What the future of Star Wars looks like after Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker is the end of an era, the culmination of the Skywalker saga and a farewell to characters we’ve known for the past 40 years.

But as fans know from spinoff anthology films like Rogue One and Solo, and shows like The Mandalorian, there’s a whole galaxy of Star Wars stories left to explore. While Disney CEO Bob Iger says Lucasfilm will take a bit of a break after the end of the Skywalker saga, there’s a pipeline is full of movies and television shows waiting in the wings. Amidst a flurry of rumored and canceled projects — most recently Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss departed a prospected trilogy — there are some solid, in-development projects. Not all of them have concrete dates, or even anything more than a name attached, but with names like Taika Waititi, Kevin Feige, and Leslye Headland attached, hopefully the projects in the works will all take flight. Here’s everything we know about every upcoming Star Wars project.

The next Star Wars movie

With the Skywalker Saga in the rear view mirror (do Corellian light freighters have those?), plans are in motion for the next cycle of Star Wars features. According to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has a film waiting in the wings for 2022, with a director set to be announced in January. After the ending of The Rise of Skywalker, we’re still waiting on that Broom Boy sequel...

Taika Waititi’s Star Wars movie

On May 4 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) will direct and co-write a new Star Wars movie for theatrical release. Waititi will co-write the script with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho). There is no scheduled release date for this project — or even a confirmation that this is indeed the “next” Star Wars film. Waititi’s current project is Thor: Love and Thunder, which was pushed from a late 2021 release to Feb. 2022. While all the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films got shuffled around due to COVID-19 concerns, the effect of the pandemic on possibly scheduled Star Wars films remains to be seen.

Kevin Feige’s Star Wars movie

Marvel Studios’ president is reportedly working with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy to develop a new Star Wars movie and usher in a “new era in Star Wars storytelling.” There are no plot details, character details, or timeline details, but a source told the Hollywood Reporter that “Feige has told a major actor that there’s a specific role he would like that person to play if and when he makes the movie.”

The Rian Johnson Star Wars trilogy

Announced in the lead up to (and before the controversy over) The Last Jedi, Lucasfilm rehired Rian Johnson to direct an entirely new trilogy set in the Star Wars universe. It will feature new characters and possibly take place in an entirely different era, a sharp departure from the insular Skywalker saga.

“We all loved working with Rian on The Last Jedi,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm in a statement. “He’s a creative force, and watching him craft The Last Jedi from start to finish was one of the great joys of my career. Rian will do amazing things with the blank canvas of this new trilogy.”

Production on this trilogy isn’t set and while Johnson is outlining plans, he also might make another movie before. Disney originally had Benioff and Weiss’s Star Wars films slated on the calendar for 2022, 2024, and 2026, but it’s uncertain whether Johnson’s trilogy or Feige’s unnamed project will take those slots — or if they’ll just go unfilled.

Image: Lucasfilm/Disney Plus

The Mandalorian season 2

While promoting The Lion King (2019), showrunner Jon Favreau said that he’d already started writing a second season — months before Disney Plus even launched. He confirmed a second season for real in November, posting a pic of the Mandalorian’s helmet on Instagram with the caption “Greetings from the set of #TheMandalorian season 2.”

Update: The second season of The Mandalorian officially wrapped production in spring 2020, and will debut on Disney Plus sometime this October. If rumors are true, Rosario Dawson may play Ahsoka Tano in the second season, making it the character’s first live-action appearance.

Image: Lucasfilm/Walt Disney Studios

The Rogue One prequel TV show

Before he’s blown to bits on the beaches of Scarif, Diego Luna will reprise the role of Cassian Andor. “Going back to the Star Wars universe is very special for me,” said Luna in a statement. “I have so many memories of the great work we did together and the relationships I made throughout the journey. We have a fantastic adventure ahead of us, and this new exciting format will give us the chance to explore this character more deeply.”

Filming is set to begin in 2020 and Alan Tudyk also joins as droid K-2SO. There is no title set for the show, but at D23, Tudyk pitched an idea: “I’m thinking K-2Fast, K-2Furious: A Cassian Andor Story.”

Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.

The Obi-Wan TV show

Rumors about an Obi-Wan movie have been circulating since the first concept of the “Star Wars Story” movie came about, but for now, that idea seems to be on hold. Instead, in Aug. 2019, Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that Ewan McGregor would return to the Star Wars universe in the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in a series for Disney Plus.

The show will take place eight years after Revenge of the Sith, according to early reports, and Deborah Chow, who directed two episodes of The Mandalorian, will serve as director of all the episodes. Hossein Amini (Drive) will write the series. Filming is set to begin in 2020, but no release date, title, or further casting information has been announced.

Update: Production on the Obi-Wan Kenobi show has been placed on an indefinite hiatus as the creative team retools the premise.

Lucasfilm

Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge

Think Nickelodeon’s Legends of the Hidden Temple meets Star Wars and you get the kid-focused game show coming to Disney Plus in 2020. Ahmed Best, the man behind Jar Jar himself, will host, and star as a brand new, in-canon Jedi.

“This is definitely a kids game show like no other,” said Lucasfilm’s senior director of Online Content & Programming, Mickey Capoferri in a press release. “The various challenges will test a Padawan’s connection to the Force in three locations — a forest planet, on board a Jedi star cruiser, and inside a Jedi temple — immersing them and the audience in a fun, humorous, and exciting competition.”

Leslye Headland’s Disney Plus Show

Russian Doll showrunner Leslye Headland will spearhead a Star Wars TV show for Disney Plus. Reportedly, this series will be “female-centric” and take place in a timeline unexplored by the current Star Wars Disney Plus projects (which fall either between the prequel and main trilogy or the main and sequel trilogy). There is no further production news on this project.