Star Wars sequel plans explained: Is the Skywalker Saga back?

The Star Wars experiment has not exactly gone according to plan for Disney. It was widely assumed that the franchise would flourish under the studio when it was purchased in 2012. The first film made under the Disney banner, The Force Awakens (2015) was an Earth-shattering success, but it's been a steady decline in terms of quality and critical acclaim.

The general consensus was that the final film the Disney sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker (2019), was a mess. It was rejected by fans of both the crowd-pleasing Force Awakens and the controversial The Last Jedi (2017). It brought the franchise's momentum, at least from a cinematic perspective, to a screeching halt. Now, Disney is trying to regain the momentum with a new trilogy.

Disney has announced a new Star Wars trilogy

Deadline confirmed that Disney has unveiled plans for three new Star Wars films to be written and produced by Simon Kinberg. The outlet alleged that the new films would tie in with the established trilogies, and continue to explore characters within the Skywalker Saga. This would effectively make them Episodes 10-12.

Reports from other outlets, however, have denied the Skywalker Saga of it all. IGN confirmed with a source close to the franchise that Simon Kinberg's films will instead focus on new characters and a story that fans haven't seen before.

The notion of pushing the franchise in a fresh, new direction is an inspired one if true. Star Wars fans were exhausted by the reliance on the Skywalker family courtesy of the appropriate titled The Rise of Skywalker, and even the shows have succumbed to nostalgia bait and Luke Skywalker cameos.

Simon Kinberg will spearhead the trilogy

It would be easier to get excited, though, if someone other than Kinberg was taking control of the trilogy. Kinberg has some impressive credits under his belt, serving as a producer on two of the best X-Men films to date, X-Men: First Class (2011) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), but he also has writing and directing credits on some of the worst X-Men films to date.

He penned the script for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which butchered the Dark Phoenix storyline on the big screen. Then, when 20th Century Fox decided to take another crack at the story, they had Kinberg write and direct Dark Phoenix (2019), which was somehow even worse.

Kinberg is not who you get if you want to push your franchise into new and exciting territory. He's a company man with a spotty track record, and his involvement with Star Wars should have more than a few fans concerned. Assuming these films even get made.