Why Chiwetel Ejiofor Really Wanted To Play The Lion King's Scar

Why Chiwetel Ejiofor Really Wanted To Play The Lion King's Scar

In 1994’s animated classic The Lion King, Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons provided the voice of Scar, one of Disney’s most menacing and captivating villains. For this summer’s photo-realistic CGI remake from director Jon Favreau, Chiwetel Ejiofor takes on the mantle and the mane of Simba’s treacherous uncle. It was the prospect of getting inside his head that made Chiwetel Ejiofor really want to play Scar, as he explained:

I was interested in understanding the real psychology of Scar, the psychology of a person who always feels as if they have been somehow mysteriously overpassed by the fates, by the gods themselves. That sense of not being in the rightful place and therefore living in a kind of parallel universe to the one that you’re supposed to be in — what sort of psychology would that mean, and what would it go to over a period of time?

Scar is, simply put, a fascinating character, and the opportunity to examine his psychology and see what makes him tick is what interested Chiwetel Ejiofor about the role and what he wanted to explore in his performance. Chiwetel Ejiofor wanted to understand who Scar is, why he feels the way he does and how that leads to him doing the things that he does.

It’s not a simple psychology because Scar isn’t a black and white villain in the way characters like Maleficent (not the live-action one) and Ursula are. He’s evil to be sure, but like many great villains, he thinks that he’s the good guy, or at least that his actions are somehow justified.

As Chiwetel Ejiofor told Entertainment Weekly, Scar feels that he isn’t where he is supposed to be, that the universe is out to get him and he is being denied something that he feels he’s owed; in this case, the throne. It has shades of Stannis Baratheon’s claim to the Iron Throne, but instead of being governed by a strict sense of duty and right, Scar is governed by envy and desire.

That psychology results in Scar having a massive chip on his shoulder and crafting a narrative in his head that he’s the downtrodden hero that has been mistreated by the world and those around him. And he naturally sees Simba as someone else who stands in his way.

Despite being a member of the royal family, this character, inspired by Hamlet’s King Claudius, sees himself as an outcast and pals around with the hyenas that also don’t have a place within the circle of life governed by the pride. You can see why Chiwetel Ejiofor was so excited to dig into Scar’s psychology because there’s a lot going on there.

Chiwetel Ejiofor talked about what that psychology would do over time, but it’s also interesting to ask what birthed those feelings in the first place. Therefore, I’m curious if The Lion King will explore the history of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Scar at all. In the original film, Scar is simply named Scar and we never really get much about how he got his namesake.

However, in The Lion King: Six New Adventures, a collection of spin-off books released in 1994, one of the books titled A Tale of Two Brothers tells the story of Mufasa and his younger brother when they were princes. In that, Scar’s real name is Taka, which means trash in Swahili, and honestly, that would kind of explain why he’s so pissed off.

The elder Mufasa is either the first in line or chosen for the throne (Pride Lands succession rules are unclear) and Taka tries to get him attacked by a buffalo in order to make him look foolish and have their father pick Taka to be king instead. This plan backfires and Taka is hurt, getting his scar in the process.

We don’t know if this backstory is canon, but it would be interesting to see The Lion King give us something new by touching on Scar’s backstory, whatever it is. In this instance, he in many ways was always jealous and deceitful. Like Walter White was always Heisenberg, Taka was always Scar, long before his looks reflected what was on the inside.

Whatever the case, it sounds like Chiwetel Ejiofor is diving deep into the mind of an the iconic villain for his portrayal of Scar. You can see his Scar when The Lion King hits theaters on July 19. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule for all of this summer’s biggest movies.

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Bohemian Rhapsody Might End Up Getting A Sequel

Bohemian Rhapsody Might End Up Getting A Sequel

Bohemian Rhapsody was a massive hit however you define it. The film became the most successful box office musical biopic of all time. It won a slew of awards, culminating in a Best Actor Oscar for Rami Malek's performance as Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. It's exactly the sort of movie that you would expect Hollywood to make a sequel to, and while you might have thought that wasn't an option here, apparently that may not be where things stand.

Rudi Dolezal, a man responsible for filming several Queen music videos over the years recently told Page Six that there is actually serious discussion going on within the "Queen family" regarding the idea of doing a sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody that would pick up after the Live Aid appearance that ended the original movie.

