Simon Kinberg's Star Wars trilogy could be a fresh start — like this

Important takeaways

• Disney should see Star Wars as a genre, not a single story, to keep the franchise fresh and appealing.
• Simon Kinberg's successful work on Rebels suggests that he is capable of telling new and innovative Star Wars stories.
• The Star Wars universe has endless potential beyond the Skywalker saga, offering opportunities for exploration into new time periods and worlds.

On November 12, the news came that Simon Kinberg would lead the next trilogy in Star Wars universe. It is, at the time of writing, unknown if Kinberg will continue the Skywalker story or start over with a new character. But if Disney wants to establish itself Star Wars as a truly timeless franchise, it should consider the Skywalker Saga a closed chapter.

To be clear, this doesn't just refer to characters in the Skywalker line. It's a bigger issue that stems from retreading the same ground over and over again: Empire/First Order, Rebels/Resistance, The Death Star(s), Palpatine, Clone Wars, etc. For example: since Disney's purchase of the galaxy far, far away, it has been 18 Star Wars films and series, of which 14 take place between The Phantom Menace and The Rise of Skywalker. With unlimited story potential, it's time for things to move on from this one period in the galaxy's history.

How Simon Kinberg could shake up Star Wars

Simon Kinberg has a storied entertainment career, having written hits such as Mr & Mrs Smith, Sherlock Holmesand X-Men: Days of Future Past. But when considering the possibilities for a new trilogy, his most intriguing credit is Star Wars: Rebels. The series was the first project released after Disney acquired Lucasfilm and ended many of its existing projects in order to take the franchise in a new direction. Rebels is something of a spiritual successor to The Clone Wars (which Disney canceled in its fifth season), with Dave Filoni at the core of both.

Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg and Carrie Beck (the third co-creator) had their work cut out for them, as the world's introduction to the Disney era of Star Wars. The sequel trilogy of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker sparked debates about excessive nostalgia, the lack of a cohesive vision, crowd pandering, and countless more Reddit thread-inducing topics. On the other hand, Rebels quietly laid out an excellent blueprint for an ev Star Wars future.

Rebels introduced and focused on ideas that undeniably felt like Star Wars, while going in a new direction. A good example is the show's establishment of animals as force-sensitive beings. Other Star Wars the media had touched on the idea before, but Rebels released it, showing Ezra joining creatures like fyrnocks, purrgils, and Loth cats. While the Jedi had been shown to tame creatures with the Force in the past, Ezra was one of the first to show a genuine connection to animals, for example with noti in Ahsoka. And after introducing the Loth wolves, Rebels showed that creatures could be Force sensitive in their own unique ways.

Along with new characters like The Bendu, the show also introduced many elements that have come to be staples in the modern era Star Wars. For example, the two-part pilot marked the first time audiences saw the Inquisitors, and the very first mention of Beskar was in Rebels. Even the concept of time travel, which at first seemed alien to the world of Star Warswas gracefully introduced in “A World Between Worlds”. Now that's why Ahsoka Tano is still alive.

All of this is to say that Rebels didn't shy away from blazing new trails in the canon. It is true that this does not always work out – for example, think about how The Book of Boba Fett'smoped gang landed with audience. But Rebels has an incredible track record, and Simon Kinberg played a big part in its success. It's a good sign for the franchise to have someone at the helm of a new trilogy willing to go beyond expectations and still deliver content that appeals to the core fans. If Disney allows Kinberg to tell stories in the distant past, the distant future, or simply somewhere other than Tatooine, Star Wars could regain the feeling of an entire universe ready to be explored.

Star Wars is more than a bloodline, an empire and a rebellion

Star Wars should be seen as a genre, not a story. It may have started as a single story, but its enduring popularity has turned it into something so much bigger. And after all this time, fans have a vocabulary and expectations of what Star Wars should feel like the same way they do for a horror, rom-com, or action movie.

For example, that moped gang from The book about Boba Fett? The fans decided: not Star Wars. Mace Windu's dual lightsabers? Certainly Star Wars. These definitions of what does and doesn't belong in the galaxy far, far away are ones that Disney should be flexible with rather than trying to shape. Just look at the prequels. There is a significant divide between fans of older and younger generations as to whether parts of Episodes I-III are good Star Wars. And the next generation can argue for aspects of the franchise that are mocked today, in the same way that genres of any medium evolve over the years.

Showing as Rebels or Andor may have been commissioned by Disney to take place in a familiar time period, but these series creators have made the smart choice to treat Star Wars as a visual language and a set of guidelines rather than a recipe to recreate. Palpatine does not need to return in any way; viewers don't need to see what Obi-Wan is up to anymore. Anakin's story has already been told, and the last vestiges of the Empire and the First Order have been forever crushed.

Even if Disney were to abandon the idea of ​​entirely new stories, fans would be eager to see Knights of the Old Republic on the screen. It is the reign of Tenebrae and the many ideas presented in it Star Wars: Visions. Disney could delve into any of the 68 novels considered non-canonical Star Wars Legends. After all, if Thrawn can transition to canon status (i.e Rebelsno less), other characters and events can too. There is a huge universe of creative storytellers that have been inspired by Star Warsand much more than what is presented in Sections I-IX. Fingers crossed that Simon Kinberg can explore it.