Among several Star Wars updates, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has revealed some new details about Shawn Levy’s upcoming Star Wars movie. Amid several reports that she would soon be stepping down from her role at Lucasfilm, Kennedy is setting the record straight while also sharing several updates for Star Wars fans to look forward to in the coming years. This includes the upcoming movie from director Shawn Levy and star Ryan Gosling.

In a new interview with ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that she is not currently stepping down from her role at Lucasfilm, but that a plan for eventual succession is beginning to form. Likewise, she also provided a collection of exciting updates for the next few Star Wars movies, one of the most exciting being the confirmation that Levy and Gosling’s movie would not only be a standalone, but that it would also be set in a post-Episode IX Star Wars galaxy:

“Shawn’s is a standalone Star Wars story that’ll take place post 9, maybe five or six years out…And with this, it’s all pretty much new characters. We may bring some of the characters back from the sequel saga, but pretty much new characters…”

Kennedy also confirmed that Shawn Levy’s Star Wars movie would be the next theatrical release, following Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s The Mandalorian & Grogu which is set to be released in 2026.

Ryan Gosling and Shawn Levy’s Star Wars Movie Will Explore A Brand New Period

5-6 Years After The Rise of Skywalker

Exploring the post-sequel trilogy timeline will be a major first for the Star Wars franchise. As the next Star Wars theatrical release after The Mandalorian & Grogu, this also means that Levy and Gosling’s movie will be the first to enter this new time-period ahead of the upcoming Rey Skywalker movie coming from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy which is also supposed to be set after the sequels as well. However, that’s ᴀssuming that the Rey movie is still happening at all.

At any rate, this brand-new period will undoubtedly give Levy and Gosling’s Star Wars movie all kinds of additional creative freedom compared to other Star Wars projects. They only really have to think about what came before rather than what’s ahead. The future will be a blank slate, and they’ll be the ones to start charting what the next era of the Star Wars galaxy looks like.

Which Sequel Trilogy Characters Could Join Ryan Gosling?

Poe or Finn Would Be Very Exciting

The tease from Kathleen Kennedy that other sequel trilogy characters might make appearances is also very exciting. Seeing as how Rey’s movie will presumably be about her starting a New Jedi Order, perhaps Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling’s movie could be a great fit to bring back characters like John Boyega’s Finn or Oscar Isaac’s Poe. After all, the majority of Star Wars fans would certainly love to see one or both of them return, especially if it meant they could be part of a stronger, more dynamic story than The Rise of Skywalker was arguably unable to provide.

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline