Here’s What That Means For Star Wars
Since Disney took over Star Wars, the process of developing new stories has been somewhat muddled. The mixed response to the sequel trilogy can be traced back to one core problem: Lucasfilm didn’t have a unifying three-film plan from the outset. This led to heavily mocked developments like the sudden return of Emperor Palpatine in the opening title crawl of “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Though Kathleen Kennedy has been the president of Lucasfilm since the Disney acquisition, her role has been less creative and more business-focused. Filoni’s new position as CCO will give the company a unifying narrative voice, working to ensure that all future projects align with Star Wars’ overall creative goals. “In this new role, it’s opened up to basically everything that’s going on,” Filoni told Vanity Fair. “When we’re planning the future of what we’re doing now, I’m involved at the inception phase.”
Going off that description, it sounds like Filoni will be a kind of Kevin Feige figure. Likely, Filoni will continue to write and direct major projects too. His role is the kind of job that George Lucas once held, and since Filoni is widely viewed as Lucas’ last proper apprentice, he’s an easy choice.