Almost 10 Years Later, Star Wars’ Cancelled New Jedi Order Is Becoming a Reality

The first slate of Disney’s Star Wars movies achieved tremendous box office success (four of the five films grossed over $1 billion worldwide), but it wasn’t always smooth sailing behind the scenes. It became a recurring bit for these projects to experience some kind of turbulence en route to the big screen. The most infamous example, of course, is the firing of original Solo: A Star Wars Story directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, but almost every other Star Wars movie during this stretch had some kind of issue. Screenwriter Michael Arndt left The Force Awakens, Rogue One required significant reshoots just months before release, and the movie that would become The Rise of Skywalker lost its original director Colin Trevorrow.

Trevorrow, who parted ways with Lucasfilm in the fall of 2017, had been developing a film called Duel of the Fates. Following The Rise of Skywalker‘s mixed reception, the Duel of the Fates script and concept art circulated online, giving fans a taste of what could have been had Trevorrow stayed onboard. The materials were well-received, with some believing Duel of the Fates would have been a better conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, serving as a more organic follow-up to The Last Jedi. Obviously, we’re never going to see Duel of the Fates hit theaters, but elements of Trevorrow’s original idea could be revived in next year’s Star Wars: Starfighter.

Star Wars: Starfighter Can Make Colin Trevorrow’s Cancelled New Jedi Order a Reality

One of the most eye-catching pieces of concept art to come from the Duel of the Fates reveals was a striking image of Rey on the planet Modesta, home to her new Jedi temple. In the artwork, you can see children running around and playing as BB-8 rolls along, the implication being these are Rey’s students learning to harness their Force abilities. According to the website Jedi Temple Archives, the Modesta concept art was “said to be the final shot of the movie.” At the end of the sequel trilogy, Rey would be drawing upon her experiences to guide the next generation of Force users to maintain the newly established piece in the galaxy. It would have been great to see this in live-action, and that still might happen come next year.

Star Wars: Starfighter is billed as an all-new, original narrative removed from legacy storylines and characters. However, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be completely devoid of larger franchise connections. Plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being, but the latest rumors suggest that star Ryan Gosling’s character Kade Auberon is tasked with transporting his friend’s son (played by newcomer Flynn Gray) to safety. Apparently, this mission involves a trip to the planet Adaria. It’s said that Adaria is home to a “Jedi sanctuary,” and that the world itself is “full of greenery and fountains” and features “tiki-style huts.” Based on that description, it’s hard to not see parallels between Adaria and Trevorrow’s vision for Modesta. The Modesta concept art contains beautiful green landscapes and a hut-like structure where Rey and others could live.

Star Wars has a long history of recycling scrapped concept art for future projects. One of the more notable examples is Zeb from Star Wars Rebels, who’s based on one of Ralph McQuarrie’s original designs for Chewbacca. Concepts for Sith apprentice characters later became the basis for the likes of Asajj Ventress and Mother Talzin. Given this franchise tradition, it wouldn’t be surprising for Starfighter to follow suit by repurposing a planet originally conceived for Duel of the Fates. The Modesta artwork is beautiful and certainly feels like a classic Star Wars location. One of the goals of Starfighter is to harken back to the adventurous tone and spirit of the original films, so evoking those feelings through location is a smart move.

Will Starfighter Lead Into Rey’s New Jedi Order Movie?

Rumors about Starfighter featuring a Jedi sanctuary on a remote planet are coming at an interesting time. Lucasfilm has spent years trying to develop a New Jedi Order movie, which would chronicle Rey’s attempt to lead a new generation of Force users. The project, set to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, with Daisy Ridley onboard to reprise her role from the sequel trilogy. Despite excitement surrounding the movie, New Jedi Order has been stuck in development hell, cycling through multiple writers as Lucasfilm looks to crack the story. Save for the occasional quote from Ridley, it’s been mostly quiet on the New Jedi Order front; Lucasfilm didn’t say anything about it at this year’s D23 Expo.

The fascinating thing about all this is Star Wars: Starfighter is set a handful of years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, giving us our first on-screen look at the post-sequel trilogy galaxy. We don’t know what Rey has been up to since she defeated Palpatine, but it’d be reasonable to assume she’s been making an effort to re-establish the Jedi Order, searching for Force-sensitive beings and providing them safety and shelter. If the plot of Starfighter actually does revolve around Kade protecting a young Force user, it wouldn’t be a shock if Adaria is their final destination. Whoever asks Kade to keep Gray’s character safe may know about the Jedi sanctuary, feeling that’s the best place to go.

Starfighter writer Jonathan Tropper has hinted that there won’t be any legacy characters, but the film’s place in the franchise timeline combined with the persistent Jedi rumors has sparked speculation that Ridley could appear as Rey in the new film, perhaps in a brief cameo that sets up future Star Wars installments. As Lucasfilm irons out its next slate of movies, co-presidents Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan are said to be high on Simon Kinberg’s pitch for a new film trilogy. Former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy suggested the first entry of that series could be the next Star Wars movie that enters production. Connecting the dots, it’s easy to envision a scenario where Starfighter leads into Kinberg’s trilogy (which seems to have replaced New Jedi Order), acclimating viewers with the current state of the Star Wars galaxy before diving head first into a new threat the Jedi have to stop.

It’s important to keep in mind that this is all rumor for the time being, so fans should keep those grains of salt handy as they look for Starfighter updates online. Lucasfilm is keeping much of the film under wraps right now, but it wouldn’t be a shock if it heavily featured Jedi elements. With live-action TV no longer a priority for Disney, the hope is to make feature films the main attraction again. Star Wars needs to do something to make a major splash in theaters. The Mandalorian and Grogu was deemed too small and inconsequential to be a true box office hit. Starfighter kicking off a whole new era for the franchise by effectively serving as the first chapter in a new saga would be a way to generate interest. This could be the prefect time for Lucasfilm to revive Trevorrow’s scrapped New Jedi Order.

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