It's an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan right now, and no stretch of the truth to say that the entire Star Wars brand is "hot property" as we approach December which will see the final instalment of the nine film saga (and eleventh Star Wars film overall) with the release of Episode IX : The Rise Of Skywalker which will see veteran Star Wars actor Ian McDiarmid reprise his role of Sheev Palpatine/The Emperor for the first time in a live action capacity since 2005's Episode III : Revenge Of The Sith and beyond, the future of the franchise looks certain to be filled with exciting tales from various worlds within a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars has of course already expanded its horizons in recent years with the introduction of standalone stories with 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story' in 2016, showcasing the events immediately proceeding the original 1977 film with the story of the rebel alliance and how they came to possess the plans for the first Death Star and 2018's 'Solo : A Star Wars Story' which gave a glimpse into the life of a young Han Solo and how he came to be the smuggler that we all knew and loved.
Unfortunately both of these films did have troubled productions and despite Rogue One having significant appreciation from fans of all ages (and rightly so with the return of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader - that hallway scene right?!), Solo ultimately failed at the box office due to a combination of an incredibly troubled production with a change of directors midway through production, the main star having to take acting lessons on set and very poor marketing & promotion leading up to the eventual release. As a result of this, Disney seems to have shelved any future standalone stories in favour of....other avenues.
The fourth quarter of 2019 will see the introduction of brand new multi-platform streaming service Disney+, incorporating original content from Disney's catalogue of properties including National Geographic, Pixar, Marvel Studios and of course, Lucasfilm and there's already brand new Star Wars content being developed for the upcoming streaming service. An original series titled 'The Mandalorian' created by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, starring Pedro Pascal will be available on launch day and will revolve around a lone mandalorian gunfighter and will be set shortly after the events of Return Of The Jedi.
Further in the pipeline is the untitled Cassian Andor series which will bring back Diego Luna as the character of the same name from Rogue One and presumably act as a prequel to said movie. Little else is known about what the series will entail but there's every chance that some of the characters from the movie could make a return in the series in some capacity.
Even further down the line and the probably the most exciting project in the early stages of development is the newly confirmed Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series for which Ewan McGregor is expected to return to the role for the first time since Episode III : Revenge Of The Sith (though he did make a brief voice cameo in Episode VII : The Force Awakens). McGregor is already committed to playing Black Mask in DC's new Birds Of Prey movie so the series is unlikely to go into production until Spring 2020 at the earliest meaning we wouldn't see the series itself until 2021 at the earliest. It is worth noting however that we could see Obi-Wan Kenobi sooner as Ewan is rumoured to appear alongside former Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen. Both roles are rumoured to be in the capacity of force ghosts.
The New Trilogies
Some reassurance can be taken for fans of Star Wars on the big screen though as Episode IX won't be the final movie to grace cinemas as two entire new trilogies of movies in the Star Wars universe are supposedly in early development. One helmed by controversial Episode VIII : The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and one helmed by even more controversial former Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss. Little is known about the former but the latter is speculated to be a live action Knights Of The Old Republic trilogy of movies but this isn't something that is set in stone so should naturally be taken with a grain of salt.
Update - October 29th 2019 : Benioff & Weiss have “stepped away” from their Star Wars Trilogy, citing the workload and clashing with their projects for Netflix. However this comes only two days after they made some rather damning admissions of unprofessionalism at a recent film festival in which they made the incredible statement of saying that they were completely and utterly out of their depth on Game Of Thrones and weren’t cut out for it which only sparked further outrage. Its highly likely that in fact Disney didn’t want to take that risk in damaging the Star Wars brand and softly fired Benioff & Weiss and I think we’re all thankful for it if we’re being honest with ourselves.
Beyond a promising future in movies & television streaming, Star Wars will also remain a popular geek culture brand in other mediums going forward. Before the final instalment of the Skywalker Saga this christmas comes the latest in Star Wars video games with the November release of Jedi : Fallen Order which brings an original story set preceding Order 66 but prior to the events of Rogue One and stars Cameron Monaghan as the central protagonist, Cal. EA's Battlefront II continues to receive updates with new multiplayer game modes, fixes and cosmetic upgrades though its campaign mode seems to have been all but abandoned as there hasn't been any expansions since December 2017.
And of course, it wouldn't be fair not to mention the exquisite 'Star Wars Galaxy's Edge' area at Disneyworld in Anaheim, California and is coming later this month to Hollywood Studios at Disneyworld Orlando, Florida. The existing area at the Anaheim park is spread across 14 acres and the upcoming Orlando park is expected to be much the same. Galaxy's Edge features several iconic attractions, shops, restaurants and entertainment offerings. It's a must visit for any Star Wars fan and somewhere i hope to see for myself soon!
So in conclusion, i think it's very safe to say that what's next for Star Wars is simply an expanded universe across multiple different mediums. A Galaxy Far, Far Away perhaps isn't all that far (far) away at all and is only going to get bigger, better and bolder!
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