Disney and Lucasfilm have been quite strict that no Star Wars stories take place later in the timeline than The Rise of Skywalker. The closest we’ve gotten are Star Wars Visions episodes “The Twins” and “The Ninth Jedi,” and a scene in The Star Wars LEGO Holiday Special that showed Finn receiving Jedi training from Rey, though all of those are non-canon.
That won’t last forever. You can bet that somewhere in the Lucasfilm Story Group they have a vague plan for a sequel trilogy to the sequel trilogy, though any official announcement is years away. That doesn’t stop fans from speculating on what might come next, especially in regards to whom the villains might be.
Could (or should) the Sith return for future stories?
Though shows like Andor and The Mandalorian have proven that you can tell a perfectly good Star Wars story without relying on lightsabers, any new trilogy would inevitably feature the Jedi in some form. The people demand lightsaber duels, so who’s around to clash blades with any new heroes?
As of The Rise of Skywalker, the Sith have been defeated. Palpatine is finally dead (for real this time) and the cultists on Exegol have been eradicated. However, thousands of years of galactic history have left innumerable Sith artifacts, tombs, and Holocrons scattered across various planets, and someone Force sensitive with a craving for power is inevitably going to one day stumble across them.
Whether anyone taking up the Sith cause would be an official Sith Lord or simply a Dark Jedi with big ideas is up for debate, but either way, expect new villains in dark hoods with red lightsabers one day.
The knives are out once more for ‘The Rise of Skywalker’
The Rise of Skywalker has been a whipping boy for fans ever since its release, and frankly it deserves every bit of mockery thrown its way. “Somehow Palpatine has returned?” C’mon!
Fans are currently picking holes in the trailer-tastic sequence in which Kylo Ren drives his TIE Whisper directly at Rey, with her doing a sick backflip over the craft and slicing off a wing with her lightsaber. It looks cool, but what exactly was he trying to accomplish? If he wanted to kill her, why didn’t he fire the ship’s guns. If his goal wasn’t murder, why did he try and ram her at high speed?
The most popular conclusion is that Kylo knew the trailer needed an eye-catching moment to sell the movie, and this was the best they could muster. For once there is actually a sensible answer though: He knew this wouldn’t kill Rey and was simply piling the pressure on in an attempt to push her towards the Dark Side.
Why his plan required his stylish starfighter to explode into a ball of flames and his cockpit to bounce across the desert like a golf ball remains unknown.
Does Cassian Andor pale in comparison to a meek and mild animated spy?
Though we’re only five episodes into Andor, we already know that its hero is one of the best operatives in the Rebel Alliance. The show is just getting into Cassian’s history with the Rebels, but Rogue One shows that he’s eventually key to stealing the Death Star plans at the cost of his own life.
One fan believes he’s nothing compared to Star Wars: Resistance‘s Kazuda “Kaz” Xiono. The evidence is that he is less bloodthirsty, his friendly demeanor means nobody suspects he’s a spy, his social skills allow him to make friends with Imperials, and he’s on board with the Resistance cause from the start.
We’re unconvinced, especially because Cassian Andor’s ruthlessness is precisely what makes him more effective. In addition, the most recent episode of Andor showed that he sees details that other Rebels miss, like ensuring that a left-handed soldier doesn’t walk with their weapon facing towards their formation, or exactly how they’re going to move the loot in the Imperial base.
We still have nineteen episodes of Andor to come, but even now we have all the evidence we need that Cassian is the cream of the crop as far as galactic espionage goes.
Don’t expect any big Star Wars announcements at the New York Comic Con, though it’s looking like there’s going to be some fun merchandise unveiled over the weekend.
