Where Does Star Wars Go From Here?

A large disturbance successful the Force deed past nighttime erstwhile Lucasfilm confirmed that it would not continue its latest live-action Star Wars series, The Acolyte. The extremity of the bid isn’t conscionable astir the untimely extremity of 1 peculiar show, however: the abrupt determination paints an unpleasant representation for Star Wars‘ future, astatine a clip wherever the franchise continues to consciousness the grip of an uncertainty it’s been feeling arguably since the merchandise of The Rise of Skywalker successful 2019. So what does the Acolyte quality mean for Star Wars‘ future?

The Twilight of the High Republic

The High Republic transmedia inaugural has been 1 of Lucasfilm’s biggest projects successful caller years, and though the publication and comic bid was ever announced from the get-go arsenic having a specific, three-phase structure, it’s hard not to consciousness like The Acolyte—the era’s archetypal large leap into live-action continuity—facing an untimely extremity puts a spot of a dampener connected the task arsenic it continues its third, seemingly final, phase of books.

Lucasfilm has enactment a batch into The High Republic beyond just The Acolyte of course, including different shows, similar the 3DCG kids bid Young Jedi Adventures. But for arsenic astir arsenic agelong arsenic the inaugural has been around, we likewise knew that it was gathering toward this unrecorded enactment show, the ocular constitution of this full play of Star Wars and its ideas successful the grander continuity. There’s inactive plentifulness to travel from the epoch successful the signifier of books and comics, but having it each physique up to a now-abandoned amusement feels similar a stroke to some the assemblage the High Republic bid has curated for itself with Star Wars fandom, and the creatives who led the complaint successful establishing that world.

That said, it’s already wide that The Acolyte‘s communicative volition find a aboriginal successful the written word, if not connected a screen. At San Diego Comic-Con past month, Lucasfilm’s publishing sheet was almost wholly dedicated to caller comics and novels acceptable to soma retired the clip play and characters of The Acolyte, and it wouldn’t beryllium each that astonishing to spot aboriginal stories that wrapper up immoderate of the show’s lingering ideas beryllium successful that signifier astatine immoderate point.

Make Mine Mando…

© Lucasfilm

Right now, it feels similar unless your task is being straight overseen successful immoderate mode by Jon Favreau and Lucasfilm’s main originative serviceman Dave Filoni, it’s astir apt connected the backmost burner for a bit. The alleged “Mandoverse”—stories told successful the post-Return of the Jedi play of Star Wars each loosely spinning retired of threads laid in The Mandalorian, from The Book of Boba Fett, to Ahsoka, to aggregate upcoming movies—is practically the lone happening that feels definite successful Lucasfilm’s slate astatine the moment.

Although announced astatine the aforesaid clip at Star Wars Celebration past year, there’s been precise small question connected the studio’s plans for either the post-Rise of Skywalker New Jedi Order movie with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daisy Ridley, oregon James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi” project. And portion we likewise haven’t heard thing each that definitive astir the 3rd movie announced there—Filoni’s primitively intended theatrical debut for a New Republic vs. Imperial Remnant film—we have heard overmuch astir the director’s plans to acceptable the signifier for that film’s eventual arrival, including adjacent year’s The Mandalorian and Grogu (the first Star Wars movie since 2019) and a 2nd play of Ahsoka (confirmed a fewer months after the climax of the archetypal season).

The different films person remained connected nebulously shifting merchandise dates since their announcements—or, successful the lawsuit of the Rey film, occasionally already been the people of bad-faith civilization warfare grifting—but Mandalorian and Grogu is the lone theatrical task to springiness america tangible grounds of its continued beingness close now, successful the signifier of footage showcased to audiences astatine D23 earlier this month.

… But Will Anything Else Get Made?

The lone definitive bid we cognize of close present are ones already produced, the Lego Star Wars special Rebuild the Galaxy, retired adjacent month; Skeleton Crew, coming this December (itself loosely affiliated with the “Mandoverse,” being enforcement produced by Favreau and Filoni and being acceptable successful a astir akin clip framework arsenic The Mandalorian); and the second play of Andor, owed immoderate clip successful 2025. But aft that? Both the TV and theatrical sides of Star Wars stay beauteous nebulous with The Acolyte‘s discontinuation.

That successful and of itself continues a moving signifier Lucasfilm has recovered itself successful since the merchandise of The Rise of Skywalker 5 years ago. A swath of Star Wars projects person been announced successful that period, lone to find themselves outright scrapped, softly dropped, oregon near successful a nebulous holding signifier oregon rework that leads to them never being made. This includes the Lando amusement (now a movie that, again, has not been truly mentioned since its reworking), Rogue Squadron, and a oversea of projects from the likes of Shawn Levy, Taika Waititi, Kevin Feige, and more. Lucasfilm has confirmed and past abandoned possibly much projects successful the past half-decade than it has really ended up releasing. Hell, the workplace has ne'er formally stated it’s nary longer making a trilogy of movies with Rian Johnson, announced conscionable earlier the merchandise of The Last Jedi seemingly fundamentally altered the taste speech around Star Wars everlastingly (more connected that successful a moment)!

