Lucasfilm Looking To The Expanded Universe For Future Star Wars Stories

After The Rise of Skywalker, there are no officially announced Star Wars movies on the horizon. Sure, we know that The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is still (theoretically) working on his trilogy, that Thor: Ragnarok‘s Taika Waititi has his own film coming and Kevin Feige has some kind of project under development. But none of these have titles or release dates, so for now, it’s all hazy.

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has recently hinted at where the future might lie though and the news may make longtime fans very happy. In an interview with The Wrap, she was asked about her comments on wanting “to take time out to think about where the franchise is going” after The Rise of Skywalker. She responded that up until now their focus was on finishing the Skywalker Saga, but things are set to change, saying:

“Now we’re stepping back. Stories have been told within this universe over the last 40-odd years, and there’s now the realization that this is a mythology that actually spans about 25,000 years, when you really start to look at all the different stories that have been told, whether it’s in books and games. We just need the time to step back and really absorb what George has created, and then start to think about where things might go.

That’s what we’ve been doing, and we’ve been having a great deal of fun doing it, and meeting with lots of different filmmakers and talent. There’s so many fans out there and so many filmmakers that have been influenced by “Star Wars” for so long that it’s a fantastic opportunity to get a sense of who wants to be a part of this. So that’s what we’ve been doing.”

This seems to be a pretty clear tease that they’re reevaluating the old Legends material. Once known as the Expanded Universe, this encompassed a dizzying amount of content that filled in the blanks around the movies. These imagined stories beyond Return of the Jedi that differ from Disney’s version, including Han and Leia’s children Jaina and Jacen Solo, the death of Chewbacca and adventures of fan-favorite character Mara Jade.

There have long been rumors that Mara in particular is set to make a comeback, so that might now be on the cards. But her comment about the 25,000 year Star Wars chronology could also be a big hint that they’re going to adapt some of the Tales of the Jedi prehistory stuff, showing the origins of the first lightsabers and the early days of the Jedi and Sith. In any case, let’s hope this bears fruit.