Whatever your opinions on the quality of Disney’s Sequel Trilogy, it’s undeniable that they’ve succeeded in their goal of making Star Wars more attractive to women. Having Daisy Ridley’s Rey as the focus was a big help, as were strong characters like Carrie Fisher’s General Leia, Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico and Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso. They bring a nice bit of balance to what had previously been a series focused on the trials and tribulations of men, and now it seems that Lucasfilm is determined to bring the same balance to the other side of the camera.
We’re hearing from our sources – the same ones who told us about the Green Lantern show before it was announced, and about Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan return back in May – that the studio is eager for both Kevin Feige’s project and the Knights of the Old Republic trilogy to have female leads and directors. We don’t know much about the former, but this news would certainly fit with rumors that the Marvel Studios head honcho wants Brie Larson for the lead.
Additionally, if the Knights of the Old Republic trilogy does indeed retell the story of Darth Revan and Darth Malak, it would be extremely easy for them to make Revan a woman. That’s because, in the Bioware RPG in which the character debuted, players could choose Revan’s gender and ethnicity. The question of whether the canonical Revan is male or female has never been settled, but it’s sounding like Disney are going with the latter.
It’ll also be interesting to see which directors are tapped for the projects. Lucasfilm’s sister studio Marvel Studios has recruited a number of female filmmakers for upcoming projects of late, including Cate Shortland for Black Widow and Chloe Zhao for The Eternals. My thinking is that Bob Iger and Kathleen Kennedy will be keeping a close eye on how those two do, with the large cast and epic action of The Eternals perhaps making Zhao a good candidate for Star Wars.
Beyond that, there’ve been persistent rumors linking Wonder Woman‘s Patty Jenkins to the Knights of the Old Republic trilogy. But for now, those remain unconfirmed. Clearly, though, the future of Star Wars is going to be very female-heavy, and that can only be a good thing.
