Summary
- The upcoming Star Wars films may disappoint fans of the sequel trilogy with a lack of returning supporting cast.
- Despite assumptions of redemption for Finn in the new trilogy, fans may not see him develop as expected.
- The franchise promises a fresh start with Rey but may explore politics and new character archetypes.
Star Wars is finally returning to the big screen with the planned release of The Mandalorian & Grogu, but the next big mainline series of films from the franchise might already be set to let fans of the sequel trilogy down in one major way.
Star Wars has seen three mainline trilogies, from the original saga to the prequels and the Disney-era sequel films. Each subsequent saga has been headlined by a different protagonist, with Luke Skywalker’s original adventure giving way to his father’s origin story and then Daisy Ridley’s Rey. It’s since become clear that Lucasfilm still sees Ridley’s Rey as the franchise’s future, as the company has powered through the mixed reception to the sequels and the issues that have already impacted the upcoming Rey trilogy even before pre-production. More recently, the project has seen a positive turn that makes its eventual release look far more viable, much to the approval of fans of the sequels.
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In a recent interview with Backstage, Ridley shared some of her challenges returning to the franchise, and inadvertently confirmed a detail that fans of her previous work won’t be too enthused about. “The first three films, we did fairly close together in the grand scheme of things. So one of the things is: Do I remember how to be Rey? It’s been a while, and time has passed in [the ‘Star Wars’] world,” Ridley explained. “So there are a lot of questions about what has happened in that time, both for me and for the character; that in and of itself feels like a challenge. And then there’s the fact that I’ll be working with different actors and different filmmakers, which brings up different things. And that is always progressive, I suppose, because it’s someone else’s interpretation.” While fans already knew that Oscar Isaac was unlikely to return as Poe Dameron, Ridley’s update seems to suggest that no one else will be returning to the franchise from her prior supporting cast, instead opting for entirely new faces or (very likely) familiar faces from the Disney+ era of the franchise.
The franchise has seen many characters and locations serve as a throughline between the original trilogy, prequels, and sequels, and some of its best long-term casting has happened by happy accident to facilitate this. While Poe might have been seen as a supporting character at his introduction, Finn was a very different case, first presented to audiences almost as more of a co-protagonist than a deuteragonist, albeit one that eventually had his role minimized as part of the sequel trilogy’s record of failing the character and the actor behind him. When it was made clear that Ridley would be getting another chance at a trilogy at the box office, one of the more prominent fan assumptions was that there would be some sort of restitution for Finn. After all, three more movies offer plenty of time to give the character some much-deserved development and agency, even if he wasn’t going to be an equal.
While fans might not get to see Finn become a full-fledged Jedi in the upcoming trilogy, there are still a lot of interesting stories to tell and character archetypes to explore in line with the franchise’s promise of returning to the exploration of politics that was so integral to the prequels. How well this new interpretation goes down with the fan base compared to what’s come before is still up in the air, but there’s a lot to be said for a fresh start, even if the main character is the same as the prior entry in the franchise.
The Star Wars franchise is available to stream on Disney+, with a release window for Ridley’s upcoming sequel trilogy still TBD.
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Source: Backstage