The Star Wars sequel trilogy kicked off with The Force Awakens over five years ago, providing fans with both familiar characters to welcome back to the big screen and new characters to instantly fall in love with. It’s even more possible now than ever that we’ll be seeing these characters again in some capacity.
Speaking to Empire Magazine in its upcoming November 25 issue, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy commented that the characters we got to know and love in the Star Wars sequel trilogy haven’t disappeared from Lucasfilm’s future plans.
She stated: “Certainly, those are not characters we’re going to forget. They will live on, and those are conversations that are going on with the creative team as well.”
What this actually means for the future of characters such as Rey Skywalker, Finn, and Poe is obviously still unclear. There are many different avenues through which sequel trilogy characters could appear in future stories – Lucasfilm isn’t limited to just big-screen projects. They could appear in future books or comics. Disney+ series or shorts are also options. And then there are video games.
Since LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is still expected to release next year, we’ll for sure be seeing these familiar characters in brick form sooner rather than later. But written media as well as animated shows or shorts are more likely routes than live-action series or films since none of these project types would require the characters’ original actors to return. Many of them (shoutout to Kelly Marie Tran!) are pretty busy doing their own things at the moment.
While Kennedy’s comments don’t necessarily mean we’ll get stories set beyond the time of The Rise of Skywalker – books, for example, would make it easy to tell stories set before and during the sequel trilogy – her statement can give hope to fans who want to see these characters’ stories continue on later in the Star Wars timeline.
Who do you want to see in future Star Wars stories?