Shawn Levy Teases His Star Wars Movie as Being a Standalone Experience

The filmmaker doesn't want his film to be dependent on another adventure.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

With any new story being told in the galaxy far, far away, Star Wars fans wonder how it might be connected to other corners of the franchise, but for the upcoming movie Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy is developing, he hopes the experience can exist on its own terms. While previous standalone stories Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Solo: A Star Wars Story didn't directly rely on members of the Skywalker family, they had to fit within the confines of the events of the prequel and original trilogy, and while he denied offering concrete details about the movie, his remarks imply something entirely disconnected from the intergalactic family.

When asked by the Happy Sad Confused podcast what Star Wars meant to him, Levy detailed, "I'll say that the experience of crafting this story has forced me to think about that question. Because there's only so many times that Star Wars movies can revisit the same section of the timeline, and so it's really forced me -- because I don't want to do a Star Wars movie that is redundant to others, nor am I interested in doing one that has to serve another movie." 

He added, "I really wanted to craft something that felt organic to me, both in tone and characters, so I think that there is certainly the Force and a connection to something bigger than our individual selves. And the way that that can make us powerful, those themes, combined with visual delight and wish fulfillment, that's Star Wars to me."

At last year's Star War Celebration, Lucasfilm confirmed that three new movies were on the way. Dave Filoni would develop a film set during The New Republic, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy would develop a movie featuring Rey Skywalker establishing a New Jedi Order, and James Mangold would direct a film focusing on the Dawn of the Jedi. The first two films are both dependent on established elements of franchise lore, while Mangold's was far enough from the Skywalker saga to feel like an entirely original experience.

Jon Favreau is developing the movie The Mandalorian & Grogu, which takes place after Season 3 of The Mandalorian. It's been nearly five years since a Star Wars movie was released, with Lucasfilm instead focusing on TV series for Disney+. Of all the series released up to this point, only Star Wars: The Acolyte, which took place during The High Republic, focused on all-new characters, yet even still had cameos from figures like Yoda and Darth Plagueis.

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Stay tuned for updates on Shawn Levy's Star Wars movie.

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