Some ‘Star Wars’ Fans Are Begging For This Popular Director to Replace Kathleen Kennedy
The rise of women in top production roles has grown considerably, and Kathleen Kennedy is one great example of turning Lucasfilm around in more than one way. However, some of her creative decisions haven’t been overly popular with longtime fans during the new trilogy years.
Most of this seemed to start when she hired J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson to direct the new films since 2015. Although it also involved one major collective mistake: Rushing standalone Star Wars movies into existence.
If Solo and Rogue One still have their share of fans, they didn’t gel with everyone. Rushing these into the marketplace was ultimately quelled by Disney to offset future issues.
Now with some thinking Kennedy isn’t taking Star Wars anywhere important, one other now stands on fan wish lists for taking over Lucasfilm.
How long will Kathleen Kennedy be in her Lucasfilm role?
Numerous rumors have popped up that Kennedy might be on her way out at Lucasfilm and be replaced by someone with more visionary directions for Star Wars. After the lukewarm reception for The Rise of Skywalker (and confusion on when another film will be out), some fans wouldn’t mind a shift in leadership.
So far, Disney has said Kennedy isn’t going anywhere, including extending her contract through 2021. There was a brief moment in 2019 when it was thought Kevin Feige was on a shortlist to replace her. Even that’s been squelched, outside of the news Kennedy may have Feige write the next Star Wars film.
All of this, though, essentially makes the cinematic side of Star Wars a little bit aimless at the moment, other than one exception. Thanks to Jon Favreau, Disney+’s The Mandalorian now takes the galaxy far, far away in new, unexpected directions without having to keep everything in the canon.
If maybe most can give Kennedy credit for allowing Favreau to have so much creative autonomy, Favreau’s own creative ideas have arguably saved Star Wars from becoming stale.
Fans now want Favreau to take Kennedy’s job
According to recent media reports, the production team in charge of live-action Star Wars movies (Favreau, Michelle Rejwan, and Dave Filoni) are going to have more power to decide on where the franchise goes at Lucasfilm.
Apparently Favreau wanted to direct The Force Awakens from the get-go, making fans wonder what he would have done differently had he written it. Would it have been exponentially better based on Favreau’s pedigree for master storytelling?
The gauntlet has already been thrown thanks to The Mandalorian, which may mean mostly streaming shows/movies from now on. In the wake of this is many fans wondering if Favreau will ultimately be picked as the director and writer of the next Star Wars feature film. This is supposed to arrive in 2022, though nothing is yet confirmed.
From the mind of devoted fans, Favreau taking Kennedy’s job would be more than preferred. Since he seems to understand where the stories should go, the argument is more than valid he should be her successor.
Favreau understands that a dab of nostalgia is important for ‘Star Wars‘
As much as The Rise of Skywalker insinuated the story of the Skywalkers was now concluding, the Disney+ counterpart shows are clearly going to keep their foot in the realm of the original saga.
The Mandalorian is set in a different part of the universe with a unique story. Even so, the tangential connective strings to events of the original trilogy are more than evident. In Season Two, cameos from past films will make those connections even closer.
Then with the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series arriving, the nostalgia factor will be upped even further. Favreau knows this is important in keeping Star Wars interesting for the most ardent fans who grew up with everything from the beginning.
Maybe Favreau taking Kennedy’s job wouldn’t look good on paper. Still, him separating from the Skywalker saga while still making allusions to it is the only way to make the franchise familiar to the bulk of fans who keep making it a billion-dollar industry.
