Rumor: Walt Disney Executives See Star Wars Brand As “Damaged,” Allegedly Have New Plan Involving Rey And Baby Yoda
John F. Trent
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A new rumor claims that Walt Disney executives see the Star Wars brand as damaged and allegedly have a plan involving Grogu and Rey to fix it.
Jedi in a scene from Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
This new rumor comes from scooper and YouTuber WDW Pro in a video about Lucasfilm’s rumor next steps for Star Wars.
Before jumping into the information he heard about Lucasfilm’s plans for the future of Star Wars, he noted, “I am told there was a decision point in the last few months concerning Star Wars. And that decision point came about because the brand is seen as damaged even internally at Disney.”
He went on to explain why, “That’s due to declining viewership for Disney+. It’s due to declining interest in the parks.”
(L-R): Imperial Officer (Jolyon Coy) with Stormtroopers and Young Cassian Andor (Lucas Bond) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Next, he illustrated, “And that’s particularly destructive on two fronts. First of all, Star Wars supposed to be an evergreen franchise that has its own marquee spot on Disney+. And second of all, it has some of the most premium real estate in any of the Disney parks, both on the west coast and on the east coast.”
“Star Wars cannot fail for Disney,” he asserted. “And the decision point is that Star Wars is failing.”
He continued, “So it is my understanding that the top level leadership — you make of that what you will — but the top level leadership of Lucasfilm was brought with the top level leadership of Disney as to what they’re going to do in the future to reconcile this problem they have.”
(LR): Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), Leida Mothma (Bronte Carmichael) and Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
WDW Pro then got into the meat of his video about what Disney’s plans for the future of Star Wars are. First he outlined a number of options that Disney executives allegedly discussed, “I’m told that some of those options included retconning the sequel trilogy as well as continuing the story, the narrative, around what they’ve done so far.”
He then relayed, “I’m told that Disney is going to bring back Rey.”
After a brief discussion with his panel guests about what their thoughts are about Rey returning, WDW Pro revealed, “This contact, this source tells me that the reason that they are going to potentially bring Rey back is to test it out. Put out a big merchandising push with a theatrical release to go along with it and find out: can Rey invigorate Star Wars with a number of other characters around her.”
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
Later in the video WDW Pro explained that Disney plans to roll out what he calls a galaxy pillar system. He explains, “The galaxy pillars, which will be the big characters going forward, which Disney hopes to united the fan base by putting these characters together and having them be part of a unified story that they’re going to attempt to bring Rey back to get the sequel trilogy fans, should there be any, and some other characters.”
He continued, “I received information from this source that in testing with random people, huge numbers of people, consulting firms brought in for this, that R2-D2 was far and away more popular than BB-8. It did not matter if people had seen the droids before. It didn’t matter if they had never heard of Star Wars whatsoever.”
“And so in this next push you can expect for BB-8 to be what’s referred to as a tier two character in the story and R2-D2 will be upfront as a main character,” he asserted. “And that’s coming off of this testing that they’ve done with audiences to see — sort of engineer this story from the fans up trying to determine it that way.”
(Clockwise from center): Ewoks, Maz Kanata, Finn, Rose Tico, Chewbacca, Zorii Bliss, Itchy, Jannah, C-3PO, Max Rebo, Lando Calrissian, Greedo, R2-D2 and Jawas in LEGO STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, exclusively on Disney+. ©2020 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
After claiming that R2-D2 will be united with Rey in this new vision, WDW Pro revealed it also includes three other characters.
“Rey is the character who leads it all. She’s the one that they want to pin this on and try to revive it. If it doesn’t work they are willing to go back and scrap, but Rey is there,” he says. “Chewbacca is back. I am told Chewbacca is in this.”
Next, he says, “R2-D2, number three is what I am told. Number four is a brand new character.” Finally, the fifth character is Grogu.
WDW Pro goes on to detail, “The idea is that somehow Grogu is going to unite with Rey in the next movie if they can work out all the contracts, if they can get Daisy Ridley back that Grogu will be apart of it along with R2, Chewie, and a brand new character.”
As for where this plan originated from, WDW Pro says, “I’m told that this new thing they’re trying now is an Iger initiative to try to rejuvenate the franchise.”
The Child in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN, season two, exclusively on Disney+. © 2020 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.
This rumor does come after Daisy Ridley recently shared to her Instagram Story that she was at Lucasfilm. However, as noted by Movie Web, Ridley indicated she was only there for a lunch visit
Daisy Ridley Instagram
RELATED: ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ Actress Daisy Ridley Claims “Rey’s Story Ended In A Wonderful Way”
The actress also recently indicated that “Rey’s story ended in a wonderful way.”
She told The Hollywood Reporter when asked if there were plans to revisit her character, “Honestly, I have no idea. I feel like Rey’s story ended in a wonderful way with the last film.”
She continued, “I feel like quite a different person. We’ve all gone through a massive change in the last three years, with lots of crazy things happening.”
Ridley then asserted, “So I really don’t know if there are plans. I just don’t know. But ultimately, I loved my experience, I loved what I got to do and I love the people I got to work with.
“So, should that happen again, even once, amazing. Because the dream is to really be around nice people that make you feel good and feel heard while you do good work,” she concluded.
Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
There was also a recent report from The Hollywood Reporter back in October that a Star Wars film written by Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof “would take place after the events of 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, although it would not be a continuation of the Skywalker saga.”
However, the report added, “It could, however, feature some of the characters from the Star Wars trilogy made in the 2010s.”
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley as Rey in The Rise of Skywalker
What do you make of this rumor that Disney executives believe Star Wars is a damaged brand? What do you make of this rumored plan for the future of Star Wars?
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