While we await the fate of Luke Skywalker and the outcome of Rey's training (even though it'd take some serious narrative cajones to make her anything but a Jedi) Disney and newly appointed Star Wars Episode IX Director J.J. Abrams is already looking hard at where the story will go next. In talking with BBC Radio 4, Abrams interviewing alongside composer Michael Giacchino said that he would approach the project with "the same excitement that we had when we were kids loving what these movies were."
However, that does not mean that Abrams is adverse to taking some creative risks, which is one of The Force Awakens' biggest criticisms. Abrams emphasized a desire to branch out saying "we have to take them places that they haven't gone, and that's sort of our responsibility."
He continued:
"It's a strange thing. Michael [Giacchino]'s worked on things like Planet of the Apes, and Star Trek, and Star Wars and these are the things of dreams. Yet we can't just revel in that, we have to go elsewhere."
Where "elsewhere" could be is anyone's guess. Disney is probably not going to stop the Star Wars saga at Episode 9, as spinoff films will only take the franchise (and the bottom line) so far. It's possible that there may be some pressure on Abrams to figure out a way to bring closure to the current trilogy while setting up a new story down the line.
Star Wars, as a brand has already fiddled around with the idea of branching out via not only its spinoff films but in the TV arena as well. Both The Clone Wars and Rebels have been pretty successful, and there are so many different eras in the Star Wars universe, that it is ripe for a constant influx of films and TV far into the future.
Star Wars: Episode 8: The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15th, 2017.
[BBC Radio 4 via Gamespot]
