One of the biggest announcements to emerge out of Star Wars Celebration was the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey in a new movie that will follow the events of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” which concluded the most recent Skywalker trilogy in 2019. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is directing the still-untitled Rey movie from a script by Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”).
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said at the fan convention that Ridley’s new “Star Wars” movie will follow Rey as she builds a new Jedi Order, but the executive teased a bit more about the plot in an interview with IGN: “Star Wars” fans will pick up with Rey well over a decade after “The Rise of Skywalker.”
“Well we’re 15 years out from ‘Rise of Skywalker,’ so we’re post-war, post-First Order, and the Jedi are in disarray,” Kennedy confirmed. “There’s a lot of discussion around, ‘Who are the Jedi? What are they doing? What’s the state of the galaxy?’ She’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order, based on the books, based on what she promised Luke, so that’s where we’re going.”
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As for whether Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker could be involved in the film via flashbacks or as a Force ghost, Kennedy said: “I don’t know if we’ll spend a lot of time in flashbacks or [on] Force ghosts or things like that, but certainly, the spirit of what he represents to her is going to be significant.”
In an interview with Variety at Star Wars Celebration, Kennedy said Ridley was “out of her mind excited” to return to the franchise as Rey.
“It was a pretty straightforward phone call,” Kennedy said about asking Ridley to attend Star Wars Celebration. “I started out by just saying, ‘Hey, I think we’re getting near being ready.’ We’ve been talking a lot about what we’re doing in the movie space and I said, ‘I think we’re getting close to being ready. How would you like to go to Celebration?’ That was really the beginning of it. She was out of her mind excited.”
Jon Favreau, who is leading the charge for “Star Wars” on Disney+ with shows such as “The Mandalorian,” also raved to Variety about Ridley’s return.
“It’s just exciting,” Favreau said. “I always find it really satisfying, encouraging when you have people who come through ‘Star Wars,’ come back to ‘Star Wars.’ It shows you how strong that community is and how big of a bond you develop. For Daisy to come back and be part of where this is going, I’m excited to see where all at what happens there.”
Not only will Ridley’s movie mark the return of Rey, it will also make Obaid-Chinoy the first woman and the first person of color to direct a “Star Wars” movie.
