Nerds everywhere will always look at Joss Whedon with gratitude. On TV alone, the man gave us Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse, while on the big screen, he directed and penned the first two Avengers movies. He's made enough contributions to the worlds of sci-fi, fantasy and superheroes to last a lifetime, and for a while, it seemed like he wasn't interested in jumping onto another franchise. However, now Whedon has expressed interest in directing a Star Wars movie, but on one condition. It has to be a self-contained story, not a trilogy entry.
Despite not originally wanting to get involved in the Star Wars franchise, Joss Whedon told Complex that he recently changed his mind upon seeing the final Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer. As he put it:
Do I want to make a Star Wars movie? Yeah. I was like, 'I don't want to make a Star Wars movie. Like, god dammit, why?' But I saw the trailer for Rogue awhile ago and I was like, 'I want to do that.' To make a Star Wars movie and not be wed to the bigger picture.
It sounds like when questioned in the past about whether he would want to contribute to the Star Wars universe, Joss Whedon was hesitant to do so because he didn't want to be involved with the "big picture," i.e. a trilogy. However, now that Disney and Lucasfilm are releasing these "Anthology" spinoffs every other year, Whedon's more comfortable jumping aboard, as he would only be required to make a one-off tale. Of course, given how with this new trilogy, J.J. Abrams helmed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Looper's Rian Johnson succeeded him for Star Wars: Episode VIII and Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow is taking over for Episode IX, the studios surely could have found a way to hire Whedon for one flick if they wanted him, but that doesn't matter at this point.
Since the 2018 Han Solo movie already has Phil Lord and Chris Miller directing it, the upcoming 2020 "Anthology" movie would be the earliest opportunity for Joss Whedon to join the Star Wars franchise. That movie hasn't been officially identified yet, but there's been no shortage of fan ideas on who it could follow, from Boba Fett to Obi-Wan Kenobi to Ahsoka Tano from The Clone Wars TV series. Regardless, if Joss Whedon is serious about wanting to direct a Star Wars adventure, then Disney and Lucasfilm would be wise to get in touch with him posthaste.
We'll keep you apprised on what Joss Whedon has coming up next for movies or television, especially if it's Star Wars-related. In the meantime, fans can return to a galaxy far, far away when Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is released on December 16.