This technically isn't the first time we've heard reference to a potential sequel. Brian May, Queen guitarist and producer of Bohemian Rhapsody, made comments to that effect several months ago. Although, it didn't really seem like he was being serious. If felt like he was having fun with the idea based on the success the movie was happening. These comments certainly don't sound like they're joking.

It needs to be said that it's very possible there was a miscommunication or a misquote here and the idea of a sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody may not be quite as possible as it seems. It does seem like an odd decision.

Bohemian Rhapsody left the story in a pretty good place that certainly doesn't require a sequel. The entire film was framed about the triumphant return of Queen to Live Aid, and we saw that. Afterward, we got all the details of what happened afterward in on screen text.

Turning the rest of Freddie Mercury's life into a second film may be a bit harder than simply picking up where the first movie left off. Bohemian Rhapsody covered a lot of ground chronologically speaking, a lot more than a sequel would have to work with. The original film also made some pretty significant changes to the Freddie Mercury timeline for dramatic purposes, changes that would then have to become part of any sequel. This would likely make the follow up significantly more historically inaccurate, since it would have to assume things like Freddy's AIDS diagnosis was known to the entire band for years.

Still, it's far from shocking if there are serious conversations currently going on about how a sequel might fly. Nobody wants to let the success of one movie just sit there by itself when an opportunity for more success seems guaranteed. The first Bohemian Rhapsody was a hit with audiences and awards despite lukewarm reaction by critics, so there's no fear of bad reviews here.

If the new movie has enough big Queen performance set pieces, it will likely satisfy the audience that wants it.

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What Meagan Good Loved About Acting Opposite Dennis Quaid In The Intruder

What Meagan Good Loved About Acting Opposite Dennis Quaid In The Intruder

Acting can be a soul-baring exercise, with performers digging deep down into their honest emotional experiences to show off a piece of themselves as they build a character. In the best case scenario, they find an acting partner – and a compassionate director – who can help coax the strongest, most accurate performance that suits the material.

But can you imagine trying to act alongside an industry veteran who has achieved legendary status thanks to their previous credits? Or being as honest and upfront opposite an actor you have admired for years? This is the situation that Meagan Good found herself in when sharing scenes alongside Dennis Quaid for their new thriller The Intruder.

Good told CinemaBlend in an exclusive interview that she initially was intimidated. But in the end, she had no reason whatsoever to worry, as she explained how Quaid made her feel at ease, and part of the process. Meagan Good said:

One of the things I really loved about him is that he’s extremely collaborative. When you are talking to him, he’s listening to you, he’s looking you in the eye, he’s downloading your thoughts [and] processing them. We’re going back and forth and we’re figuring out how we’re going to make this gel together. That’s the best kind of experience to have with another actor. Yes, you are who you are, and you’ve been around for as long as you have, but you have mutual respect, as if we have been doing it for the same amount of time.

That’s the dream scenario. Even if, as it turns out, Dennis Quaid is playing a stalker who is ordered to make life very difficult for the younger couple who just bought his old home. That’s the premise behind The Intruder, which audiences got a look at in theaters last weekend.

However, Meagan Good also told us that she didn’t realize exactly how good her co-star was being in major scenes until she saw the finished product for herself. She went on to say to CinemaBlend:

On set, a lot of just the reacting… I honestly, a lot of things that he did, I didn’t see until I saw the movie. Because I’m just being Annie, and I’m responding and reacting to what I’m feeling. But when I saw the movie? I was like, ‘Yo, he is crazy!’ Like, it’s amazing, he’s so good in this.

Did you head out to see how good Dennis Quaid, Meagan Good and Michael Ealy are in The Intruder last weekend? Sure, a lot of people are still seeing Avengers: Endgame, and a handful of folks checked out Detective Pikachu. But this tense thriller pulled in $7.1 million in its second weekend, and has banked $21M to date. Not bad, for summer blockbuster counterprogramming.

The Intruder is still in theaters, so swing by and check it out while you still have time.

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Is The Curse Of La Llorona A Good Or Bad Step For The Conjuring Universe?

Is The Curse Of La Llorona A Good Or Bad Step For The Conjuring Universe?

