After 13 years as Lucasfilm’s president, it was solely a matter of time earlier than Kathleen Kennedy handed over the reins of Star Wars. Beneath the legendary producer, whose resume contains E.T., The Goonies, Again to the Future, and The Sixth Sense to call a couple of, Lucasfilm launched 5 Star Wars function movies, from Rogue One to the sequel trilogy, in addition to many live-action and animated collection airing on Disney Plus. That’s not together with a number of others set to launch someday sooner or later. Her tenure would wrap up with The Mandalorian & Grogu and subsequent 12 months’s Star Wars: Starfighter.
Rumors about who would substitute Kennedy, nonetheless, have been circulating since Lucasfilm’s president’s departure for years now, however based on Mathew Belloni of Puck Information, the transfer is lastly occurring. Kennedy’s reported replacements are Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan.
“Within the subsequent week or two, Disney will lastly verify what we’ve all identified for months: Kathleen Kennedy is certainly stepping down as Lucasfilm president, and Dave Filoni, presently the chief inventive officer of the Star Wars unit, will likely be elevated into the highest job.” Belloni writes.
Filoni will reportedly be joined by Lynwen Brennan, present president and basic supervisor of Lucasfilm Enterprise. Nevertheless, for the foreseeable future, Filoni is claimed to be the decider on the “inventive route of the franchise in movie, tv, and another platforms within the galaxy.”
Filoni stepping as much as be accountable for Star Wars is not any actual shock. The chief inventive officer has lengthy been credited as Lucas’s protégé, and the 2 labored collectively since 2005. Lucas and Filoni created the 2008 animated collection The Clone Wars, and Filoni adopted that up with the fan-favorite collection Rebels. When Lucas moved on after promoting Star Wars to Disney in 2012, Filoni remained a key participant inside Lucasfilm.
Regardless of Filoni being thought of Lucas’s padawan, the information that he can be taking up from Kennedy has acquired a combined reception from Star Wars followers. In 2025, Star Wars’ most beloved mission was, unquestionably, the award-winning Andor. In contrast to Filoni’s Ahsoka, which acquired middling critiques at greatest, Tony Gilroy’s Andor was thought of the cream of the crop, the neatest thing Star Wars has ever achieved. With such current reward, it’s comprehensible why Filoni’s new job has made some followers nervous.
Nevertheless, whereas Filoni has certainly made some questionable inventive selections — you’ll by no means persuade me that Grogu getting back from his Jedi coaching with Luke after such an enormous send-off was a good suggestion — I’d argue he has extra successes below his belt than losses. Filoni’s work on The Clone Battles helped revitalize the notion of the prequel trilogy by increasing on a second in historical past that Lucas’s movies merely didn’t have the time for. Furthermore, below Lucas’s steerage, Filoni launched us to a number of iconic characters that new and previous followers have fallen in love with over a decade of Star Wars materials, the preferred being Ahsoka Tano.
Moreover, whereas season 3 of The Mandalorian was notably (and justifiably) panned, its first two seasons — with Filoni serving as each government producer and director — have been simply a number of the greatest Star Wars we’d ever watched. Now not did all of it have to be about simply Jedi and laser swords, however the seedy underbelly we solely bought a style of within the unique trilogy. As well as, The Mandalorian helped construct on the foundations of the sequel trilogy by letting us glimpse into what got here earlier than it. Along with his work in including and enhancing the prequel trilogy, what’s to cease Filoni from doing the identical with the sequels?
Filoni takes flack for leaning too onerous on nostalgia and failing to deal with the complicated subjects inside Star Wars with the seriousness they deserve. I disagree! Whereas not as adult-oriented as Gilroy’s Andor, The Mandalorian and Ahsoka discover subjects akin to political corruption within the New Republic, in addition to the pardoning of battle criminals of the Empire and their rehabilitation into society. These Star Wars tales dare to indicate what occurs after the battle is received. It isn’t only a typical ‘The nice guys received, and the unhealthy guys misplaced” state of affairs. Filoni has tackled the nitty-gritty of a comparatively peaceable time inside the Star Wars timeline. That’s to not point out The Dangerous Batch, the sequel and spin-off to The Clone Wars that follows particular activity power Clone Pressure 99, aka the Dangerous Batch, which doesn’t shrink back from baby slavery and genocide. The truth that there are additionally moments of goofiness, brevity, and sweetness doesn’t make Filoni a horrible inventive, it simply exhibits he is aware of his viewers. As a result of whether or not followers wish to consider it or not, at its coronary heart, Star Wars is for kids.
In the end, what makes Filoni a helpful option to take over from Kennedy is that the person is aware of and cares in regards to the world of Star Wars. At occasions, that may be a hindrance — simply have a look at the nostalgia bait of the sequel trilogy — however figuring out and understanding the themes in Star Wars is important to giving it route, and that is one thing the franchise has been missing for a really very long time. At the moment, Star Wars initiatives really feel lots like a scattershot, with some unbelievable successes like Andor, and misses like The Acolyte.
Filoni’s inventive strategy to addressing the prequels’ faults shook up how we checked out these motion pictures for the higher. With The Clone Wars, followers bought a glimpse into the lives of characters not simply as heroes, however as folks. He additionally launched ideas like The World Between Worlds to maintain the Star Wars universe contemporary and open up new prospects that, even now, haven’t been absolutely explored. And whereas Filoni is way from good, a couple of duds don’t essentially imply his whole inventive imaginative and prescient is one. If Filoni can proceed to innovate and steer Star Wars in a brand new route, which he has confirmed able to doing earlier than, then I, for one, stay looking forward to Star Wars’ future in his arms.
