There have been three Star Wars movies announced recently. Two of them will move Star Wars into new era’s. Now in a recent interview Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy says there are thematic links between the Dawn of Jedi and the New Jedi Order era’s. James Mangold will write and direct a movie set in the Dawn of the Jedi era. That period is approximately 25k years prior to the events of the Skywalker Saga. Meanwhile there is a movie being directed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy set 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker. That untitled Star Wars movie will see Rey trying to rebuild the Jedi, ergo New Jedi Order era.
Timewise these movies could not be farther from one another. Yet, as Kennedy says in a recent interview with Total Film, there are thematic links between the era’s and thus the movies.
“I think what’s always great about Star Wars is it’s a big galaxy, and we’re coming off what was a major war with the First Order. And now, Rey has made a promise to Luke and that’s really the core of where we’re going and what this story will be. And I think it offers just tremendous opportunity to introduce new characters and start with something fresh, because we culminated with what George [Lucas] was creating, and now we take all of that and move it to the next chapter.”
As for Mangold’s movie, that film will take us back a long way on the Star Wars timeline to the Force’s very beginnings. Kennedy tells us that this has been a major consideration for some time. “That’s come up a lot, from the moment I stepped in and George brought me into the company, there’s been a lot of interest in that,” she explains.
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While Rey’s movie is all about the future, Mangold’s will look to the distant past; but, according to Kennedy, the two share surprising connective tissue. “It was something that Jim [Mangold] immediately sparked to, and I think it’s a really nice compliment to what we’re doing with moving into the future with Rey, and then understanding a bit more of where this all came from,” she explains. “Because it will be at the heart of creating the new Jedi Order, so to get a real sense of where that might have began with the dawn of the Jedi could be pretty cool.”
Honestly I can see the connection. Although this is partly based on my own head canon, it does seem to fit what we know so far.
Thematic Connections
At some point in the past, when the Force was first discovered, people studied it. These people must have found it’s potential dangers and set up a Jedi Code. One of the key tenets of this Jedi Order is to control ones own emotions. Somehow fro that starting point we end up with the ‘no attachments’ rule. Ultimately, it is this rule that dooms the Jedi order. It’s also possible the Sith arose from an inability to accept that rule? However, I’m speculating going that far.
In other words we have the potential to see how the characters made mistakes in Mangold’s film. Mistakes in how they learned about the Force or interpreted its guidance. Whereas, Rey is now supposed to be rebuilding the Jedi Order in a different way from what existed prior. One would assume, allowing attachments, and love. I’d also like to see them dealing with the negative emotions that can result rather than suppressing them. However, again I would be speculating upon what happens in a currently unfilmed movie. That is however, my take on where the Force story has led us up to so far.
So yeah, I see the connections thematically, and that’s cool. However, I’m excited they won’t be connected in any other way. I just hope someone at Lucasfilm is making sure both approaches make sense independently. Yet linked to one another they do not contradict.
What do you think as Kathleen Kennedy says there are thematic links between the Dawn of Jedi and the New Jedi Order era? Thoughts below as always.
