Taika Waititi Will Expand ‘Star Wars’ Away from Preexisting Characters, Forget Prequel Origin Stories

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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After the box office bomb of 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” the “Star Wars” franchise is shifting gears to fly into a totally new direction — and relying on Oscar-winning Marvel director Taika Waititi to venture into another galaxy far, far away.

“Look, I think for the ‘Star Wars’ universe to expand, it has to expand,” Waititi told Total Film about his yet-to-be-titled movie. “I don’t think that I’m any use in the ‘Star Wars’ universe making a film where everyone’s like, ‘Oh great, well that’s the blueprints to the Millennium Falcon, ah that’s Chewbacca’s grandmother.'”

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Waititi, who was tapped for a “Star Wars” installment with a December 2025 release date, added, “That all stands alone, that’s great, though I would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise it feels like it’s a very small story.”

The “Thor: Love and Thunder” director previously voiced “The Mandalorian” character IG-11 and helmed a Season 1 episode of the critically acclaimed Disney+ series. Waititi co-wrote the upcoming “Star Wars” film with “1917” Oscar nominee Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Of course, Waititi isn’t the only MCU mainstay to foray into the “Star Wars” cinematic universe. Jon Favreau leads the Disney+ TV series arm, including “The Mandalorian,” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” director Jon Watts is behind the upcoming coming-of-age adventure show “Skeleton Crew” starring Jude Law.

Upcoming series “Ahsoka” and “Andor” also usher in the “whole new saga” for the “Star Wars” franchise, as producer Kathleen Kennedy previously told Vanity Fair. Kennedy told the outlet that Lucasfilm has a “road map” for “Star Wars” film rollout ahead, with “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins also helming an upcoming installment set for a December 2027 release, as per the Disney film premiere calendar and Kennedy’s comments that Jenkins is “developing the script further.”

Waititi’s film, though, will mark a return to the big screen for the franchise since 2018 and the “Star Wars” film “pause.”

As IndieWire’s Kate Erbland reported earlier this year, “The first Star Wars Celebration since the pandemic reflects the new truth: ‘Star Wars’ is no longer a cinematic property, has not been for a long time, and perhaps never will be again.”

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