There are major film franchises, and then there's the Star Wars movies. Generations of moviegoers have grown up on the galaxy far, far away, which is streaming in its entirety with a Disney+ subscription. While fans are looking forward to upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, there's an absolutely insane rumor going around that Lucasfilm is going to retcon the sequel trilogy out of existence. I'm sorry, but I'm just not buying it.
George Lucas' beloved IP has been noticeably missing from theaters since The Rise of Skywalker's ending completed the Skywalker Saga as a whole. The sequel movies had some big shoes to fill, and the titles had a mixed reception from the fandom. This is seemingly the reason behind the rumor that's floating around online about the sequel being ignored completely in order to bring new stories to the big screen. But this rumor, which was reported by ComicBook and more outlets, feels totally impossible to me.
While Star Wars' sequel trilogy got a mixed reaction from fans, the idea of the studio ignoring them makes no sense for a number of reasons. On top of the narrative holes this would leave in the Skywalker Saga, the sequels also inspired Galaxy's Edge in Disney parks. Characters like Rey roam the pars, and Poe and Finn are featured in rides like Rise of the Resistance. If those movies were retconned, it would be a huge waste of resources in the parks, which make a ton of money and help buoy fan investment.
Then there's future projects like Daisy Ridley's Rey movie. That project is in active development, and is expected to follow-up on the Jedi after The Rise of Skywalker. Add in the countless pieces of merch that folks have from the sequel trilogy, and it seems crazy that Star Wars would suddenly drop all the work that went into those three films.
As previously mentioned, the sequels had a mixed reception from fans. The Last Jedi subverted fan expectations set up from The Force Awakens. Then there's The Rise of Skywalker, which got some hate for bringing back Palpatine. But the movies did make a ton of money, and made fans out of the younger generations who had never seen Star Wars on the big screen. Previous movies like The Phantom Menace got a ton of crap when they were released, but that doesn't mean that the studio just cut it out of the timeline. And I think the idea of Lucasfilm pulling that move just a few years after The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters is a bit ridiculous.
Star Wars will return to the big screen when The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on May 22nd as part of the 2026 movie release list. We'll just have to wait and see if Star Wars issues a response the rumors about the sequels.
