“Darkness rises, and light to meet it.”
It’s the age-old struggle that has arguably defined Star Wars as we know it, a space opera forged on the galactic battlefields involving the forces of good, and the forces of evil.
Over the years, we’ve witnessed some truly incredible star wars, not to mention bone-rattling lightsaber duels between Anakin and Obi-Wan, Vader and Luke, and Rey and Kylo Ren. The latter pair have come to anchor much of Lucasfilm’s Sequel Trilogy, which is due to reach its long-anticipated crescendo later this week with The Rise of Skywalker.
It marks the finale of a 42-year Skywalker Saga, and much to the surprise of no one, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is bracing for something of a Star Wars hiatus once Episode IX has come and gone.
Obviously, that’s what’s we’ve been spending so much time talking about, and it’s a really important transition for Star Wars. What we’ve been focused on these last five or six years is finishing that family saga around the Skywalkers. Now is the time to start thinking about how to segue into something new and different. We’re literally making this up from whole cloth and bringing in filmmakers to find what these stories might be. It can take a while before you find what direction you might want to go. We need the time to do that.
That’s not to say fans will be starved of Star Wars content altogether. Over on Disney+, for instance, the Powers That Be have already committed to a second season of The Mandalorian, while Jedi: Fallen Order is living proof that Star Wars video games are alive and well.
What’s more, one glance at the calendar will tell you that an untitled Star Wars movie has been earmarked for 2022. Not to be confused with Rian Johnson’s own trilogy, it appears Lucasfilm will announce firm details about its first post-Skywalker Star Wars film early next year, by which point we ought to know who’s replacing David Benioff and D.B. Weiss in the driving seat(s).
Closer to home, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker debuts in the United Kingdom and select territories on Thursday, December 19th, before making its way across the pond in time for December 20th.
