Here's How the Skywalker Saga Can Continue After 'The Rise of Skywalker'
'Episode IX' is supposedly the very end of the Skywalker saga, but come on, there are a lot new hopes beyond that.
Everyone knows that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is touted as the end of the story of the Skywalker family and their pals, but is episode 9 really it? Supposedly’’, the next several Star Wars projects — including TV series The Mandalorian, Rian Johnson’s trilogy and the Benioff and Weiss films — won’t have any ties to Anakin, Luke, Leia or Kylo Ren, but is this true? Here are six ways the Skywalker saga could continue beyond Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.
In Other Media
The Skywalker saga ending with The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t really apply to anything other than the films. This means that the canonical Star Wars novels and comic books could continue to tell all sorts of stories about this family, in a variety of different time periods. For example, just this week, Penguin Random House seemingly prematurely leaked the description of a Kylo Ren-focused novel before said novel was supposed to be announced. Though unconfirmed and untitled, this novel is thought to tell the origin of how Ben Solo became Kylo Ren. The idea that this book is the only canon novel or comic to focus on members of the Skywalker/Solo clan is crazy. There are, almost certainly, several, several more.
Deep-Cut Prequel Films Could Explain the Skywalker Origin
All signs point to the in-development Star Wars films from Game of Thrones showrunners Benioff and Weiss could be set thousands of years before the existing timeline. While it seems like this is a clean break from the Skywalker line, it’s also very possible that these films would set up the origin of the family that eventually produces Shmi Skywalker; Anakin’s mom. Of course, it feels pretty unlikely this film series will use the name “Skywalker” at all, but it’s not totally out of the question. Who is the oldest Skywalker? We don’t actually know.
Rey, Finn and Poe Movies About “the Skywalkers”
Movies revolving around the exploits Rey, Finn and Poe, happening after the events of Episode IX are totally on the table. Now, the chances that any of these characters will secretly be revealed to be related to the Skywalker family is pretty small. But, if the term “Skywalker” does end up being a new kind of Jedi, then movies about Rey, Finn, and Poe totally could have people called “Skywalkers” in them, who aren’t blood-relatives of that famous family. Hell, as many have pointed out, maybe Rey herself becomes the first “Skywalker” who isn’t really a Jedi and not part of the family.
Disney Changes Its Mind in a Few Years
In 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation made it pretty clear that the Trek franchise was done telling stories about Kirk, Spock, Bones and the crew of the classic starship Enterprise. By 1996, this was more or less true: all versions of Star Trek were happening a hundred years after the stories of those characters. For all intents and purposes, Kirk, Spock and Bones were the “Skywalkers” of the Trek universe. And guess what? Eventually, the Star Trek franchise changed its mind. Since 2009, all versions of Trek — from the reboot movies to the popular series Discovery — have all been about making connections to the classic era of Kirk and Spock.
Star Wars could do this exact same thing. Just give it time.
Chewbacca Prequel series
Chewbacca is one of the most popular characters in all of Star Wars. The sad death of Peter Mayhew has proven that, but the character will never die. Disney+ could and should greenlight a Chewie show, which of course, will feature appearances from people who get mixed-up with the Skywalkers.
Rebellion TV Show With Sebastian Stan as Luke and Alden Ehrenreich as Han
Back when Solo: A Star Wars Story was still not in theaters, and not a box office bomb, news broke that Alden Ehrenreich had signed a contract to do more Star Wars projects. Despite what you might think of Ehrenreich, he is, canonically, Han Solo. If Disney had any smarts, doing a Rebellion-era TV show featuring young Luke, Han and Leia would slay. Plus, Marvel’s Sebastian Stan has been lobbying to play young Luke Skywalker for years now. It might be fan fiction right now, but let’s face it, this would be fantastic.
