Ever since George Lucas stepped away from the Galaxy Far, Far Away, Star Wars has faced some turbulence, and now Kathleen Kennedy is finally acknowledging it. In a recent interview, the longtime Lucasfilm president admitted that the transition after Lucas sold the IP to Disney in 2012 brought unexpected challenges, especially on the theatrical front.
Speaking with Screen Rant's Ash Crossan at Star Wars Celebration 2025, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed that it's been "been a huge challenge" figuring out where to go after "finishing what George [Lucas] had created:"
"We've been working and talking for a long time about where Star Wars is going and the television streaming space offered us such a great opportunity to explore and experiment with new characters and storytelling. That's where 'The Mandalorian' obviously came about. And then post '[Episode] 9' and the sequel movies and finishing what George [Lucas] had created, it's been a huge challenge to figure out just exactly where we go."
Fans have felt that "challenge" for years. Star Wars: The Last Jedi remains the most decisive project in series history, splitting the fan base and causing The Rise of Skywalker to adjust course in what most believe was a negative way. In terms of television, there's no denying that the universe has been spread thin, with 10 individual seasons of live-action streaming on Disney+ since its launch in 2019. The latest of which was Andor Season 2, with many critics calling it the best yet.
When it comes to the future, Kennedy showed confidence, alluding to The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter, the only films with set releases. She praised the "great filmmakers involved" and teased that Lucasfilm has "got a real sense of what the future holds for Star Wars:"
"And I think it's now really gaining momentum. We've got these great filmmakers involved and we've got a real sense of what the future holds for Star Wars."
When asked by Crossan about the direction heading forward, mentioning how the Skywalkers used to define Star Wars, Kennedy veered away from giving so much credit to characters. Specifically, the Luscasfilm executive said that they've "never developed this around particular characters," also noting that in the future they "don't want to have every little thing connect either," but rather focus on the stories:
"We've never developed this around particular characters. It's a place, it's a galaxy far far away, so there's endless stories that can be told and you don't want to get so scattered that there's nothing to follow. At the same time, we don't want to have every little thing connect either. We want to tell good stories, great stories. And I think that's why we rely so heavily on strong storytellers and filmmakers to come into this space and have a point of view."
Since the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, Star Wars films have been put on the back burner, but an assortment of potential ideas have been reported on or even officially confirmed. The problem is, movies like Rogue Squadron and Taika Waititi's movie have seemingly been cancelled, or at the very least delayed.
When asked about how to balance official announcements with rumors, Kennedy said, "It's really tough" when it comes to Star Wars. When it comes to Lucasfilm's approach, Kennedy confirmed that they just don't respond to rumors, focusing more of their time on active projects:
"Yeah, it's difficult in this.... you know, with Star Wars, it's really tough, because everybody wants to know things, so rumors get out. And it was funny to hear Shawn [Levy] sort of tee that up with Ryan [Gosling], because there are endless rumors and some things are factual and some things are not. And really the way we look at it is, we just don't respond to any of it, because at the end of the day, we're only going to talk about the things that we know are real and not really spend time talking about speculation. So that's pretty much how we handle it."
Despite Kennedy's positivity surrounding its upcoming slate, there are still many questions on the board. Daisy Ridley is set to return as Rey in a film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, but the 2025 Celebration didn't offer any updates. Other films that were given little to no mention are Simon Kinberg's new trilogy, James Mangold's Jedi origins film, and Dave Filoni's Mando-verse crossover event.
Is Disney Ruining Star Wars?
In 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens united many fans from across the galaxy. While it was an objectively safe film, following many story beats from the 1977 original, it drew back every fan, earning the most of any Star Wars film to date.
Under George Lucas, Star Wars got to tell the story of how Anakin Skywalker turned to the Dark Side of the Force, eventually becoming Darth Vader. While well conceived on paper, the execution wasn't the best, with most fans particularly critical of Episodes 1 and 2, focusing on the acting and overuse of green screens. Revenge of the Sith, however, has stood the test of time, re-releasing in theaters this spring with a variety of popcorn buckets, setting records at the throwback box office.
The element that Lucas brought to the table that Disney has been missing is a clear sense of direction and story. No matter anyone's opinion on the movies, Episode 1-6 of the Skywalker Saga are neatly packed, with continual characters and storylines. The Sequel Trilogy was adjusted, rewritten, and improvised between each new Episode. As Kennedy mentioned, they finished the story Lucas started, but it wasn't necessarily his story.
A streaming explosion also hasn't helped much, with Disney+ needing content and Star Wars ripe for providing a wide, stretching array of live-action and animated stories. The "huge challenge" that Kennedy mentioned has, in part, to do with oversaturation on TV and an understanding that Star Wars must return to theaters. The issue now is finding a central idea, figuring out what audiences want, and hoping enough of them stuck around after The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Acolyte in order to follow this new direction. Has Disney ruined Star Wars? Not yet, but a continual lack of direction for the series will have fans missing Lucas' ideas more and more each day.
