Rey, Finn, Poe And BB-8 Will Stick Around After Star Wars: Episode IX

We’re beginning to think that Star Wars will outlive us all.

With The Last Jedi fast approaching its December release, the franchise’s creative minds have already ironed out firm plans for Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode IX, while Obi-Wan Kenobi has also been earmarked for a future Anthology film. And things are just getting started.

While appearing on the latest episode of The Star Wars Show, Kathleen Kennedy spoke a bit about the future of the series and noted that many of the new characters introduced in The Force Awakens – namely, Rey, Poe, Finn and BB-8 – will stick around after the current trilogy is done.

“We’re sitting down now, we’re talking about the next 10 years of Star Wars stories, and we’re looking at, narratively, where that might go. Future stories beyond Episode IX with these new characters: Rey, Poe, Finn, BB-8, but we’re also looking at working with people that are interested in coming into the Star Wars world and taking us places we haven’t been yet. That’s exciting, too, because it’s a vast galaxy far, far away.”

This isn’t hugely surprising to hear, given how popular the aforementioned individuals have become and that they’re clearly being positioned to carry the franchise going forward now that Han Solo’s gone, with Luke and Leia presumably following him quite soon. Still, it’s nice to get confirmation that Rey and co. aren’t going anywhere, although that still leaves us with the question of how they’ll factor into future films.

For instance, could we see Daisy Ridley’s heroine headline a trilogy of her own, or will she perhaps get a standalone outing? Ditto for the rest. And how about a team-up pic featuring Finn and Poe? It’d make the dreams of many fans come true, but would Lucasfilm consider going down that route? Really, there are a lot of possibilities here, but no matter what the studio decides on, it’s nice to learn that they’ve got things all mapped out for the next decade or so.

Tell us, what are you hoping to see from the Star Wars franchise beyond Episode IX? As always, be sure to drop a comment below with your thoughts.