While Kathleen Kennedy did confirm that the Star Wars film by Taika Waititi (Thor: Love and Thunder, Jojo Rabbit) would be going ahead, she didn’t mention any of the storylines, characters, or even the timeline it would be set in. Now, Waititi himself has said in an interview with Total Film, that he “would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise it feels like it’s a very small story.”
Kennedy had previously stated (again, to Total Film) in an exclusive interview during Star Wars Celebration that there was a need “to create a whole new saga.” After the latest trilogy and the extended interconnections between the Palpatine and Skywalker family (which has dominated the universe of Star Wars as we now it for the best part of a century), I tend to agree. While deep lore is an incredibly well for inspiration and will no doubt provide endless fodder for Disney to produce three to four television series per year for the next two decades, I’m ready to move on.
Waititi has been known to take franchises and revitalize them. As much as I love Thor, even I will admit that the first two films were… fine. But Thor: Ragnarok was genuinely a blast, bringing in new characters, featuring some of Waititi’s Aotearoa faves (Hi, Rachel House, I love you), and finally introducing more than three colors into a Marvel film. I, personally, would like to propose that Vico Ortiz, who appeared alongside Waititi in the queer romantic comedy, Our Flag Means Death, be given an audition for some kind of Jedi role. They are a huge Star Wars nerd, would make it very gay, and they’ve got 8+ years of fencing experience. Just, you know, if you’re reading this Waititi… think about it. The world is ready for queer Star Wars characters, and not ones that can be edited out for international censors. Now that would be something new.
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