Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy Knows Nothing About Star Wars, Fans Say

Star Wars Celebration 2023 finally gave fans some clarity about the future of the franchise with the announcement of three new films.

One of them will take place after Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker and will focus on Rey, portrayed once again by Daisy Ridley, rebuilding the Jedi Order.

And recently, Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucasfilm, gave an insight into the state of the world at that time, which led to a backlash from fans.

Speaking on the Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Kennedy said that they will be asking the question of whether the galaxy even needs the Jedi anymore, and that they will be exploring this topic because "there's a lot of food for thought."

While this direction isn't inherently bad, as it could be a nice story of Rey struggling in a world where average people don't care about her greater goals, fans find the presentation of the idea problematic in itself.

They say that while it feels like Kathleen is presenting it as a "new, fresh take" on the matter, this theme has long been present in the Star Wars universe.

And indeed, if you look at literally any time period in the saga, it becomes abundantly clear.

From the original trilogy to the sequels, Jedi didn't really play much of a role in the larger galaxy, for obvious plot reasons.

But even in the prequels, High Republic, and Old Republic eras, their presence only had a significant effect on the lives of the common folk on the Core Worlds, and that effect diminished the further out you went.

This was made clear in Episode I, where Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi had no authority on Tatooine, an Outer Rim world.

Fans also fear that this statement could be a foreshadowing of the "deconstruction of heroes" attempts, such as "are Jedi really the bad guys?" hints.

Episode VIII – The Last Jedi already tried to do this and only managed to enrage a large portion of the fanbase, so fans are not exactly thrilled to see it happen again.

Sources: Dagobah Dispatch, Reddit