Star Wars: Kathleen Kennedy Addresses How Rey Movie Connects to Luke and Skywalker Saga

Lucasfilm announced today at Star Wars Celebration that Daisy Ridley would be returning to the franchise as Rey Skywalker for a film that takes place after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but rather than being a direct sequel or featuring any connections to former entries into the saga, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed we should anticipate a more standalone adventure. This isn’t to say that we won’t witness connections to what came before it, more that flashbacks or Force ghosts likely won’t be involved in any capacity, even if Rey’s experiences with Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker will inform the events of the new film.

“Well we’re 15 years out from Rise of Skywalker, so we’re post war, post First Order, and the Jedi are in disarray. There’s a lot of discussion around, ‘Who are the Jedi? What are they doing? What’s the state of the galaxy?’” Kennedy shared with IGN. “She’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order, based on the books, based on what she promised Luke, so that’s where we’re going.”

She continued, “I don’t know as we’ll spend a lot of time in flashbacks or Force ghosts or things like that, but certainly, the spirit of what he represents to her is gonna be significant.”

In addition to a movie featuring the return of Rey, Lucasfilm also announced that new films were being developed that would take place prior to The High Republic and a film set between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Kennedy went on to note that, while each of these three films could be considered “standalone” adventures, that doesn’t mean that they won’t ignite future stories that have connections to other corners of the galaxy far, far away.

“When we say ‘standalone’ now, a lot of the storytelling, as you can see in the work that we’ve been doing in television, we start it as a standalone idea and then it’s grown,” Kennedy confirmed. “I think the potential of that could happen in these different eras of the timeline, but I don’t want to make a commitment to that until we really get into it and see how it plays.”

Stay tuned for details on the Rey Skywalker film.

Are you looking forward to the project? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!