Kathleen Kennedy says Star Wars: The Force Awakens Continues "Skywalker Family Saga"

Just how big is Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Well, even a publication as unlikely as The Costco Connection is harnessing the power of the Force with a feature article about the franchise and the new film. In an interview with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, they mostly looked at the past of Star Wars, but she did say something interesting about the future.

Breaking the upcoming films down into two categories, she talked about the "Saga" films, the ones with Episode numbers, and the now-defunct-name "Anthology" films, which are now being called simply "A Star Wars Story" but will tell stories outside of the Saga.

"The Saga films focus on the Skywalker family saga. The stories follow a linear narrative that connects to the previous six films," she said. "The Force Awakens follows Return of the Jedi and continues that generational story."

Now, it's always been assumed that at least one of the young castmembers in Star Wars: The Force Awakens would turn out to be a Skywalker. Popular theories center mostly around Daisy Ridley's "Rey," though there have been arguments made for almost all the newbies, light side and dark side alike (of course, thanks to a new Star Wars comic, one of them is almost certainly out of the running). But this is the first time someone in a position of authority at Lucasfilm has flat-out said we'll be seeing the next "generation" of the Skywalker family.

As for the Story films, Kennedy didn't have much new to offer, though she did make a point to say they'd explore both "fresh characters" and "a variety of genres," meaning we could start to see some very different Star Wars films in the near future.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in theaters December 18, 2015. See where the other announced Star Wars films fall on our complete franchise movie schedule here.