Dave Filoni is now chief creative officer of Lucasfilm, giving him the power to shape the Star Wars franchise moving forward. He's already developing Ahsoka season 2 and, beyond that, Filoni will helm a Star Wars movie that's expected to put a new spin on Timothy Zahn's classic "Heir to the Empire" story.
When Ahsoka ended, the title character and Sabine Wren were left stranded in another Galaxy on Peridea. Grand Admiral Thrawn, meanwhile, had returned to the main Galaxy with The Great Mothers alongside him as he travelled to Dathomir to resurrect what many fans believe will be an army of undead Nightsisters.
Talking to Vanity Fair, Filoni said the idea of exploring neighbouring Galaxies first came to him while watching Attack of the Clones.
"If you look, there’s an image of the Galaxy, and then there are actually these smaller Galaxies near it," he tells the site. "So I’m like, 'Oh, that’s interesting.' You know me, I plan for a long game. I really do. And that encompasses a lot more than it used to, as I help other people as well."
When it comes to his plans for "Heir to the Empire," Filoni chose his words carefully but confirmed we won't necessarily see the classic Rebel/New Republic soldiers vs. Stormtroopers battles which have come to define the Star Wars franchise.
"I’m setting up what seems to be a larger conflict with the Imperial remnant. That conflict can’t just mirror what we’ve seen before. It has to take on a different shape. It can’t just be the Empire versus what looks like the Rebellion, or even the Republic. It has to be visually different."
Ahsoka left us with a lot of unanswered questions, particularly in regard to what the deal was with those statues of the Mortis Gods on Peridea. Baylan Skoll appears to want to make their power his own, potentially opening the door to Abeloth being unleashed.
"You have to be careful with that," Filoni said of a tease which was likely lost on most casual Star Wars fans. "I know it’s a very specific group of people that would even know what those statues are, but I thought it was an exciting image, and it does give you the shape of what Baylan is after."
"[Baylan has] tried to take these teachings that he learned as a young person and create his own way of being. And he’s looked at the cycle of things and said, ‘Enough with this. If I have this power, I should wield it. I should be the one making decisions,’ which a lot of people with power decide that’s the way to go," he continues. "He’s also very certain that what he’s doing now is the right thing."
Ahsoka season 2 is expected to be released before Filoni's Star Wars movie, so that will likely be what answers some of these mysteries and sets the stage for the war which took place between the original and sequel trilogies.
Are you excited about Filoni's Star Wars plans?