All this has created is simply a signifier of uncertainty astir astir any Star Wars announcement, nary substance if it’s made done commercialized reporting, Disney shareholder conferences, oregon glitzy fandom conventions. Why should Star Wars fans get excited for announcements that astir inevitably volition slice into the ether? Why put successful a bid that tin beryllium instantly dumped aft its archetypal season? Especially if it’s not straight connected to the contiguous impetus of the franchise’s existent fixation on The Mandalorian?

For the Love of God, Protect Those Skeleton Crew Kids

© Lucasfilm

For each the inconsistency the workplace has had with its merchandise schedule, there’s 1 country successful peculiar Lucasfilm has been mostly accordant connected for the worse: its inability to speak retired and defend its originative endowment from atrocious religion attacks and harassment. Ever since The Last Jedi created a infinitesimal successful the “culture war,” immoderate Star Wars task that adjacent vaguely makes aspersions to questioning the bid oregon fronts divers endowment has faced withering waves of bad-faith assaults astir the alleged “woke agenda.”

While the workplace has made astatine slightest immoderate headway successful combating these attacks—most notably erstwhile it publically rallied astir Obi-Wan Kenobi histrion Moses Ingram—Lucasfilm by and ample has had a past of leaving endowment unsupported successful the aftermath of online harassment, with stars similar Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega openly discussing their struggles with Star Wars fandom and the maltreatment they received, oregon much precocious with Lucasfilm’s soundlessness aft the New Jedi Order movie’s planned director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was the target of a misinformation campaign by right-wing influencers earlier this twelvemonth for an unrelated remark astir her filmmaking she made successful 2015.

Ahead of The Acolyte‘s release, Lucasfilm’s president Kathleen Kennedy made a large to-do astir supporting the bid should it look akin campaigns, considering its divers pb formed and its presumption arsenic the rare Star Wars bid showrun by a woman. “Operating wrong these elephantine franchises now, with societal media and the level of expectation—it’s terrifying,” Kennedy said successful a May New York Times profile. “I deliberation Leslye [Headland, The Acolyte’s showrunner] has struggled a small spot with it. I deliberation a batch of the women who measurement into Star Wars conflict with this a spot more. Because of the instrumentality basal being truthful antheral dominated, they sometimes get attacked successful ways that tin beryllium rather personal.” And yet, Lucasfilm again remained soundless erstwhile the bid and its creatives, particularly Headland and pb prima Amandla Stenberg, were subjected to aggregate waves of targeted harassment implicit its purported “breaking” of Star Wars continuity for including prequel trilogy Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi successful a little appearance, oregon however the show’s attack to the Force did not align with definite preconceived notions. The information that the show’s abrupt extremity has sparked a question of celebrations by definite online circles (including Elon Musk, of each people) implicit however the bid was an illustration of “go woke, spell broke” speaks to however thoroughly unprepared Lucasfilm remains erstwhile it comes to addressing Star Wars‘ volatile beingness successful the ongoing civilization war.

It makes for an particularly fraught infinitesimal past that the adjacent live-action series, Skeleton Crew, is simply a amusement that stars a radical of young children. Already doing thing a small non-traditional for the franchise—an escapade bid with kid protagonists successful the vein of films similar The Goonies—if Skeleton Crew does thing adjacent remotely perceived arsenic antithetic from the franchise, attacks connected its stars volition beryllium arsenic inevitable arsenic they were 25 years ago when Phantom Menace kid histrion Jake Lloyd was lambasted for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker. Regardless of how Skeleton Crew is received, Lucasfilm cannot permission its endowment unsupported arsenic it has truthful often successful the past.

Always successful Motion, the Future Is

Making movies and TV is hard, particularly successful the moments of tumult studios find themselves presently in—even a workplace backed by the afloat equipped and operational firepower of Disney, arsenic Lucasfilm is. Plans volition displacement and alteration each the time, bid won’t execute good and travel to an end, things volition beryllium announced, scrapped, oregon pushed backmost constantly. Star Wars is surely nary objection to this rule, conscionable arsenic it hasn’t been successful the years since The Rise of Skywalker. No uncertainty arsenic Lucasfilm returns to the normal circuit with adjacent year’s Star Wars Celebration successful Japan, we’ll get to perceive a small much astir immoderate of that future, some contiguous and further on. And again, there’s likewise small uncertainty that overmuch of that aboriginal volition stay successful flux.

But the abrupt determination implicit The Acolyte puts the franchise astatine a grim crossroads going forward: a aboriginal where Star Wars is adjacent timidly experimental successful the look of taste grifting and uncovering a spot for itself beyond the stories of the mainline movies, oregon a aboriginal wherever it places each of its absorption connected mining the 1 peculiar vein that’s worked since the extremity of the Skywalker Saga that prioritizes the acquainted supra overmuch of thing else.

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