Although it has only just been confirmed, director Shawn Levy has already spoken about what he hopes to achieve with this film. It will be a standalone film, but not a redundant one because of this. In a franchise full of trilogies and long tv series, that might seem like a tall order, but the success of Rogue One should not be forgotten - a stand alone film that is probably one of the better things that Disney-owned Lucasfilm has produced.
But of course Rogue One had a well established context surrounding it, embedded in existing Star Wars lore as it came right before the start of A New Hope. Levy talked about how so much of the Star Wars timeline has been re-visited over and over, so he had to imagine his film in a new context. This represents another potential challenge, especially as the context preceding his film is not exactly the strongest foundation on which to build more stories as the prequels were so shockingly bad. Indeed, the upcoming Darth Maul series. could be accused of this habit of rehashing well-trodden ground (but who cares, its literally Darth Maul), so it will be interesting to see what a post-sequel galaxy looks like.
Shawn Levy, well known for his successful Night at the Museum franchise and the recent Deadpool & Wolverine film, could prove capable of delivering a decent film. However, although we know nothing concerning the plot of this film as of yet, a film named Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling, and directed by Hollywood’s star of light hearted family fun leaves little to the imagination. Most likely, it will be fast-paced, action packed, and painfully predictable - everything that Disney has forced Star Wars to become.
The challenge to authority, the moral questioning of good and bad, the blurring lines of state-level corruption - themes that used to define Star Wars now seem to belong to Lucasfilms’ past, themes that are all too present in America’s modern day reality. But, of course, this film could change that - we will just have to wait until its release in theatres on May 28th, 2027.