The next Star Wars movie can wait

We haven’t gotten a Star Wars movie since 2019 — the “Siege of Mandalore” arc from The Clone Wars Season 7 was close, but still not quite the same.

Chances are, we won’t get another Star Wars movie in theaters until at least 2025. There have been much longer gaps between movies before — don’t forget that almost 20 years passed between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.

Many fans survived the long wait between films. And many will again. Six years, minimum, is not a long time in comparison. But that’s not why I’m in no rush to see a new movie set in a galaxy far, far away.

Am I excited to get more big-screen Star Wars goodness? Of course I am. When my butt is in that theater seat and I see that “a long time ago …” text flash across the screen in front of my eyes, I’m going to weep. Joyfully! I will probably see it at least four more times after that first viewing. I will convince everyone I know that they should do the same.

But it’s not like we’re out here starving for new Star Wars stories. I wasn’t alive in the 1980s and don’t remember most of the early ’90s — I have been told the dark times were lonely, and I can’t even begin to imagine what was like to be a Star Wars fan with not much Star Wars incoming.

Did you know that over a dozen Star Wars novels were released in 2022? Did you know that since 2019, at least two new installments of Star Wars TV shows have premiered on Disney+ every year? And the comics, the audio dramas, the toys …

What I’m getting at is that there is ALMOST too much Star Wars.

Almost.

Being a Star Wars fan does not mean you have to consume every Star Wars-related thing that poofs into existence, which is why there’s not actually too much of it. Anyone is free to pick up the stories and other elements of the franchise they’re interested and leave the rest for later (or never). That’s how fandom is supposed to work. It’s a buffet, except no one ever regrets watching the same favorite episode of Rebels 10 times in 24 hours. Star Wars CAN hurt you … but not like that.

There’s plenty to go around. And instead of rushing to get a new movie out, it seems they’re taking the time to figure out their plan. What is the story they want to tell? Who is the right person to tell it? Who gets a space at that table? Who are they making it all for?

That’s what I want. A Star Wars movie crafted with the time, care, and love that all great movies are made of. It may be a while. But I can wait.

Until 2025 — or whenever we actually end up getting another movie of the Star Wars variety — I’ll keep busy with … everything else that will come out between now and then. I won’t get bored. It’s virtually impossible.

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