Kathleen Kennedy’s Retirement Can Put ‘Star Wars’ On The Right Path

Back in 2021, many thought that Kathleen Kennedy would step down from Lucasfilm, which would allow “Star Wars” to grow in a new direction following the lackluster reception to the sequel trilogy.

However, her contract was quietly renewed, and no other “Star Wars” movies have been shown in theaters since that time. Several movies are in the works, but with frequent delays and constant behind-the-scenes changes, many are hoping that “Star Wars” will move in a new direction following her leave.

This year, the Star Wars Celebration event will take place in Tokyo in April. It is expected that Kennedy will officially announce her retirement at the event and possibly name her successor, which is widely anticipated to be either Jon Favreau or Dave Filoni.

Puckwas the first to announce the news of her possible retirement on Monday night; however, Lucasfilm and Kennedy have yet to reply to The Blast’s requests for comments.

George Lucas himself had actually picked Kennedy to helm Lucasfilm when Disney bought out his studio in the 2012 acquisition, however, many feel that her decisions have only spelled disaster for the franchise.

Even before “The Force Awakens” hit theaters, there was already trouble brewing, in part due to an alleged dispute between screenwriter Michael Arndt and J.J. Abrams, which led to Arndt being removed from the project. Rian Johnson took hold of “The Last Jedi” to very mixed reviews, while Colin Trevorrow was supposed to have written and directed “The Rise of Skywalker.”

It’s unclear why Trevorrow left the project. Some say it’s due to the cold reception of Trevorrow’s “The Book of Henry,” while Kennedy said that he left the project due to “creative differences.” Fans all know what happened here: Abrams was brought in at the last minute, and they rushed to complete the film in eighteen months. At one point, Kennedy even admitted that bringing in three different directors to create a unifying trilogy was a bad idea.

“Colin was at a huge disadvantage not having been a part of ‘Force Awakens’ and in part of those early conversations because we had a general sense of where the story was going,” she explained. “We were on a schedule, as we often are with these movies, and had to make a tough decision as to whether or not we thought we could get there in the time or not. And as I said, Colin was at a disadvantage because he hadn’t been immersed in everything that we all had starting out with Episode VII.”

During the filming of “Rogue One,” director Gareth Edwards was removed from the production and replaced by Tony Gilroy, who completely reshot the film’s third act.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired mid-production in the middle of “Solo” and Ron Howard was selected to take over. However, he had to re-shoot over half the film, which resulted in the budget becoming more than double what had been anticipated.

And that’s just in terms of movies. The Disney+ shows have come under fire lately, with “The Acolyte” facing the most vocal backlash. The Ewan McGregor-led “Kenobi” was viewed positively by fans, but even that project was originally slated to be a trilogy and faced turmoil behind the scenes after screenwriter Hosein Amini was fired and Joby Harold had to take over.

“Andor” also faced similar setbacks when showrunner Stephen Schiff was let go. Tony Gilroy took over the project, but later required Toby Haynes to step in due to COVID-19 restrictions present at the time.

There are a lot of movies that have been announced, only to seemingly disappear. There was an untitled Boba Fett film that was supposed to be directed by Josh Trank, although it seems to have disappeared in favor of the lackluster “The Book of Boba Fett” Disney+ series.

“Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss also announced plans to create an untitled “Star Wars” film series, but it’s likely they have already walked away from the project. Rian Johnson was also supposed to create a trilogy for the “Star Wars” franchise, but it looks like that has been shelved in favor of his “Knives Out” franchise.

In addition to the on-again-off-again “Rogue Squadron” series, Taika Waititi was supposed to be creating a “Star Wars” film. Although it was announced in 2020, he has admitted over the years that he still hasn’t created a script and the WGA writer’s strike didn’t help matters.

It’s hard to say with any real certainty what “Star Wars” movie will come out next, but “The Mandalorian and Grogu” seems to be a solid bet for a release in 2026. Shawn Levy’s movie also seems to be moving along smoothly, with “Barbie” star Ryan Gosling reportedly in talks to star.

In 2023, during Star Wars Celebration, Kennedy also revealed that “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” filmmaker James Mangold was creating a film based on the origin story of the Force. After the news was first announced at Star Wars Celebration, Mangold told Varietythat he envisioned a Biblical epic for the film, similar to those that were popular in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.

“When I first talked to Kathy Kennedy about it, I said, ‘I just see this opening to make kind of a ‘Ben-Hur’ or ‘Ten Commandments’ about the birth of the Force,’” Mangold explained. “The Force has become a kind of religious legend that spans through all these movies. But where did it come from? How was it found? Who found it? Who was the first Jedi? That’s what I’m writing right now.”

At the same time, Daisy Ridley was announced to be returning as Rey for an untitled “Star Wars” movie that would take place after the sequel trilogy. Although Rey is the only sequel character confirmed to return so far, the project has faced numerous setbacks.

“Lost” creator Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson were originally attached to the project but were let go. “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight was the next to be hired and fired from the project. In January 2025, George Nolfi became the new writer in charge of the project; however, it remains to be seen if the “Ocean’s Twelve” scribe will be replaced by yet someone else.

There have also been questions about Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Canadian-Pakistani journalist who is known for her work in journalism and political activism. Although her involvement has caused some controversy, she has won two Academy Awards for her work and may provide a unique spin on a galaxy far, far away.

It may have taken a while to get here, but this is all to say that Kathleen Kennedy’s retirement is a good thing. There have been too many announcements about new projects that have never come to fruition. There have been a handful of wins, namely “The Bad Batch,” “Star Wars: Visions,” and “Skeleton Crew,” but it’s hard to say how much involvement Kennedy had in any of the animated series.

Right now, DC Studios is going through a major overhaul and Lucasfilm needs to do the same. There is a gold mine of stories that have yet to be told before the Skywalker Saga that fans are still interested in hearing. Although fans are curious to see the fate of the galaxy after the Skywalker Saga, it seems risky to go there without a set plan in place.

Kathleen Kennedy is not the person to make such a plan for the fate of the galaxy, especially considering how badly the sequel trilogy was handled. It wasted the potential of having the legacy characters return in a meaningful way, and many fans don’t want to be let down by watching the sequel trilogy characters suffer the same fate.

The powers-that-be really need to think long and hard about the past failures of the franchise and what they can learn from them. Only then can they decide who will be the best person to shape the “Star Wars” canon: both its past and its future. As Qui-Gon Jinn said, “When you know why you are not ready, you will be ready.”