Taika Waititi Wants to Do Something Entirely New With His Star Wars Film

Don’t expect Taika Waititi’s Star Wars film to be full of Skywalker-adjacent people if the writer-director has his way. Waititi, who is set to direct the next film in the franchise, recently spoke with Total Film and noted that he would like to expand the universe beyond the well-established characters and stories of the existing films/

“Look, I think for the Star Wars universe to expand, it has to expand,” Waititi told the site. “I don’t think that I’m any use in the Star Wars universe making a film where everyone’s like, ‘Oh great, well that’s the blueprints to the Millennium Falcon, ah that’s Chewbacca’s grandmother.’ That all stands alone, that’s great, though I would like to take something new and create some new characters and just expand the world, otherwise it feels like it’s a very small story.”

Waititi’s words echo those of Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, who said late last month that they’re looking to move beyond the Skywalker Saga as told in the main franchise. She noted at the time that “We need to create a whole new saga. That takes a lot. There’s a lot of conversation around that. “

The upcoming film from Waititi does not have a release date but is targeting 2023.