Why the Rey Skywalker Film Should Be Episode X

By James Herrera

        At Star Wars Celebration London 2023, three new movies were announced. A film taking place at the Dawn Of The Jedi directed by James Mangold (Logan, 3:10 to Yuma), a climactic ending to the Mandoverse directed by Dave Filoni, and a film about the New Jedi Order directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. 
        This last film announcement is a little bit of a mystery. I mean Star Wars has always done its best to be mysterious with its movie releases. But this one even more so. Reason being it was announced as a standalone film about Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley) rebuilding the Jedi Order after the fall of the First Order (a lot of Order going on here). It sounds amazing, and something we want to see, and plus it has been announced by numerous news outlets that John Boyega is heavily rumored to return. If he returns I feel we will get a great story arc and something the fans have been wanting to see since seeing Finn at the end of The Force Awakens trailer fighting Kylo Ren. 
        Having said all this, it’s a mystery because it’s a standalone film. That’s it. One film. When the movie ends, there will be no more after it. Which I think is a big mistake. Why not call it Episode 10? Why not tell us this is the beginning of a new trilogy and a new era in Star Wars? Rey is after all a Skywalker (Don’t complain, she is and it’s awesome), and we would be continuing the Skywalker Saga. Promoting this as Episode 10 would be a huge boost for Lucasfilm. ​

       Daisy Ridley coming back as Rey is a very cool thing. We have always wished that we would have gotten more adventures of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa after Return of the Jedi. I mean look at what The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett have given us. And we want more of it!  We want to see the OG three in an adventure before The Force Awakens. 
       Daisy Ridley coming back is giving us that opportunity, and they don’t have to deepfake her or anything. There are many, many Star Wars fans that consider Rey one of the best characters in Star Wars. I mean, me too!  Having her back front and center is a great marketing opportunity for Disney/Lucasfilm. Plus they have Galaxy’s Edge with Rey walking around and interacting with guests. Just give her a different costume and she could be the New Jedi Order Rey. It works. 
       Plus if John Boyega comes back, that will be huge. Many fans feel he was cheated in the Sequel Trilogy. And he was. There was a lot of potential for him that was pushed aside over the course of the three movies. Us seeing him learning the ways of the Force, traveling in the Millennium Falcon with Rey and Chewie (he better be in this), going on adventures looking for other Force sensitive people would be great. Also, Finn pulling out a lightsaber and fighting alongside Rey would be an awesome sequence. 
       Side note, this is me nerding out, so bear with me. If they go this route with Rey and Finn going on adventures and being Jedi, I hope they’re introduced like Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon in Episode 1. They’re on a mission, they have cloaks on. They need to talk to someone, and something goes wrong and they both stand up igniting their lightsabers. That would be awesome! 
       Anyways, back to the article. 
       One thing that will make this work is if they have an entire plan for the trilogy. The plan was kind of there for the sequel trilogy, but a lot of things happened and people who should have been talking did not talk to each other. Don’t get me wrong, the trilogy turned out great and I still love it. But you have to admit, it’s a very strange way to do a franchise. Especially with Star Wars. But we all know that Lucas kinda had a plan with the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. And they turned out to be masterpieces. 
       But I think with a franchise and a story as big as Star Wars, you need a plan and I hope that’s what they’re doing for this Rey film. That they are planning a trilogy, and they’re mapping it out. Sure things can change but things need to flow. 
       Let us know your thoughts!! And of course… May The Force Be With You. 

ALWAYS!