While it hasn’t been advertised as such, Michael Chaves’ The Curse Of La Llorona is most definitely a part of The Conjuring Universe. Its posters may only say “From The Producers Of…” instead of referring to it as the next chapter in the franchise (as was the case for both Annabelle: Creation and The Nun), but its actual connection is very clear – specifically through the return of Tony Amendola's Father Perez from the original Annabelle. Given the popularity of the brand, this might strike some as odd, but there arguably is a good reason for it: it’s the first non-Conjuring title that’s neither a direct spin-off nor a sequel to a direct spin-off.

Simply put, the film doesn’t fit in with the same development strategy that has established The Conjuring Universe to date. The reason why John Leonetti’s Annabelle and its follow-ups exist is because of the immense popularity the titular doll earned from her small part in James Wan’s original The Conjuring; and Corin Hardy’s The Nun got the greenlight because of the response to the habit-sporting demon from Wan’s The Conjuring 2. The Curse Of La Llorona, meanwhile, has roots in urban legend, but no actual connection to the other movies beyond Father Perez’s small role. It’s a surprising move for sure – but it’s also hard to say if it’s a good or bad one for the future of the franchise.

Certainly the biggest positive featured in this development is the increased potential for more diverse storytelling. As successful as The Conjuring Universe movies have been, the limitations present in its choices thus far are pretty obvious, as the “spin-off only” idea does put filmmakers in a box of a certain design. Every new property has to not only follow certain rules previously established by different writers and directors, but there is also a certain expectation for a degree of narrative dovetailing that basically forces every story to end in a specific place that matches up with a previous title.

To his credit, Gary Dauberman – who wrote the scripts for Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, The Nun, and the upcoming Annabelle Comes Home (which he’s also directing) – has made this work for the most part, but the creative freedom offered by the Curse Of La Llorona approach is clear. While it’s cool that Father Perez makes his second big screen appearance, it’s really more of an Easter egg than anything, and everything else about the movie is able to really do whatever it wants – including establishing the “rules” for its eponymous evil spirit and how it concludes the arcs for its characters.

Following the release of The Curse Of La Llorona, really any horror film that shares The Conjuring Universe’s perspectives on “good” and “evil” and approach to the supernatural could arguably be included in the larger continuity – and that could lead the franchise in a lot of new and interesting directions.

Where this becomes a drawback and potential hazard for the brand, however, is the subject of identity and specific definition. Since 2013, the core of The Conjuring Universe has been Ed and Loraine Warren – the protagonists played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga based on the real life demonologist duo. Albeit very loosely, the films in the franchise have to this point been based on the legends surrounding their exploits, and have always tied back to them in one way or another.

With The Curse Of La Llorona now being an exception, it raises an important question: what is The Conjuring Universe really about? If stories aren’t specifically expanding on the myths and terrors that the Warrens personally experience, does that mean that the franchise will eventually develop into being simply a collection of titles that share a genre and maybe the occasional single character? That’s far less interesting, and could eventually dilute the whole enterprise into nothingness.

How things move forward from this point will definitely be interesting. As of right now there are seemingly only spin-offs and sequels in development – including the aforementioned Annabelle Comes Home, The Conjuring 3, The Nun 2, and The Crooked Man – but given the way The Curse Of La Llorona was promoted it’s possible any horror title currently being developed by Warner Bros. has the potential to be brought into the continuity. Ultimately it may be the audience’s response to the new release that determines everything, and you can be sure that we’ll be keeping a close eye on it.

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All The Planet Of The Apes Movies, Ranked

All The Planet Of The Apes Movies, Ranked

Before The Avengers, before Harry Potter and even before Star Wars, there was the Planet Of The Apes series. Starting with the original in 1968 and now up to its ninth film in the series, War For Planet Of The Apes, the series was one of the first major franchises in movie history.

Sure, there had been some long-running B-horror movie franchises and a handful of other examples in other genres – most notably James Bond - but Planet Of The Apes was basically the first one that set the template for what we understand to be major franchises, like The Avengers and Star Wars.

All told, there have been books, graphic novels, a TV show, toys and video games based on the series, just as there are for modern franchises. There are also nine Planet of the Apes movies that make up the franchise, though unlike some of the major franchises, the nine are separated into three distinct versions of the story and there isn’t a linear story to all nine. But, with that said, let’s get into which of these movies is the worst, which is the best and which ones fall in between.

9. Planet of the Apes (2001)

Tim Burton’s remake was supposed to be a hit. It had fans of the long-forgotten series, which had not released a new film for almost three decades, salivating at the thought of what the great Tim Burton could do with the world they loved. Surely his unique way of looking at things and his distinct style of filmmaking was perfect for a remake. After all, his Batman movie in 1989 reinvigorated that franchise.

