Disney’s vision for the future of Star Wars continues to evolve—sometimes at lightspeed, sometimes with a sudden course correction. While excitement remains high for the franchise’s next chapter, fans are navigating a shifting landscape of announcements, delays, and reimagined plans.
Back in April 2023, a sense of momentum returned when Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy revealed three major Star Wars films at Celebration Europe. James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy were each attached to distinct projects, joining an already expanding list of creatives like Shawn Levy and Taika Waititi. Long-dormant ideas like Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron even seemed to be showing signs of revival.
The projects aimed to cover vastly different territory: Mangold’s film would explore the very origins of the Force, while Filoni’s would serve as a connective tissue between his various Disney+ entries—including The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew.
However, plans changed dramatically in early 2024. Lucasfilm announced that Jon Favreau would lead The Mandalorian and Grogu, a feature film continuation of the popular streaming series, now scheduled for release in 2026. According to reports, this project brings The Mandalorian series to a close, with no fourth season currently in development.
That pivot appeared to push back Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey-led film, which takes place after 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. While rumored titles like New Jedi Order and A New Beginning have surfaced, none have been confirmed.
Then came another shake-up. On November 7, 2024, Lucasfilm dropped the surprise news that Simon Kinberg—writer of X-Men: Dark Phoenix and producer of The Martian—would develop a brand-new Star Wars trilogy as both writer and producer.
“The new story is not meant to be a continuation of the Skywalker Saga, the name of the overall arc of the popular and pop culture-dominating Star Wars movies known as Episodes 1 through 9,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter.
“The intent here is to have brand new characters and a new story, and not have it be a continuation, sources tell [THR]. (Although that does not mean that some characters could not or would not pop up.)”
The announcement raised concerns that Kinberg’s trilogy could overshadow Obaid-Chinoy’s project. While Kennedy made clear that Kinberg’s trilogy moves Star Wars away from the Skywalker timeline, questions linger about whether the two films can coexist without competing narratives.
“But Rey, the scavenger-turned-Jedi played by Daisy Ridley in the last three episode movies, is key to the franchise’s next turn,” THR reported. “That potentially puts Kinberg’s trilogy story development, as early in its conceptual stages as it may be, on a collision course with the Rey standalone movie that is actively in the works with director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.”
A source told THR, “[Rey] is the most valuable cinematic asset, in some ways maybe the only one, Star Wars has right now.”
The most recent development saw Ocean’s Twelve screenwriter George Nolfi tapped to pen the Rey film. But even that progress has been paused—for now.
“According to scooper Daniel Richtman, ‘The Rey movie is on hold once again, as both the Shawn Levy and James Mangold Star Wars films are moving forward first. The project is not canceled — just temporarily on hold,’” reported SFF Gazette.
Shawn Levy’s film, officially titled Star Wars: Starfighter, is next in line after The Mandalorian and Grogu. Announced during Celebration 2025 in Tokyo, the film stars Ryan Gosling and Mia Goth and is set roughly five years after The Rise of Skywalker.
Meanwhile, James Mangold’s mythological Star Wars epic is gaining traction. While Lucasfilm once had plans for Game of Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff to explore the Force’s origin, their trilogy fell apart. Now, Mangold’s project seems to be picking up where that vision left off—with both parties acknowledging the overlap in interviews.
Amid delays and detours, fans have voiced confusion over the franchise’s direction—especially surrounding the Rey-led New Jedi Order film. Some have taken to fan-made content, with YouTube creator Darth Trailer debuting a concept teaser for Star Wars: Episode X–New Jedi Order in 2024.
As Disney juggles multiple timelines and creative priorities, the cinematic future of Star Wars appears to be at a crossroads. Whether these next steps solidify a long-term plan or trigger more reshuffling remains to be seen.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments: is Star Wars still headed in the right direction?
