Summary
- Writer George Nolfi will explore political themes in the upcoming Star Wars movie.
- Nolfi plans to honor the established Star Wars tradition while integrating his own story into the New Jedi Order screenplay.
- Fans’ criticisms of Star Wars’ perceived political agenda and push for diversity contrast with the franchise’s longstanding political themes.
Star Wars: New Jedi Order recently enlisted writer George Nolfi to pen the screenplay. Now, the scribe has indicated that he intends to continue exploring a topic George Lucas always addressed in the Star Wars franchise.
Star Wars: New Jedi Order (not the official title) was first announced at the 2023 Star Wars Celebration event. Daisy Ridley was present at the convention to confirm she will reprise her role as Rey Skywalker, with the film following the character as she builds a new Jedi Order 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Multiple writers have boarded and departed the project, with Nolfi joining Star Wars: New Jedi Order in January 2025.
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During an interview with Film Stories, the online publication suggested politics that might be explored in Nolfi’s Star Wars script. Nolfi, who studied politics and philosophy before becoming a screenwriter, seemingly confirmed he would explore the topic, noting that Lucas’ Star Wars movies were “very steeped in broad notions of politics.” The screenwriter echoed other fans and writers who have noted the parallels between the Galactic Empire and Nazi Germany, the Roman Empire’s rise and the Galactic Republic’s fall, and how the tools used to bring order can then be used to oppress citizens. However, Nolfi noted that Star Wars benefits from being able to explore political themes without “feeling like a philosophy or political science class.”
“It’s not talking about today, per se, but there’s the Empire’s Nazism slash Roman Empire. The democracy of the Roman Empire collapsing and becoming an empire and the perennial story of human beings organizing themselves against chaos, and then the tools that help human societies tamp down on chaos become oppression. So that is very core to what I think George Lucas was trying to discuss. And one of the wonderful things about science fiction and Star Wars – which is more almost science fantasy or space opera – is that you can raise the deepest issues without it feeling like a philosophy class, or a political science class, or something I read in the newspaper today. It can be about real things, deep things.
Earlier in the interview, the online publication wondered how Nolfi planned to include his “interests” and “personality” in a franchise as well-established as Star Wars. As the third writer on Ridley’s New Jedi Order Star Wars movie (following Damon Lindelof & Justin Britt-Gibson and Steven Knight), which has had filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attached as a director since 2022, Nolfi is adding his voice to a project that already has several talented people involved. However, Nolfi explained that he intends to look at the ideas proposed by those before him and present his own story while honoring what came before.
The way I approach it is, you look at what’s come before you, you look at the broad ideas of what they want to do. Meaning: Lucasfilm, Disney, Sharmeen [Obaid-Chinoy], the director, and then you do what a writer does, and try to put beats of a story together. Try and imagine characters, and then you present that with an understanding that it needs to honour, obviously, a long, incredible tradition.
Most fans are likely thrilled to hear Nolfi plans to explore “deep” topics in the New Jedi Order movie. However, some fans want the Star Wars franchise to stay out of politics. These fans (arguably more right-wing ones) argue Star Wars has been pushing a particular political agenda since Disney acquired the IP, with many specifically complaining that the franchise has become too “woke.” Of course, most recognize this criticism as mere complaints against diverse casting. This was recently noted when Star Wars: The Acolyte was review-bombed by trolls. While there are reasonable criticisms to be made against The Acolyte and the entire Star Wars franchise, a vocal number of ‘fans’ were only outraged by Lucasfilm’s continued efforts to include more women, people of color, and other people who weren’t white cis males.
Of course, as Nolfi and others have noted, Star Wars has always been political. Lucas himself has discussed how Star Wars was partly inspired by the Vietnam War and the Richard Nixon administration, with the Galactic Empire standing in for the United States government. While the Star Wars prequels were not well-received upon release, recent reassessments of those films find them politically astute. The trade conflict at the center of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was ridiculed, but it recently gained new appreciation once U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war against Canada, Mexico, and China. In short, Star Wars has always tackled politics and serious subjects and will seemingly continue to do so.
Star Wars: New Jedi Order is in development at Lucasfilm.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy of movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other media like comics, video games, TV shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.
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Source: Film Stories