Instead, sadly, this Planet of the Apes movie was a total disappointment. The whole project was in production hell for years before Tim Burton and his crew would take it on, casting Mark Wahlberg as a human astronaut that goes forward in time thousands of years and ends up on the Planet Of The Apes. Tim Roth plays the villain and Helena Bonham Carter stars as the love interest of sorts.

The plot is a time-traveling mess and it’s hard to follow, but it ends with Marky Mark somehow going back in time to what he thinks is his own time, on what looks like his Earth, until he looks up and sees Tim Roth’s ape character sitting on the chair in the Lincoln Memorial. So… it’s even further into the future? Who knows.

8. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

Battle For The Planet Of The Apes was the fifth and final installment of the original series. It was made on a shoestring budget and it shows. Even the reviews of the day said it felt like the franchise was on its last legs.

The film opens in the future, but tells the story, in flashback, of how Caesar, played by Roddy McDowell, after the war of Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes, attempts to rebuild the world. His human foe, Kolp, leading what is left of the human population, rises up against Caesar and the Apes, and after some serious fighting, peace is made between the apes and the humans.

The movie, like its predecessor, Conquest, is meant to be a comment of racial equality, but also like its predecessor, it is little too on the nose and a little ham-handed.

7. Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970)

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes was a hastily thrown together sequel of the original 1968 movie, and it shows. Like a lot of direct sequels to big movies in the '70s and '80s, it sort of doesn’t fit into the larger narrative. Though it does end in the nuclear explosion that does create the post-apocalyptic world that would drive the events of Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Charlton Heston does briefly return from the original, though his role is significantly smaller, as the story follows another astronaut, Brent, that followed Heston’s character, Taylor, to the planet to rescue him. Roddy McDowall, who plays Cornelius in the original movie, is absent from this one, again showing that the big picture wasn’t in play here, as his character would become very important to the story arc in the future movies.

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes a good enough movie, but it really lacks the broader vision that would come with the following movies. It’s just sort of a cut and dry simple sequel that quickly tries to follow the main story of the first movie and the bigger picture, including the weird telepathic humans that don’t really have much of a larger role in the following movies.

6. Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes (1972)

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Planet Of The Apes is the first time fans of the series would meet a fully grown Caesar. The character Caesar is perhaps the most famous character in the series, as he played a pivotal role in the end of the original five films and is the hero of the reboot series that began in 2011.

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes follows Caesar, who was born to Cornelius and Zira in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, which was set in the 1970s. In Conquest, set in the early 1990s in America, Caesar is living as a circus performer, hiding his ability to speak and his intelligence with his handler, Armando.

Caesar is tracked by Kolp (who is also fully introduced in this film) and is eventually captured, but he escapes after he avoids execution. Caesar leads the apes in rebellion against the humans, and at the end he shows his mercy and makes a speech declaring peace and his desire to see apes and humans live together, a theme that was continued in Battle.

5. Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971)

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes is when the series really starts to put together a larger story, and it all sort of happened as a happy accident. Due to budget constraints, the film was set in 1971 New York City, so it wouldn’t require elaborate sets and costumes like the previous two.

Roddy McDowall returns to the fold as his character, Cornelius, and his wife Zira escape the apocalypse of Beneath on Taylor’s spaceship and land in current-day New York. At first they are welcomed, but, as would become a recurring theme in the series, they're eventually discriminated against once it is revealed that Zira is pregnant with Caesar.

Escape From The Planet Of The Apes begins the larger story of how the apes came to dominate Earth in the future and the genesis of intelligent apes. Like all the movies, it’s a little cheesy compared to today’s movies, but the story has vision, which was not only new for the Apes movies, but also movies on the whole. The first true sci-fi franchise was really born with Escape From The Planet Of The Apes.

4. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014)

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the second entry in the rebooted trilogy that starts with Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes. It explores the beginnings of the conflict between the newly intelligent apes, led by Caesar, played by the absolutely amazing Andy Serkis, against what is remaining of the human population after the Simian Flu that gave increased intelligence to the apes and all but completely wiped out the human population.

All three films in the rebooted trilogy are excellent and Dawn is no exception. Going back the first one, Rise, one of the smartest things the creators of the new series did was ground the origin story of the Caesar and the smart apes in true science fiction. Instead of a simple story that starts with a time-traveling astronaut, they base the genesis of the smart apes on biotech and simple evolution. It’s a great choice.

