The future of Star Wars may be as unclear as it ever has been during the Disney era, but there are still three release dates tentatively staked out for another batch of movies set in a galaxy far, far away. The success of The Mandalorian and the hype surrounding Ewan McGregor’s return as Obi-Wan Kenobi has the Disney Plus arm of the franchise in good hands, but there are huge question marks surrounding where the movies go from here.
Both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker split the fans right down the middle for a variety of reasons, and there have already been claims of a civil war brewing behind the scenes at Lucasfilm over the direction of the long-running sci-fi saga. In fact, a new rumor indicates that there could be some massive changes made to Star Wars’ official cinematic canon that would effectively wipe the entire Sequel Trilogy from existence.
Now, this should all be taken with a hefty grain of salt given that it comes from someone that calls themselves Doomcock, but despite having the username of an edgy teenager, they have provided some reliable Star Wars information in the past. As per the latest rumor, Lucasfilm are considering introducing a plot device first seen in Star Wars Rebels to allow them to make sweeping alterations to the big screen franchise.
In Rebels, The Veil of the Force introduces the idea of alternate realities of time and space into the mix, offering a glimpse of both pasts and futures that take place outside of the established timeline. The studio are reportedly keen on distancing themselves from the backlash that greeted the Sequel Trilogy, and are said to be considering the idea of using The Veil of the Force in a future movie to essentially retcon The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker as part of a different Star Wars reality.
The report goes on to say that several higher-ups within Lucasfilm, including Kathleen Kennedy, are very much against the idea and will do everything in their power to try and stop it from happening. And while it seems incredibly unlikely that the studio are going to simply pretend like the Sequel Trilogy never happened because some people didn’t particularly care for it, the fact that we’re in 2020 and Michael Keaton is back as Batman just goes to show that you can never rule anything out when it comes to the alternate realities of major franchises.