Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker actress Naomi Ackie, who plays Jannah, commented that “the story continues” following the end of the film.
Ackie spoke with Metro at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) nominations announcement, where she stated, “‘I think there are moments in this that really encapsulate what the whole saga has been about.”
She continued:
“And there are some people that leave it that might feel like they’ve got everything they wanted but there might still be more questions, and that’s the whole point. The story continues.”
She concluded, “I think I will feel like it’s been a long time coming and I’ll feel like a conclusion to what has been a brilliant saga.”
Ackie’s words are rather interesting giving director J.J. Abrams comments from back in October.
Abrams told Entertainment Weekly:
“This is about bringing this thing to a close in a way that is emotional and meaningful and also satisfying in terms of actually answering [as many] questions as possible. So if years from now, someone’s watching these movies, all nine of them, they’re watching a story that is as cohesive as possible.”
However, Abrams also added there might be potential spin-off opportunities that arise from the film.
“While there were many things that were planned for and discussed — George Lucas himself said when he created this he saw it as three, three-act plays — that doesn’t mean there isn’t discovery, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that come up that make you realize, ‘Oh, here’s an opportunity.”
He continued:
“It also doesn’t mean that there’s a list of payoffs that we have to do because of setups. But we also were very much aware this is the end of the trilogy and it needs to satisfy. We went into this thing knowing it has to be an ending. We’re not screwing around.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger indicated that the Skywalker saga was ending with The Rise of Skywalker. In Disney’s Q4 Earnings Call, Iger stated:
“Star Wars 9 which comes out this December will be the last of the Skywalker Saga, and we’ll go into a hiatus for a few years before the next Star Wars feature.”
However, he did indicate “there’ll be a lot of creative activity in the interim.”
Disney and their representatives are definitely sending out some mixed signals on whether or not the Skywalker Saga ends with The Rise of Skywalker or if unanswered questions or “opportunities” as Abrams says will be spun off into comics, novels, Disney+ shows, or even future films.
What do you make of Ackie’s comments? Do you think Disney has plans to move forward with the Skywalker Saga following The Rise of Skywalker?