In a galaxy not so far away, Star Wars‘ fate hangs in the balance. Amidst debates over the franchise’s direction and creative decisions, one name reoccurs: George Lucas. His absence from the recent chapters has been felt. But will Disney really get George Lucas to return to the Star Wars universe?
Where Are The Quality Star Wars Movies & TV Shows?
Any way you look at it, Disney finds itself in a tight spot come 2025. While there’s still plenty of 2024 left – with the chance of Deadpool & Wolverine becoming a smashing success – we can’t ignore how rough 2023 was for the House of Mouse. Disney produced four out of five of the most disastrous box office failures of 2023, a record that’s not easy to recover from.
While Star Wars was safe from last year’s Disney dark hole, the franchise remains one of the most mismanaged in Disney’s possession. Entry after entry in Disney+ isn’t enough to recapture the charm and magic that this faraway galaxy once held. While shows like Andor and even The Bad Batch try to reinvent the wheel, there’s this feeling of uncertainty surrounding the franchise as a whole. It’s as if Disney has lost its will to produce quality Star Wars movies.
Is Disney Bringing Back George Lucas To Fix Star Wars?
With The Acolyte looking like yet another forgettable entry in the nu-Star Wars lore, there’s a push from Disney to reinvigorate the series. After all, The Acolyte was supposed to be “the” Star Wars event for 2024. With the massive amount of dislikes the trailer got, and considering the general lack of interest in the series as a whole, there’s only one thing that could save Star Wars right now: going back to basics. And, yes, that means bringing back the man who created the universe in the first place, George Lucas.
It appears Disney also realizes this, as there have been clear rumours about Lucas returning to Star Wars. In an interview on the YouTube channel Star Wars Theory, filmmaker and longtime Lucas friend Roger Christian confirms the legendary director might return to the franchise.
Christian is well-known to Star Wars fans for his work in the series, including serving as the second-unit director for Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, as well as building the prop for the first lightsaber prop. In the interview, Christian mentions Lucas has been “down on the sets” of recent Star Wars live-action shows.
The filmmaker also mentions Lucas has been in contact with Dave Filoni, the visionary responsible for most of the recent live-action (and animated) Star Wars projects at Disney+. According to Christian, there’s a very real chance that Lucas is “coming back” and “doing a series.”
While not the long-awaited new George Lucas Star Wars film many fans might have wished for, Lucas’ return brings (new) hope for fans of the series. After all, seeing the man behind it all return would certainly add a more decidedly “Star Wars” flavour to the new series.
Are The Rumours True?
Roger Christian goes on to reiterate that, at the time, the rumours of Lucas returning to Star Wars were more of a combination of wishful thinking and him “prophesizing that might happen.” However, this news comes right when we’ve heard whispers of Jon Favreau leaving Star Wars in the middle of a creative dispute with Dave Filoni – so there’s at least some very tangible credibility to the idea of a Lucas coming back into the fold. That would also explain why we’ve heard so little of the “Mandalorian and Grogu” movie announced earlier this year.
One thing is for sure: having George Lucas back can only be a good thing for Star Wars fans. Love or hate the prequels, you just can’t deny the man has a creative vision that far outshines what we’ve seen from recent Star Wars projects. And if all it takes is an hour or two of endless political diatribes (and maybe a Jar Jar Binks or two,) if it means getting Lucas back in Star Wars, I’ll take them!
Tell us, do you want George Lucas to return to Star Wars? Also, have a look at our list of the 20 strongest Star Wars characters.
