What I Would Like From Disney’s Rey Trilogy
Earlier this year, Lucasfilm President and divisive figure in Star Wars fandom, Kathleen Kennedy, revealed information regarding a trilogy of new movies that follow Rey in her quest to rebuild the Jedi Order 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Daisy Ridley confirmed that she would be reprising her role as Rey ‘Skywalker’ for the movies.
Never in the history of film has anything split a group of fans like the sequel trilogy. Although successful at the box office, online infighting on both sides have made this a controversial move for Kennedy and Lucasfilm. With Dave Filoni, James Mangold and many more also creating new movies for the franchise, while many are also cancelled periodically, this was met with the most surprise and fury at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
Personally, I like most things Star Wars and have stayed relatively neutral. I thought there were good and not so good things with the sequel trilogy and below are what I would like to see if a new Rey-centred trilogy of Star Wars movies ever makes it to screens.
A Consistent Vision
If this is to be a trilogy, Disney must learn from their mistakes and install one director and stick with them. The Star Wars sequels were originally going to be directed by three different directors; J.J Abrams directing The Force Awakens, Rian Johnson directing The Last Jedi, and Colin Trevorrow directing The Rise of Skywalker, which was originally called Duel of the Fates. When Trevorrow was relieved of his duties, Abrams stepped in to direct the final movie.
This caused many problems in terms of vision and direction. Abrams established the set-up and tone he wanted for The Force Awakens, only for Johnson to change many aspects of this in The Last Jedi. Abrams then proceeded to adjust things to his liking again in The Rise of Skywalker. This led to a muddled trilogy with no direct throughline. Themes and plots were picked up and dropped and not remembered again. More time was spent changing plot elements about when they should have been established already.
Neither have spoken very openly about the process here, but you can tell from the movies that things were set-up by Abrams that he anticipated would be followed-up in future movies. Snoke was established as the main villain, a mysterious presence that many people spent years theorizing on, only for him to be killed in The Last Jedi. Kylo Ren destroyed his helmet in The Last Jedi and spoke of letting the past die only to put it back together and Abrams to resurrect the past again and again in The Rise of Skywalker. There are many examples where the audience can see there were aspects that both directors were not happy with.
The only thing I can find where Abrams and Johnson communicated was the latter asking if R2-D2 rather than BB8 could accompany Rey to Ahch-To to search for Luke so the droid could use the Princess Leia hologram a way to convince him to train Rey. Which is fair enough anyway because both directors forgot that BB-8 belongs to Poe and always has. So at the finale of The Rise of Skywalker where BB-8 and Rey walk into the sunset, she has basically stolen Poe’s droid.
You just cannot tell what the original intentions were for the final destination of the characters, which makes life very difficult for everyone in the process. The cast and crew working on the sequels needed to trust that the person sitting in the director’s chair knew what they were doing. The producers probably thought if you just get two or three talented filmmakers that the film would be great regardless.
Therefore, the first priority should definitely be to hire one director and stick with them. No firing them midway through the movie and hiring Ron Howard, like Solo. No hiring multiple directors and expecting the final product to be great. Just one director who knows where the story is going and can work with the fantastic team at Lucasfilm and concentrate on a single vision.
Ms Marvel’s Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been touted as the possible director as she is already working on a ‘secret’ Star Wars film, that includes Rey, which is in development with Damon Lindelof. If that’s the case, she will already know the environment in which she is working. If she knows she is going to see the film though from beginning to end, hopefully that will be motivation enough to make the best possible trilogy.
Character Development and Flaws
A consistent vision will hopefully benefit the characters and their story arcs. The Force Awakens did a great job at establishing new characters while bringing old ones back. There was so much promise and potential to Rey, Finn, and Poe that many interesting theories emerged of where their stories would go.
Unfortunately, you could argue that none of these characters were explored deeply enough. The best case of character development was Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. You get the sense that both directors really liked his depth and conflict and gave him plenty to do. It didn’t hurt that Adam Driver was cast perfectly and the sequels wanted to focus more on him as they progressed. However, this then meant sidelining some other characters to make way for his story.
For the most part, the narrative did follow Rey, but many people criticized her ability to do everything so easily. There was a lack of struggle that was later explained as her being a Palpatine, a move that I really don’t think Abrams considered until Rian Johnson killed off his main villain. Her most interesting scenes were between her and Ben and her temptation from the Dark Side. If this trilogy goes deeper into that, maybe even her descending fully into that temptation, there may be more for Daisy Ridley to do with the character.
It would be good to see more flaws within her character this time around and a full character arc. If her character is more fleshed-out and she has to cope with the issues of creating a new Jedi Order, this could be very intriguing. This is one thing needed to get the critics and the audience onboard, because at the moment, I don’t think interest for this trilogy is that high. Daisy Ridley is a great actress, and it would be good for her and the audience to have more to do.
