skywalker family, which doesn't necessarily mean we have to say goodbye to all familiar faces. The interview touches on several different topics, as we mentioned above.



(from MTV News):

Kennedy's initial response here is very interesting. To me it is clear she is saying she wants to see more stories from our new main characters, Rey, Finn, Poe, and perhaps even Kylo Ren, though villains typically don't survive final acts (even if redeemed). The 'Skywalker saga' can end without the episodic films ending. We can say finally say farewell to this family and move on with this generation taking full center-stage.







The early promotion for the film out of Star Wars Celebration is focused on the new generation. There is no trace of Han, Luke, or Leia in the Episode IX portion of the saga mural, nor was Mark Hamill at the panel for the film (even though he is confirmed in the movie), and none of the original trilogy characters are featured on that leaked poster from a few weeks ago.



It appears, at least in the early going, that Lucasfilm and Disney are making a concerted effort to showcase this new generation of characters, releasing the franchise from the crutch of hanging on to the past heroes that built the franchise into what it has become. To me this is a great move, because while hanging on to nostalgia can rekindle popularity, it can not move a franchise forward. As Luke Skywalker himself says in the teaser for The Rise of Skywalker, 'This is your fight now.'

Earlier this year I reported information given to me by someone who had proven to have worked on all of the Disney-era Star Wars films. They were told Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would be telling their Star Wars stories in this era, though I cautioned people should take this as nothing more than a rumor since I was unable to lock down a second source confirming it. This quote from Kennedy indicates that is it something they have been discussing in-development, and though she may be simply playing her cards close to the vest, something being in-development doesn't mean it is or will be in production. So we'll have to keep an eye and ear out for more information in the future regarding Star Wars content visiting the Old Republic era.

Unless Kennedy is using her response as a PR (public relations) move to squash criticism that this trilogy had no pathway, it sounds like there was always a plan in place to implement Palpatine back into this story to complete the saga surrounding the Skywalker family.



The belonging we seek is not behind us, it is ahead, and it sounds like Lucasfilm has a path set in place for the next decade of Star Wars story-telling, from several Disney+ streaming series to what put Star Wars on the map in the first place: big budget, big screen movies.



As we prepare ourselves to say farewell to the Skywalkers, we can take solace in knowing that we are about to enter an era in Star Wars with more content that we could have possibly imagined when the episodic films first graced theaters 40 years ago. If the teaser for The Rise of Skywalker, footage from The Mandalorian, and trailers for upcoming parks, animated series, and video games are any indication, this really could be where the fun begins.



Here is the three minute exchange between Josh Horowitz and Kathleen Kennedy, via Twitter:



https://twitter.com/MTVNEWS/status/1118270840989192192





Click HERE to check out and comment on this topic on our main site