This year’s Star Wars Celebration is likely the most important Lucasfilm since Disney took over the franchise. Taking place this year in Japan, Star Wars Celebration is a major fan event where Lucasfilm typically provides exclusive new looks and announcements for the future of the galaxy far, far away. That said, it certainly feels like the pressure is on in 2025 more than ever before.

At present, it’s been over 5 years since a Star Wars movie was released in theaters. Since that time, a plethora of projects have been announced, delayed, reshuffled, put on the backburner, and/or outright canceled by Lucasfilm (and the same goes for television). Combined with some status quo changes with publishing and rumors about changes in leadership amid an uncertain future, the pressure is on for Star Wars Celebration 2025 to go big and provide some real substance and solid ground the franchise has sorely been lacking of late.

Star Wars Celebration Needs To Set The Future Of Star Wars In Stone

We Need To Know The Clear Direction And What’s Next

It’s quite simple: we need to know the direction Star Wars is taking. To be fair, Star Wars Celebration 2023 did this to a degree with a few solid movie announcements. This included Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s Mandalorian & Grogu movie, James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi movie, and a New Jedi Order movie starring Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker from director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

That said, apart from The Mandalorian & Grogu, there was a lack of tangible details regarding release dates, plot details, and even concert official тιтles. Likewise, other movies that had been announced previously were largely ignored like Shawn Levy’s Star Wars movie, Taika Waiтιтi’s, or Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron movie that’s long been on the backburner, having first been announced back in 2020 with an initial release date of December 2023. To put it plainly, Star Wars Celebration 2025 needs to go much bigger with far more depth.

This time around, the stakes are much higher, as there are several questions beyond movies that Star Wars fans want answered. What’s going on with Lucasfilm’s leadership, how long is Kathleen Kennedy staying on, and who does she have in mind to succeed her? It would certainly be ideal to have that announced at Celebration. Likewise, it will be just as important to nail down what’s going on with the future of Star Wars TV. Currently, there’s only a small handful of confirmed shows like Andor season 2 in April, Star Wars Visions Season 3, Ahsoka season 2, and maybe The Mandalorian season 4.

Lucasfilm Needs To Strike A Careful Balance

We Need Information (But Not So Much That It Backfires)

On the other side of the coin, Lucasfilm shouldn’t announce or reveal too much either. After all, no one wants a repeat of Disney’s Investor Day in 2020 where nearly half of the projects announced have still yet to materialize five years later. We’re still waiting on Rogue Squadron, Lando, A Droid Story, and Taika Waiтιтi’s Star Wars movie (Ranger of the New Republic was canceled after Gina Carano was fired by Disney). Overall, the 2020 event aged so awfully, and did some real damage in the way of fan trust in Lucasfilm and their ability to deliver.

If history is any indication, Lucasfilm has a habit – admittedly sometimes pushed by Disney – of announcing too much before they’re ready to commit and actually get the ball rolling. Hopefully, this is something the studio will be able to correct next month at Star Wars Celebration 2025. We don’t need everything, but we do need a clear foundation for what the immediate future is going to look like, perhaps the next 2-3 years. It would certainly go a long way in building back up some goodwill with fans if a concrete plan and laid out that Lucasfilm was confident it could stick to.

Even Lucasfilm Publishing’s Biggest Initiatives Are Coming To An End

What Can We Expect On The Page?

A new batch of comics has recently been announced/released such as Jedi Knights, Legacy of Vader, and a new flagship Star Wars series set between Episode VI and The Mandalorian. Likewise, we’ve just seen the launch of Reign of the Empire, a new trilogy of novels set in the Dark Times of the Empire’s rule. However, it’s worth noting that Lucasfilm’s major transmedia initiative with the High Republic Era is nearing an end. Having first begun in 2021, the concluding novels of the third phase are on their way, and the same goes for the concurrent High Republic comics.

Beyond movies and shows, books and comics are a big part of the Star Wars franchise. To that end, it would be really great to learn what’s next for the page, and if Lucasfilm intends to begin a new transmedia initiative like they did with The High Republic books, comics, The Acolyte, and Young Jedi Adventures. There were even connections in Star Wars games like EA’s Jedi: Survivor (and technically Quantic Dream’s Star Wars: Eclipse even though it has yet to be released).

The Old Republic definitely comes to mind as a prime part of the Star Wars timeline to explore for a new transmedia initiative. After all, it’s yet to be fully explored in the established canon, and it would go a long way for longtime Star Wars fans if certain characters and events from the beloved Old Republic books and games that are now considered Legends were re-canonized and reimagined for the new canon. In this writer’s opinion, ignoring the Old Republic is simply leaving money on the table, and it’s also just an easy way for Lucasfilm to build up some further goodwill with the fanbase.

At any rate, I truly do believe that Star Wars Celebration 2025 is going to be the most important Lucasfilm event since Disney took over. There’s so much riding on it to show the roadmap for what’s next. With any luck, the upcoming event will be a major success, and the Star Wars fanbase will get a major boost of hype and confidence for the next few years of the galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Celebration 2025 takes place April 18-20th in Japan.