Unlike the original Planet of the Apes series' first sequel, it’s clear from this sequel that the larger story has been more fully fleshed out from the beginning. While much of Dawn deals with the internal conflicts among the ape population, particularly Caesar and his rival Koba, the big picture conflict with the humans is at the heart of it, as Caesar wants to live in peace, but Koba sees no option but war. Like the original series, the reboots serve as a commentary for race relations and equality.

3. War For The Planet Of The Apes (2017)

The final installment (for now) of the new trilogy, War For The Planet Of The Apes is a tremendous conclusion to the Caesar story and the origins of the “new” planet.

War For The Planet Of The Apes is also filled with nice references to the original series, like the twist of having Caesar’s son named Cornelius, rather than Cornelius being the name of Caesar’s father in the original series. Caesar also rescues a mute woman named Nova, which is a nod to the original character Nova from the first movie, who is also a devolved human.

The plot of the film is driven by great performances by Andy Serkis again as Caesar and Woody Harrelson as his human antagonist, the evil Colonel. War continues the broader themes of equality by using The Colonel as human obsessed with killing the evolved apes rather than live in harmony, and this eventually leads to Caesar being forced into a position that he didn’t want to take: a violent uprising against The Colonel and his men.

2. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011)

The reboot of the Planet Of The Apes series was an instant classic. Unlike its two successors, Dawn and War, it is light on pure action, at least until the end, and it is strong as an origin story. Like most great science fiction, the story is based somewhere near reality.

In Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, viewers learn about a drug that James Franco’s character, Will, is developing to treat Alzheimer’s Disease. Testing for the drug is being done on apes. One of the apes is Caesar’s mother, and when she is exposed to the drug, her intelligence increases dramatically. However, she also loses control and is shot, but not until after she has given birth to Caesar, who inherited his mother’s intelligence.

Will takes Caesar home and continues to secretly develop the drug for his father, who is suffering. Eventually, Caesar begins to understand the larger world and his low standing in it as a primate, and after attacking Will’s neighbor, he ends up in monkey jail, which further steels his resolve to rise up. He does finally lead a revolution and the movie ends with Caesar and the rest of the apes escaping to the Redwood forests of Northern California, setting up the conflicts of the future.

1. Planet of the Apes (1968)

The one that started them all is still the best. Sure the original Planet Of The Apes is a little campy and it’s not nearly as slick or as good looking as the reboots, but it is the one that first grabbed people with the amazing story with the incredible twist.

The first time anyone sees the movie, especially if they don’t know the ending, it digs deep into the viewer’s imagination. The twist, when Charlton Heston’s character Taylor sees the top of the Statue Of Liberty and realizes that he is in fact trapped in the future and that the fate of humanity is doomed, is just brilliant. It’s the kind of story that sticks with audiences for a long time. It’s frankly one of the most iconic scenes in movie history.

Planet Of The Apes deserves its place at the top of the list because obviously without it, there would be no list. It has its drawbacks, like how the special effects are primitive (no pun intended) by today’s standards, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the story (and that twist) that matter. Charlton Heston’s performance is great, as is Roddy McDowall’s as Cornelius. It’s a movie that everyone should see at least once and probably way more than that.

So that’s the list. We hope there are more Planet of the Apes movies in the future, but in the meantime, what do you think? Let us know in the comments and answer the poll below!

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Elton John Keeps Sending Taron Egerton Rocketman Reviews

Elton John Keeps Sending Taron Egerton Rocketman Reviews

Biopics are a tried and true genre in filmmaking, and there are no shortage of interesting real-life figures to adapt for the big screen. Last year was a big one for biopics, as the Freddie Mercury musical blockbuster Bohemian Rhapsody cleaned up at the box office and accrued countless awards and nominations. But there's already another musical biopic on the way, as Rocketman will bring the gritty and magical world of Elton John's history to the silver screen.

Elton John himself is intimately involved in Rocketman, insisting that the darkness and mistakes in his life are vital to the story. Kingsman favorite Taron Egerton is playing the legendary singer in the biopic, and seems to have formed quit the bond with John throughout the process. And it turns out that Elton John has a penchant for sending Egerton Rocketman reviews to the 29 year-old actor. As he recently revealed:

I try to avoid reviews but Elton sends me them every day. I mean, he’s vetting my reviews. I’m sure there are bad ones that he’s not sending.

