The Star Wars franchise has experienced several highs and lows this year. But through project cancelations, Hollywood strikes, and an underwhelming return for Din Djarin and Grogu, we can still confidently say that 2023 was a pretty solid year overall. Without further ado, here's a little recap of what 2023 meant for Star Wars.
Project Cancellations at Lucasfilm
2023 was a pretty tough year from a creative standpoint. Despite the releases of several projects, including The Mandalorian Season 3 and the debut of Ahsoka, the franchise was plagued with several project cancelations.
Apart from Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron, supposed theatrical releases such as Kevin Feige's Star Wars movie, and Taika Waititi's untitled film have all seemingly been removed from Lucasfilm's slate, although the latter is still reportedly in active development.
However, despite the number of project cancellations at Lucasfilm, fans will be happy to know that there are two upcoming Star Wars series in 2024, namely The Acolyte and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
Daisy Ridley Appears at Star Wars Celebration; Announces Rey's Return
Around April 2023's Star Wars Celebration in London, sequel trilogy actor Daisy Ridley made a surprise appearance, confirming Rey's triumphant return to the Star Wars universe in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's upcoming film.
The project is said to take place 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker with Rey forming her own Jedi Order.
As enticing as it is to hear that Lucasfilm has more in store for Skywalker, Star Wars News Net noted that filming has yet to proceed for the supposed New Jedi Order movie.
The script is reportedly not finalized yet and the delays were likely caused by the WGA Writers' strike, which seems to suggest that the Summer of 2024 is the targeted date for filming.
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The Mandalorian Season 3 is Not Everyone's Cup of Tea
As much as Star Wars fans were thrilled to see more of Din Djarin (played by Pedro Pascal) and Grogu aka Baby Yoda, The Mandalorian Season 3 unfortunately failed to hit the mark with fans.
Many weren't happy about the lack of surprise cameos, the pacing of the story, and the fact that Pedro Pascal is not entirely the main character in the third season, being upstaged by Bo-Katan Kryze.
While there was a spark of potential romance between Din Djarin and Bo-Katan, The Mandalorian's issue lies in the downfall of storytelling as it failed to live up to the standards the first two seasons set.
It remains to be seen how The Mandalorian Season 4 will be able to win back the hearts of fans, especially with the lukewarm reception Season 3 got, but hopefully, it will return the magic it brought to the series in the first place.
Ahsoka Expands Lucasfilm's Star Wars Universe
One of the highly anticipated series that further expanded Lucasfilm's Star Wars Universe was Ahsoka.
There is no doubt that the live-action version of Ahsoka Tano, brought to life by Rosario Dawson was nothing short of an accurate depiction of the beloved Jedi's animated counterpart.
While some aspects of Ahsoka failed to spark some interest in fans, there's no denying that the series was elevated by the involvement of Rebels characters (Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, & Hela) who made their respective live-action debuts.
Lucasfilm Appoints Dave Filoni as New Chief Creative Officer
By late November this year, Vanity Fair reported that legendary Dave Filoni had been promoted to chief creative officer at Lucasfilm.
That said, Filoni will spearhead all Star Wars projects alongside President Kathleen Kennedy and Head of Development Carrie Beck moving forward.
Now, what does this mean for the franchise? Well, considering that Filoni has been involved with all things Star Wars since The Clone Wars, letting him steer the wheel for franchise projects would grant him a bigger role in creative liberties. Or as he told in the same outlet:
"Now, I'm what's called chief creative officer of Lucasfilm [...] In the past, in a lot of projects I would be brought into it, I would see it after it had already been developed a good ways. In this new role, it's opened up to basically everything that's going on. When we're planning the future of what we're doing now, I'm involved at the inception phase."
Think Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios. This means Filoni will oversee his executive-produced projects like The Bad Batch and Skeleton Crew and be in charge of deciding what goes out for the studio.
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