The Skywalker Saga came to a close with the recent arrival of Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker on the big screen, which leaves everyone that has seen the film wondering what happens next. Obviously, there’s no way to answer that question without giving away a few spoilers about the film, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you might not want to read on, but for everyone else here’s our take on what happens after everything that goes down in Episode IX.
There are two ways of looking at this. The first is to take you through all of the Star Wars films and TV series that will be coming out over the next few years. This will give you a good idea of what to expect from the franchise and when to expect it.
However, that doesn’t really cover the direct continuation from The Rise Of Skywalker, so we’ll also take you through some of the talking points from the film that might point the way for this timeline and set of characters. When you make it to the end of the film, it definitely feels like a book closer, but it also implies that there will be more in the not so distant future, so it’s going to be interesting to see what actually happens next for them.
The next Star Wars films
There’s actually not much detail in terms of what Star Wars films will come after The Rise Of Skywalker, but here’s everything there is to know at the moment.
Rian Johnson is down to write and direct a brand new trilogy that should introduce a new batch of characters separate to those from the Skywalker Saga. It might be difficult to do this inside the window of time covered in the nine episodes, so our assumption is that this will have its own timeline either in the past with the Old Republic era a possibility, or the future, possibly much later than Rise.
The other film in the offing is a combined effort from two of the biggest producers in movie history. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Marvel boss Kevin Feige are joining forces on a new film and once again it sounds like it’s going to be new people and new places in the Star Wars universe, so this is unlikely to be any kind of sequel or direct follow up to the Skywalker Saga.
The next Star Wars TV series
We’ve recently had the glory of The Madalorian on Disney +, which was set in between the timelines of the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy, so there’s no possibility of this being in any way a next step for the characters of Rise. There’s also a Cassian Andor series set to be a prequel to Rogue One and an Obi Wan Kenobi series set eight years after the end of the Revenge Of The Sith, so again there aren’t any options for the latest trio and their pals.
You can check out our Star Wars section to keep tabs on future films and tv series from the franchise or visit the official news page at https://www.starwars.com/news. You can also check out the Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker DVD, Blu-ray and digital release details to find out more about the home entertainment release of the film.
Signs in Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker that there’s more to come from the characters
There are no official projects underway with Disney and Lucasfilm, but all signs point to there being more from the core characters post Rise Of Skywalker. The biggest factor is that the trilogy has only really scratched the surface of the relationships between them all and with Rey, Finn and Poe all making it to the end of Star Wars Episode IX alive, there’s every chance that we’ll be seeing more from them eventually.
There was a lot more emotional closure at the end of The Return Of The Jedi, but even here the characters did go on to come back to the franchise after the original trilogy. Admittedly, it was 32 years later, but they still returned and that, if nothing else, is enough of a reason to expect more from them on the big screen.
They definitely left things a little too long for Luke and the gang, so it’s doubtful that they’ll make the same mistake twice, so we’re putting our money on a possible return for the main three in the next 5-10 years. The real question for us is when and not if, which then leads on to the how and we’ll go through our thoughts on that in the section below.
There are other big moments in the film that would seem to indicate that there will be a next for Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaacs. The most prominent of these is the unanswered question of what Finn was going to tell Rey when he though they were all going to die.
It could end up being one of those poignant moments in cinema like the whisper scene from Lost In Translation and that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. However, it doesn’t feel like that’s definitely the case here, so it could well be a sign of what might come next.
There’s also the odd Lando scene at the end of Rise that seems to indicate that he’s going to be going on some kind of origin search with new character Jannah. This could mean a spin-off TV series, in all fairness, but it could also be the way things start in a sequel to the sequel trilogy.
There was also a lot of history between Poe and Zorii Bliss implies in the film, but it looks like that’s how it’s going to stay. If we do end up seeing more from them then it’s more likely to be a TV spin-off than as a part of the next Star Wars film.
Finally, there’s all of the Sith lore that gets bandied about throughout The Rise Of Skywalker. It’s the most we’ve found out about them since the prequel trilogy and while the Emperor’s plan to pass all of the Dark Side down to his granddaughter didn’t really pan out, it begs the question where does it go to now. Clearly, it can’t just wither away with Palpatine, so there’s bound to be a new Dark Force in the process of taking shape after the events of the film.
So what comes next
This is obviously all speculation, but it looks like there will be a follow-up to Star Wars The Rise Of Skywalker featuring the characters. It could easily follow straight away with Rey sensing the shift of dark power far far away, but equally there could be a break and a later timeline.
Whenever it’s set, it will need to cover the next steps for the Dark Side and the efforts of the resistance to prepare for its return. The spark of a trail, the illusive dark forces felt on the edges of the galaxy and the efforts to track it down. Ren, Snoke and Palpatine May well be gone, but The Rise Of Skywalker didn’t balance the Force in any way that felt meaningful, so there’s got to be more.
The first signs of this rebirth of the Dark Side could well be discovered by Lando and Jannah while they’re off on their strangely forward tag team adventure if it doesn’t become yet another TV show spin off. However, it could also come to nothing, which has happened before in the world of sci-fi with Doctor Who being the biggest offender.
Depending on the timeline that comes after Episode IX, we could either see them exploring the relationship between Finn and Rey or revealing it as something that has moved on in some way. Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see what comes next after The Rise Of Skywalker.
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