New Star Wars Trilogy Plan Addresses the Sequel Trilogy’s Biggest Problem
The newly-announced Star Wars trilogy has the potential to tell a more cohesive story than the sequel films.
Somehow, the Skywalker saga returned – at least potentially.
Despite the mixed reviews the sequel trilogy received, the unclear current plans for a standalone Rey movie, and Lucasfilm’s current track record for announcing movies only to end up shelving them months or years later, it seems as though yet another filmmaker is set to throw their hat in the ring with a fresh Star Wars trilogy.
Deadline reports that Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) is set to write and produce a new Star Wars trilogy, rumored to be Episodes 10-12 of the Skywalker saga. This hasn’t been confirmed or denied by Lucasfilm, and there are some sources who dispute that this trilogy will be part of the Skywalker saga at all. But nevertheless this is at least a good start for a new trilogy.
Even though Kinberg isn’t set to direct this trilogy, signing him on as producer and writer from the start should hopefully fix one of the biggest problems with the sequel trilogy – a lack of a cohesive vision. Whether this is an entirely new story or a continuation of the Skywalker saga, having a planned arc from the beginning would be a good move. Directors could still come in and provide a fresh vision for each film, but the core of the story is more likely to remain the same with one creative force guiding things from the start.
While The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi are solid films on their own, The Rise of Skywalker ultimately suffered from a lack of a cohesive vision and plan for where the trilogy was going to go. It didn’t help that the film also changed hands before production with J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio coming back to wrap up the trilogy after Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly left the project. The trilogy just doesn’t quite hold up as a unit because it seems like each writer/director wanted different things.
Rian Johnson clearly thought it was important for Rey to not be connected to anyone of importance. She was proof that anyone could harness the power within them to stand up and fight for a better future. J.J. Abrams then decided to bring back Palpatine and make Rey his granddaughter. Had Abrams (or even Johnson) been in charge from the start and been able to carry their vision forward, maybe her characterization, and others, wouldn’t have been so inconsistent.
Kinberg at least already has some experience operating in the Star Wars universe. He previously worked with Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck to create the animated series Star Wars Rebels, which arguably has some of Star Wars’ best story arcs of the Disney era.
Aside from the Rey movie currently set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, it seems like a good time to move beyond the Skywalker saga and tell different stories. The Star Wars galaxy is vast, full of billions, possibly even trillions of people with stories of their own to tell. There are periods of history that we’ve barely been able to scratch the surface of and pockets of resistance and hope that would make for inspiring tales, especially now. No matter which era this trilogy will be set in or which story Kinberg wants to tell, hopefully his films can avoid the errors of the sequel trilogy.