Following the news from Star Wars Celebration that Daisy Ridley will be returning to the galaxy far, far away, it is unclear whether the upcoming movie will be an 'Episode 10' sequel to The Rise of Skywalker and the Skywalker Saga as a whole.
At Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced three new films to be released over the course of the next decade.
One of those films, which will be directed by Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, will star Daisy Ridley, the lead of Star Wars' sequel trilogy. The movie itself will be set 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker, and it is said that Rey will be working to rebuild the new Jedi Order.
Even though The Rise of Skywalker wasn't received well by fans, it did bring resolution to the Skywalker Saga at the end of the film, which begs a certain question: where does Daisy Ridley's upcoming movie fit into the big picture?
Star Wars: Episode 10?
At this time, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's upcoming Star Wars movie is only known to be a standalone film set after the sequel trilogy.
However, that doesn't change the fact that it is going to directly follow The Rise of Skywalker and feature the main protagonist of the entire sequel trilogy.
If Ridley only had a minor role in the film, and it was centered around something other than the rebuilding of the Jedi Order, it would be easy to say that this project is not a direct sequel to The Rise of Skywalker.
However, Ridley seems to be a major player in the movie, which would make Rey a key character once again.
Kathleen Kennedy was also asked about the possibility of Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker making an appearance at some point in the movie, and the Lucasfilm president didn't rule it out.
Since Rey is the main character of the upcoming film and the Jedi Order is being rebuilt, Luke Skywalker may even return. There is a good possibility that other sequel trilogy characters will be returning as well, and it is safe to assume that this film will basically act as Star Wars: Episode X, even if that is not its title.
Daisy Ridley's Second Star Wars Trilogy
As previously mentioned, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's upcoming movie is only slated to be standalone as of right now.
However, due to what it is about and the characters involved, it is safe to assume that two more films will be announced at some point to form another trilogy.
Rebuilding the Jedi Order is no small task, especially when dealing with a new antagonist. It is also important to remember just how much criticism Daisy Ridley faced for her portrayal of Rey in the sequel trilogy.
In order for her to come back to the franchise, there would probably have to be a fairly convincing story in place for the character - one that would take multiple films to tell.
So if Ridley does come back for a trilogy, and it is basically a sequel to The Rise of Skywalker, does that mean it is part of the Skywalker Saga?
Is the Skywalker Saga Really Over?
The Rise of Skywalker was marketed to be the end of the Skywalker Saga. After 42 years of storytelling, fans were told that Episode IX was the end.
With this upcoming film now confirmed, it is hard to believe that The Rise of Skywalker really did mark the end.
At the end of the movie, fans saw Rey take on the Skywalker name on Tatooine.
If she is coming back for another film and possibly even a trilogy, that would technically mean that there are more stories to tell regarding the Skywalkers.
Lucasfilm could say that Rey isn't a Skywalker by blood, but that would cause fans to say the studio doesn't consider Rey to be a part of that family, and it would also completely undermine the reasoning behind her choosing the Skywalker name.
A New Chapter in the Book of Star Wars
When the movie comes out, Disney and Lucasfilm could mark it as the beginning of a new "chapter" of the overall Star Wars story, similar to the phases of the MCU.
That would mean that Ridley's upcoming film would still be a part of the big picture but would be kicking off a new era separate from the Skywalker Saga.
If that is the case, then Ridley coming back as Rey could just be serving as a catalyst for the next "saga."
Whatever Rey's involvement is could cause everything to be set in motion for the next batch of films, and there not be any Skywalker involvement past the project that Ridley is in - which would just be the first film.
That way, if there is another saga when all of the movies within it have been released, fans won't look back and even remotely consider it as part of the Skywalker Saga because Rey would only be a part of it at the beginning.
