Star Wars Announces New Rise Of Skywalker Sequel (& It’s Not About Rey)

It’s unknown if John Boyega will reprise Finn in a future Star Wars movie, but Lucasfilm is finding ways to continue the character’s story in other mediums. The official Penguin Random House website has a listing for an upcoming young-adult novel titled Star Wars: The Last Order, which will be published on October 21st. Written by Kwame Mbalia, the story takes place after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, following Finn and Jannah as they come to the aid of young prisoners of the First Order. The book will draw parallels between the current situation and Finn and Jannah’s troubled personal histories.

“Following the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the Resistance rescues a ship full of young passengers who had been kidnapped by the First Order,” the official synopsis reads. “As Finn and Jannah set out to find the First Order officer responsible before he can endanger any more children, the two former stormtroopers  must wrestle with their own complicated pasts  as soldiers of the oppressive regime.”

Introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Finn was a First Order stormtrooper who defected after he couldn’t bring himself to shoot innocent civilians on Jakku. Over the course of the sequel trilogy, he evolves into a determined Resistance leader. In The Rise of Skywalker, he crosses paths with Jannah, who similarly was a stormtrooper who left the First Order. The two bonded over that shared past, but the film didn’t dive too deep into their dynamic.

[RELATED – 7 Best Star Wars Lightsaber Duels]

As Lucasfilm irons out its upcoming slate of Star Wars projects, the studio is planning on exploring the post-Rise of Skywalker timeline extensively. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is attached to direct New Jedi Order, a movie that chronicles Rey’s mission to usher in a new era for the Jedi Order. Daisy Ridley is returning to headline the film, but she’s cast doubt on whether or not her sequel trilogy co-stars will join her. In the past, she’s mentioned that she’ll be working with new faces this time around, implying there will be a fresh supporting cast.

While fans wait to see if Boyega will be back for New Jedi Order or another movie, it’s exciting to see Lucasfilm take advantage of the cross-medium canon to further flesh Finn out. The character was arguably underserved in the films; The Rise of Skywalker cut direct confirmation that Finn is Force sensitive, which would have been a fascinating angle to explore. The sequel trilogy movies had a lot of moving pieces, so there wasn’t always time to zero in on Finn. The benefit of a novel like this is it allows Lucasfilm to focus on characters and concepts in ways the films can’t. It sounds like The Last Order will be the kind of deep dive into Finn’s history audiences would have liked to see on screen.

The best Star Wars canon novels aren’t required reading for fans, but they add depth to the films and make them more rewarding on a rewatch. The Last Order has the potential to deliver an emotionally gripping story; judging by the premise, this will be a very personal mission for Finn and Jannah, as they try to help a group of children from enduring the same fate they suffered long ago. Hopefully, The Last Order delivers some fascinating insight into both characters. If the novel is handled properly, it might even redeem some aspects of The Rise of Skywalker, retroactively turning Finn meeting Jannah to a launchpad for a poignant narrative.