It’s been about three years since The Rise of Skywalker brought the latest trilogy of Star Wars movies a widely maligned conclusion, forcing LucasFilm head Kathleen Kennedy to hit the brakes on the franchise’s aggressive expansion and throw the company’s weight behind more acclaimed streaming efforts like The Mandalorian instead. But today, Kennedy took the stage during the latest Star Wars Celebration event in London to announce a slew of new film projects she has put into motion and deliver this bombshell: Daisy Ridley will return as Rey Skywalker for a new film set 15 years after the conclusion of Rise.
Kennedy also unveiled the first trailer for the Rosario Dawson-led Ahsoka Disney+ show, teases about Andor’s second season, a first look at the much-anticipated series The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew, and as a bonus, a new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Read on for details about all those, plus the future of Star Wars.
Rey’s Return Kennedy showed where each installment would slot into the canon using a timeline. Each of the three new movies represents one part of the past, present, and future of Star Wars lore.
Let’s start with the future, represented by Rey. Directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel), the film picks up with Rey as she builds a new Jedi Order. The Rey films (Episodes VII-IX) were beset by behind-the-scenes drama: Colin Trevorrow loudly stepping away from IX for J.J. Abrams to take over, and then Abrams and Rian Johnson clashing over how to bridge VIII and IX. Unfortunately, as interesting as it will be to see Rey again, her latest showcase appears to be suffering from similar issues. This script is apparently the project that Damon Lindelof and co-writer Justin Britt-Gibson were reported to have just stepped away from, after Lindelof declared that the “degree of difficulty [in making the film] is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If [the film] can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist.” It’s entirely possible he was referring to reintroducing Rey after her trilogy disappointed many fans. Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight is taking over the movie, which will “likely be one of the first out of the gate for the studio,” Deadline reports.
The Mandalorian Sets Up an Avengers-Level Crossover The “present” will be a Mandalorian crossover event. Initially thought to be planned as a Disney+ series, the film from Mando exec producer Dave Filoni will “close out” the interconnected stories from Ahsoka and Mandalorian. (Filoni executive produced the fan-favorite animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.) Anticipate seeing Pedro Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers, Katee Sackhoff, and Baby Yoda in IMAX.
This film will be an Avengers: Endgame-level crossover event for fans of the Stars Wars streaming universe. But will it excite more casual fans who’ve never seen a Star Wars cartoon?
James Mangold Returns to the Fold for the Dawn of the Jedi The past is James Mangold’s dawn of the Jedi. Described as a “biblical epic,” the Ford v Ferrari director’s film will chart the birth of the Force and the first Jedi 25,000 years before any events in the prequels. Mangold was rumored to be directing a Boba Fett movie for LucasFilm before that project fell apart, and this presumably a sign of the confidence LucasFilm has in his work on Indiana Jones.
Ahsoka Brings Animated Characters to Life in August Hitting Disney+ in August, Filoni’s Ahsoka series will bring several stalwart characters from the beloved Star Wars: Rebels animated series to live-action. The trailer focuses on a trio of Filoni-fashioned female characters, including the titular series lead, former Mandalorian Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and wunderkind pilot Hera Syndulla (Mary-Elizabeth Winstead).
Ahsoka will pick up plot threads from Rebels as the trio searches the galaxy for Jedi Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), who disappeared at the end of that show alongside Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn. Those two figures are important within the canon: Erza dealt a massive blow to the Empire in the early days of the rebellion by defeating Thrawn, who is universally hailed as the Empire’s best military tactician.
The trailer only features a brief shot of Thrawn from behind, but the footage makes it clear that he’s back, and dangerous; Ahsoka calls him the “heir to the Empire” in a nod to the book that initially introduced him. Also along for the ride: Ray Stevenson, wielding, notably, a red lightsaber; and a brief glimpse at Genevieve O’Reilly, reprising her role as Mon Mothma from Rogue One and Andor.
The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew Make Strong Impressions Kennedy also provided first-look footage at Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home director Jon Watts’ Skeleton Crew that weren’t made available outside of the presentation.
The Acolyte takes place before The Phantom Menace, in a time known as The High Republic, when the Jedi are at the peak of their powers. The show, which will debut in 2024, stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Dafne Keen, Manny Jacinto, and Carrie Ann-Moss. Headland described the series as “Frozen meets Kill Bill” with lightsaber choreography inspired by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Watts’ Skeleton Crew will hit Disney+ later this year with a Goonies-style romp through the galaxy, with Jude Law playing a bald Jedi escorting a group of kids as they fight against the Empire. Joining Law: Kerry Condon and an absolutely stacked list of directors, including Watts himself, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jake Schreier (Beef, Thunderbolts), David Lowery (The Green Knight) and the Academy-Award-Winning Daniels (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
*__Andor __*Season 2’s Brief Tease Tony Gilroy briefly took the stage to announce that the second (and final) season of Andor is currently in production and will arrive on Disney+ in August 2024. “We know exactly where we’re going, so you know what you have to deliver,” Gilroy said. “It was a decision born of survival, but it’s been creatively potent. We’re very pleased, it’s good to know there’s an ending coming.” A brief bit of footage showed Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), now fully devoted himself to the Rebel cause, undertaking a dangerous mission.
Speculate No Longer:__ Lando__ Is Still Happening Earlier this week, Donald Glover spoke to GQ about the status of the long-percolating Lando Calrissian television series saying, “I would love to play Lando again. It just needs to be the right way to do it. We’re talking about it. That’s as much as I can say without Kathleen Kennedy hunting me down.”
Turns out IGN hunted Kathleen Kennedy down during Celebration press and asked for an update—and received quite a confirmation. “I can just tell you it’s still happening, and he’s very excited about it,” she stated.
At the time of its initial announcement in 2020, Dear White People’s Justin Simien was involved in the project. It’s unclear if that’s still the case, but the mystery surrounding Lando’s future is considerably less hazy.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Whips Up a New Trailer As if all the Star Wars news wasn’t enough, Kennedy dropped a new trailer for the latest Indiana Jones adventure—the first not to be directed by Steven Spielberg (James Mangold is taking the reigns). The footage sheds new light on the relationship between Indy (Harrison Ford) and his goddaughter Helen (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) as the two hunt down the mysterious dial. A Nazi played by Mads Mikkelsen is also keen on recovering the dial and leveraging its apparent time-traveling powers to “correct” all of Hitler’s mistakes.
Dial of Destiny also stars Boyd Holbrook, Antonio Banderas, Toby Jones, and John Rhys-Davies, and will arrive on June 30.