Taron Egerton may largely avoid reviews, but you can't ignore then when they're being sent by Elton John himself. Of course, the pop icon likely wasn't bringing the bad ones to the actor's attention. So Egerton should be safe from seeing anything he'd rather avoid.

The news about Elton John's relationship with Rocketman reviews come from Taron Egerton's recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! While promoting the upcoming movie musical, Egerton spoke about his relationship to the real-life figure he's portraying. John's partner David Furnish is a producer on the project, so Rocketman should be an intimate look into his life and career. Warts and all.

In addition to portraying Elton John in Rocketman, Taron Egerton will also be belting out select choices from the singer's massive catalogue. It's his voice that seems to have truly captured John's attention, and the two have already done a few duets ahead of the biopics's release. Their bond is strong enough that they have private conversation-- many of which revolving around the early reviews for their collaboration.

Related: The Emotional Reason Rocketman Should Be Seen In A Theater, According To Taron Egerton

Early reception for Rocketman has been pretty positive. The movie has been praised for its over the top cinematography and movie magic, as well as Taron Egerton's performance as Elton John. But official reviews aren't up, so we'll have to wait and see if the critical community agrees.

You can see Taron Egerton's conversation with Jimmy Kimmel below.

When Rocketman is finally released, it will likely be compared quite a bit with Bohemian Rhapsody. In fact, Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher actually stepped in to complete Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer departed the project. Now he's working on another musical biopic, and this time the star is actually singing the songs himself-- unlike Rami Malek's performance as Freddie Mercury.

Rocketman will arrive in theaters on May 31st. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Kathleen Kennedy Teases The Star Wars Sequel Characters Returning For Future Installments

Kathleen Kennedy Teases The Star Wars Sequel Characters Returning For Future Installments

Through the course of the most recent trilogy of films released to the public, the Star Wars saga has introduced new and exciting characters like Poe, Finn, and Rey to audiences that have come to love them. But with the end of the Skywalker Saga coming in Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker, a lot of people are worried their new favorites might not be coming back.

That concern has been addressed Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy who, when asked about whether or not we’ll have to wait for any of these characters to come back, gave a pretty optimistic case for their return:

You know, there is an appropriate time. We're using this appropriate time as an opportunity to see where we're going now that we're leaving the Skywalker Saga behind. But there's no question that there's certain characters that we've created certainly in the last three movies that we may very well wanna see down the line in the future.

So while Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker will close out the stories of characters like General Leia Organa or Luke Skywalker, it sounds like the younger wave of characters that brought this new trilogy to the masses are still up for grabs. And Kennedy had her eye on one specific platform to make that all come true.

As she discussed this matter with MTV News at the most recent Star Wars Celebration, Kathleen Kennedy played the Disney+ card, stating that the platform is being keenly looked at for ways that these characters can live on. Everything from the broad scope of the upcoming Mandalorian series to what Kennedy calls potentially smaller and grittier stories, are in play.

Both film and TV appearances certainly feel like good ideas, and since Poe, Finn, and Rey aren’t as deeply entrenched in the Star Wars lore as key figures like Han Solo or General Leia Organa, there’s room for them to be part of new and exciting adventures outside of that realm. And that’s where the universe seems to be headed on the whole.

With two different film trilogies being crafted by both Rian Johnson, he of Star Wars: The Last Jedi fame, and Game of Thrones masterminds David Benioff and D.B.Weiss, both of those series have opportunities to expand the Star Wars brand to a point where the original trilogy isn’t such a cornerstone of accessibility.

Combine that with the fact that Disney+ has already lined up star-studded shows continuing their Marvel Cinematic Universe, and you’ve got another chance to jump into a new corner of that world. If Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, and Anthony Mackie can jump on board for MCU projects on Disney+, then Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, and Daisy Ridley don’t sound like terrible reaches.

There’s far from an exact game plan as to how or when we may see our favorite characters from the final trilogy in the Skywalker Saga. But at the very least, there’s hope that we will see them again; and as Star Wars has taught us, hope is a very powerful thing.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brings us the last installment of the Skywalker Saga on December 20th. But seeing as you’re probably an avid moviegoer, use our 2019 release schedule to plan out all the fun movies that can help pass the time between now and then.

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