Likewise, if Finn and Poe appear in these films, which would make logical sense, they cannot just be relegated to sidekick characters again. The Force Awakens did the difficult job of making unique and likeable characters but subsequent films failed to use them to their full potential. Their arcs just stopped and by the final battle on Exegol, they were just part of the rebel army, albeit in leading roles, and nothing much else.
The new trilogy already has the characters established, people know these characters and many have fond memories of them. The Rey trilogy needs to let them breathe and develop naturally. Don’t be afraid to have interesting exposition and conflicts. A balance needs to be struck between the characters so that at the end of the third movie there is a payoff for each of them. If you’ve got good actors, use them to the best of their ability.
An Interesting Villain
Star Wars has always been famous for its villains. Obviously, we look to Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, but the huge amount of secondary villains and henchman created by George Lucas was astonishing. Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt, Count Dooku, Darth Maul, General Grievous, Grand Moff Tarkin, the Stormtroopers, and so many more. Then look at the huge number of malevolent foes from Star Wars books, games, TV shows and other multimedia.
When making a new Star Wars property, you can literally get anything you think up. The production team at Lucasfilm is so talented and has shown again and again they can create anything that you just need an idea and they’ll be happy to make up drawings and models and give you about 50 different options of these to choose from.
This being the case, it’s a shame that the sequels didn’t fully utilize this. As I’ve said before, Snoke was an interesting concept and it would have made sense for him to be the antagonist throughout the films. However, after he was slaughtered by his apprentice, Palpatine was brought back, a character we love but had already seen in five Star Wars movies.
The secondary villains in the sequels too were interesting at first, such as General Hux and Captain Phasma, but no one quite knew what to do with their characters. Captain Phasma develops an intense obsession with Finn, and that’s about it. General Hux’s hate for Kylo Ren leads him to betray the First Order that seemed to be his life, especially when blowing up five planets for its cause. Like with the plot, some of the characters didn’t follow a logical throughline. And I don’t mean they should be predictable, just not attempt to subvert expectations so much that it annoys the audience.
My main point is that this is a great opportunity to make something fresh and original. With a main villain and sprinkling of intriguing secondary villains and henchmen, it would really help to lift the films. Give Rey something worth fighting, a real threat to her and the new order of Jedi.
Obviously, I make it all sound so easy and I’m sure creating something genuinely original might be difficult, but if you look at all of the villains created by Dave Filoni that compliment the already-known ones in the likes of Clone Wars and Rebels, it can be done.
Honour The Original Movies But Don’t Clone Them
The sequels really wanted to honour the original Star Wars movies; A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. They had the main cast coming back to reprise their iconic roles, they had classic call backs like the Millennium Falcon, and they wanted to steer away from prequel-levels of digital effects. So much so that barely any reference to the prequel trilogy is made. It was like they were above them and they were giving the audience what they really wanted.
It’s interesting how much respect they paid to the original films while at the same time ignoring any input from their creator George Lucas. They might have had some notes about originality because the Force Awakens followed A New Hope pretty closely. It’s still an enjoyable movie, but I feel this affects its rewatchability after you’re over the initial thrill of new Star Wars.
I think any new trilogy will need to feel like it is a part of the galaxy but offer something new. This is easier said than done but a Rey trilogy will need to acknowledge what has come before while setting a new path. Using a selection of planets and alien races from throughout all of the franchise will give the fan service while you concentrate with the new story.
We don’t know what order all these new Star Wars movies are coming out and in what era they are all set, but this trilogy has the benefit of having its setting, having a cast, and being associated with a set of movies already, with people desperate for some of the gaps to be filled.
It would be interesting to see the basis of a new Jedi Order that isn’t at the height of its powers. Rey trying not to fall into the same trap as Luke and the Jedi Council by letting one of their students turn to the Dark Side and destroy them. There could be vindictive outside sources which are a threat to the development of this Order, and public outcry at the return of the Jedi that have never had the full support of the public.
There are lots of places this set of movies can go and it would be a shame if it went over old ground and copied something from another film, book, or TV show. The first movie is vital and critical support and good word of mouth will be needed for these films to be a success. Gone are the days you can put out a Star Wars movie and people will just watch it regardless. There needs to be something interesting to keep the audience coming back.
I hope my assessment of the sequels hasn’t seemed too harsh. There is a lot that I like about them. It broadened the Star Wars Universe, it’s shot very well and has some interesting ideas, and I do think The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi and very entertaining. There are so many resources to make this set of films a success with enough patience and respect for Star Wars.