Disney’s annual shareholders presentation (booked as an online event) was bound to produce at least a couple ofannouncements related to its futureMarvel,PixarandStar Warsprojects. However, few were prepared for the absolute news hurricane that the company sent out yesterday with over 50 productions already scheduled up to 2025, including at least 12 in theStar Warsuniverse.
It bears clarifying that a lot of these announcements were actually updates rather than completely fresh news previously unknown to the public. But with more to come fromThe MandalorianandRogue Squadron, as well as confirmation of rumors surroundingAhsoka,Andor,The New BatchandLando; plus some new surprises with the likes ofStar Wars Vision,A Droid Story,The AcolyteandRangers of the New Republic; Disney is making sureStar Warsnever goes through a dry spell again.
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Among the known projects wereObi-Wan Kenobi,now featuring Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader; and the fact that Taika Waititi will be the man taking over the mainlineStar Warssaga in the future. Though no clear dates were given for when Waititi will get down to work, the rest of Disney’s plans provide a speculative timeline for when a new trilogy could kick off.
Since Patty Jenkins’Rogue Squadronis pinpointed for Christmas 2023, and Waititi is currently working with Disney onThor: Love and Thunder(scheduled for early 2022), the New Zealander could be set to start focusing mainly onStar Warssometime after he’s done withThor. This would place hisStar Warsfilm in the June 24, 2025 slot Disney has set apart, especially when considering Waititi will assume co-writing duties for the project alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns.
Even if Disney’s overall approach forStar Warsseems to have left behind former CEO Bob Iger’s statement from 2019 that theirStar Warsefforts were “a little too much, too fast,” the company’s main intent to book top-notch talent is clear, regardless of them having to wait for it. In Jenkins and Waititi Disney has captured two of the current biggest directing names within and outside the superhero film genre, who will surely have no problem bringing over their vision to a galaxy far away.
Waititi’s is one of the busiest directors in Hollywood, one not known to skip a beat in-between projects. Whether it’swith savvy advertising or Oscar-winning films, Disney’s may have struck gold in its working relationship with Waititi, so five years isn’t that long a wait if it means getting right a newStar Warsstory from the very start.
