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  "description": "Dave Filoni is clearly going to continue the Skywalker Saga, but how?...",
  "path": "/star-wars-episode-x/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-01-24T20:48:27.000Z",
  "site": "https://spyglass.org",
  "tags": [
    "all",
    "the",
    "posts",
    "drawn-out",
    "to Dave Filoni",
    "famously",
    "to be in-the-weeds",
    "question marks",
    "clearly",
    "could have used",
    "just totally unnecessary",
    "which was sloppy",
    "legitimately bad at points",
    "I wondered if that might be a problem",
    "it was",
    "on the verge",
    "new CEO",
    "It does seem like",
    "Maul – Shadow Lord show",
    "Darth Talon",
    "the Simon Kinberg project(s)",
    "\"very good, but not there\"",
    "the new Rey movie",
    "their Ben Solo sequel",
    "still clearly top of mind for him",
    "Starfighter",
    "something more",
    "Brad Bird?",
    "Colin Trevorrow",
    "she got her start as Spielberg's assistant",
    "As expected/predicted",
    "the report he apparently disliked Andor",
    "ideally not Robert Downey Jr."
  ],
  "textContent": "Reading all the posts about Kathleen Kennedy's (drawn-out) exit from Lucasfilm,1 handing over the reins of the _Star Wars_ universe to Dave Filoni (and technically, Lynwen Brennan – but Filoni for creative purposes),2 they all sort of dance around the big question: _where is he going to take it?_ They all note the work that's already well underway or in the pipeline, but they're all tangential elements at best. What everyone really wants to know is: when and how he'll do the next _Star Wars_ trilogy?\n\nBecause it's obviously coming. It has to be. You don't give someone the power at Lucasfilm and not let them continue the main stories that everyone cares most about. It would be like taking over Nintendo and never doing another Mario game.\n\nAnd Filoni, famously, was hired and mentored by George Lucas himself before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney. And Filoni wasn't a production/operations person like Kennedy, he was a full-on creative, cutting his teeth in animation and screenwriting. He must be champing at the bit to continue what Lucas started...\n\nAt the same time, he's also well known to be in-the-weeds when it comes to _Star Wars_. Perhaps (and probably) too much. That has worked with a lot of the animation projects because those are both less mainstream and in a way, animation gives you cover to try more things.\n\nDisney had previously announced that the first live-action _Star Wars_ movie that Filoni would direct would be a cross-over between _The Mandalorian_ , _The Book of Boba Fett_ , _Ahsoka_ , and _The Skeleton Crew_ – all Disney+ series – but Kennedy clearly back-burnered it in favor of this summer's _Mandalorian & Grogu_ movie (co-written by Filoni but directed by Jon Favreau). And that was undoubtedly a smart move. While _The Mandalorian_ has been a hit, the other three are bigger question marks. Releasing a feature film relying on knowledge from each of those shows was potentially a recipe for disaster. Better to stick with what works and throw in a sweetener by putting Grogu – aka \"Baby Yoda\" – right there in the title and marketing.3\n\nSo the question now is if Filoni will be able to make such calls without Kennedy around to check his tendencies. And to be clear and fair, Kennedy clearly had her own tendencies which could have used some checking over these past many years.\n\nBeyond _Solo_ , which she's taking a new round of flack for in the press with the retirement cycle – FWIW, I didn't think it was _awful_ , just totally unnecessary – there was _Obi-Wan_ , which was sloppy and almost tedious. And _The Acolyte_ , which was legitimately bad at points. And that one points back to a Filoni concern in a way because the driving force there, Leslye Headland, was also clearly an in-the-weeds nerd for this stuff. Before the show hit, I wondered if that might be a problem and well, it was.\n\nWhich brings it back to _Star Wars_ , the main timeline and trilogies. Again, it's clearly going to happen. Beyond Filoni taking over Lucasfilm, _Disney itself is also_ on the verge_of getting a_ new CEO. That person is clearly going to want to/need to play the new _Star Wars_ trilogy card at some point. The question is how Filoni approaches and handles it...\n\nDoes he try to take them on himself? Perhaps bringing in some of the ideas Lucas passed on to Disney (perhaps written up to juice the sale price) at the time of sale? A couple elements made it into _Episodes VII, VIII, and IX_ , but for the most part, everything was thrown out. It does seem like Filoni is on the verge of restoring some of those plot points with the forthcoming Maul – Shadow Lord show. Yes, another animated series for Disney+. As the title implies, it centers around yes, Darth Maul. Yes, after his – 27 year spoiler alert! – mauling by Obi-Wan Kenobi in _Episode I_. And yes, continuing on from what was teased in – 8 year spoiler alert! – _Solo_. And yes – spoiler for the animated series – _The Clone Wars_ and _Rebels_ too _._ Or maybe this new series is simply a way to wink to those Lucas ideas for 'Darth Talon' and whatnot.\n\nDoes Filoni view the Simon Kinberg project(s) as the potential continuation of the main cannon? They're still being written – \"very good, but not there\" to quote Kennedy herself – but the plan was said to be for three movies... Lucasfilm apparently pushed back on the notion in the past that these would be a continuation of the Skywalker Saga but there's some fuzziness there. And again, it's a work very much in progress...\n\nThen there's the new Rey movie, which would obviously be a continuation of the Saga, but apparently wasn't intended to be the start of the next trilogy and more just an offshoot. But no one knows since not only is it not written, it has seemingly been in pre-production hell for years now without a clear status.\n\nDoes Filoni (re)approach Steven Soderbergh and Adam Driver to resurrect their Ben Solo sequel which Kennedy apparently liked but Disney itself cut down? Taika Waititi's take is still clearly top of mind for him, but sounds... different. Could next year's Starfighter evolve into something more...\n\nThere are clearly a lot of options, but the best one may be to keep it simple and just write a series of sequels to _The Rise of Skywalker_. Luke is gone. Leia is gone. Han is gone. But we're getting to the point that there may be some nostalgia building for the newer characters that remain – at least from _The Force Awakens_. Get a great writer in there, perhaps a fresh set of eyes, Tony Gilroy-style.4 Focus on the characters and a good story. Decent dialog is pure icing on the cake in this universe.\n\nYes, maybe _somehow_ , Ben Solo can return. Snoke? Plagueis? Brad Bird? Colin Trevorrow?! Just, for the love of god, not Palpatine.5\n\n* * *\n\n1 I didn't realize that she got her start as Spielberg's assistant – technically the assistant as someone who worked in the same building as Spielberg and he poached her! To its credit, that is often how Hollywood works! ↩\n\n2 As expected/predicted... ↩\n\n3 And even then, it's far from a sure thing this will be a huge hit – and I suspect that's exactly why they're leveraging Baby Yoda in the title and marketing, he's the viral hit. But that was also a long time ago... ↩\n\n4 Perhaps the biggest concern with Dave Filoni going forward in this role is the report he apparently disliked Andor, undoubtedly the best bit of _Star Wars_ content in years. ↩\n\n5 Also ideally not Robert Downey Jr. ↩",
  "title": "The Clock Starts for Star Wars: Episode X",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-10T10:46:18.199Z"
}