Last week, the news broke that Lucasfilm is developing a new Star Wars trilogy, with Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Dark Phoenix) tapped to write and produce all three films, and a new rumor claims that none other than Henry Cavill has met with Lucasfilm about a potential role.
Cavill has appeared in a number of major comic book, sci-fi and fantasy franchises over the years, playing Superman in the DCEU, Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's The Witcher, and a Wolverine variant in this year's Deadpool and Wolverine.
The actor has spoken about his love for the Star Wars franchise in the past, and scooper MTTSH is now claiming that he has had discussions with the studio about taking a trip to the galaxy far, far away for Kinberg's trilogy.
It was initially reported that these new movies would continue the Skywalker Saga with Episodes 10, 11 and 12, but this intel has been disputed, and some insiders believe that Kinberg will "instead begin a new saga and sits alongside Star Wars percolating projects with James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Taika Waititi, and Donald Glover."
In his latest newsletter, Jeff Sneider says that he's more inclined to side with Deadline's report, and believes that "these three films will be positioned as Episodes X, XI, and XII." He has also heard that Daisy Ridley will return as Rey, and the character will be "positioned as the Obi-Wan of the new trilogy.”
Where this would leave Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's Rey-focused movie - which is expected to be set 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker - is hard to say, but Lucasfilm is believed to have hired a new writer to replace Steven Knight, which would obviously suggest that the project is still moving forward.
Ridley addressed her return as the powerful Force-wielder for the first time since Celebration during a 2023 interview with Collider.
"I was shitting myself before I went on stage, because no one knew I was going to that," she said of her surprise appearance at the Celebration panel. "No one knew I was going to Celebration, bar like Kathy [Kennedy] and there were a couple of people. I was so nervous. Oh my God. It was such a wonderful reception. I'm very excited. The story is really cool. I'm waiting to read a script because, obviously, I don't have any other updates. It's not what I expected, but I'm very excited."
Kinberg made his directorial debut with Dark Phoenix before going on to helm The 355. While these projects probably won't inspire much confidence, it's important to keep in mind that he will not be directing these new Star Wars movies (as far as we know, anyway).
The filmmaker has written and produced a number of very successful projects, including the recent Deadpool and Wolverine. As far as the Galaxy Far, Far Away goes, he has previously worked as a co-creator on the Emmy-nominated animated series Star Wars Rebels alongside Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck, and was also a consultant on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.