Star Wars must do a new Rey movie after Mandalorian stalls

The Star Wars sequel trilogy probably didn’t pan out as Lucasfilm intended. While The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker raked in billions at the box office, the studio’s lack of a cohesive plan — and apparent caving to online hate toward the direction of the franchise — left a sour taste in fans’ mouths. In the end, Disney did both legacy and newer characters dirty.

That doesn’t mean there’s been no love for the sequels at all. One need only look at the reaction to the news that Disney killed a Kylo Ren movie to get a sense of the demand for good storytelling set in the era of the sequels. Fans just need a new hope.

While there’s still plenty of Kylo’s story to explore, I confess that the idea of the Knight of Ren returning doesn’t interest me. But there is another! Say it with me: Rey.

I still remember the exact elation I felt when I watched the trailer for The Force Awakens on Oct. 20, 2015: For the first time ever, we’d have a female protagonist who, unlike Princess Leia and Padmé Amidala, would be considered the lead in the same way that Luke and Anakin Skywalker were during their respective trilogies.

As a fan who grew up loving both the originals and the prequels, I felt a special sort of excitement to see someone like me as the main character in a Star Wars film. I wasn’t the only one either. By many accounts over the last decade, the charismatic Daisy Ridley ushered in a new generation of fans.

Despite a vocal minority of rabid fans crying “Mary Sue,” there was a lot to love about Rey. Her hardships growing up alone on Jakku made her fiercely independent, which made her eventual mellowing out and opening up to others like Finn, Poe, and her mentors, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, all the sweeter.

Over the three sequels, Rey grew from being unsure — and oftentimes resentful — about who she was, to becoming her own person, ultimately taking on the name Skywalker to continue the legacy of people she loved and respected. How Rey’s journey got to that point left a lot to be desired (I absolutely could have done without the forced Kylo and Rey romance, sorry not sorry), but it’s easy to see why Rey mattered to many young fans.

However, it was clear from the controversy that followed Rey, even from the very beginning, that, for some people, the idea of a woman leading a Star Wars trilogy would be an uphill battle. Years later, Disney’s Star Wars era has introduced several standout female characters. However, aside from Ahsoka, Jyn Erso from Rogue One, and Osha from The Acolyte — all of whom faced considerable disdain from fans — there have been few female leads. With Disney trying to bring Gen‑Z boys and men back into the fold, I don’t expect that trend to change anytime soon.

Which is why now, more than ever, it would be a terribly unwise decision to make it so we never see Rey on the silver screen again. Rey has had plenty of spin-off material in comics and novels (with another book following her and Leia on the way), but none of that is as significant as her return to the big screen.

Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.

At Star Wars Celebration 2025, Kathleen Kennedy (Lucasfilm’s previous president) and Dave Filoni (the current president of Lucasfilm) confirmed the existence of a Rey movie with director Sharmeen Obaid‑Chinoy (Ms. Marvel). The movie is set in a new era titled the New Jedi Order and will follow Rey as she tries to rebuild the Jedi Order. (The film’s current status is unknown, and in a wide-ranging exit interview, Kennedy notably didn’t mention it at all.)

While The Last Jedi confirmed that Luke had tried and failed to start a new Jedi Order (and the decanonized Star Wars Expanded Universe also depicted him in a similar role), Lucasfilm now seems to be officially passing that torch.Making Rey the one to guide the Jedi into a new era would honor her choice to adopt the Skywalker name and allow audiences to see her evolve from a Padawan into a leader and mentor.

Star Wars shining the spotlight on Rey once more gives the franchise an opportunity to correct old wrongs. There will always be people who dislike Rey for various reasons — legitimate or not — but it would be foolhardy to deny that Rey, much like Luke and Anakin before her, is a heroine that an entire generation of Star Wars fans grew up with and idolized. Especially now, with the Mando-verse and the cuteness of Grogu seemingly hitting its limits at the box office, this franchise needs a path forward.

It’s Rey’s time to shine. Lucasfilm: be brave enough to give her the opportunity to do so.