When the credits rolled on The Force Awakens, and Lucasfilm began shifting its resources over to Rogue One, no one – not even the man himself – expected J.J. Abrams to return to the Star Wars franchise. Not that we’re complaining.
This is, after all, the same guy who resurrected a dormant giant in 2015, and though The Force Awakens played things safe with its numerous callbacks to A New Hope – the dogged Resistance, the trench run, the spherical planet killer…you name it – Star Wars: Episode IX lends J.J. Abrams the chance to toy with expectations, and he simply “can’t wait” to share it with the world.
Chatting to The Independent (h/t Star Wars News Net) during the promotion of his direct-to-Netflix space oddity, The Cloverfield Paradox, Abrams noted the following:
I’m actually going to be leaving this room and going right there. I can’t wait for you to see what we’re doing.
Having taken over the reins from Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World), who broke ties with Lucasfilm over creative differences, Abrams is clearly hard at work crafting the next installment in the Skywalker Saga.
It’s one that will reportedly feature Luke Skywalker as a Force ghost, while there have been rumblings of a potential second coming for Supreme Leader Snoke, who was brutally cut down in the midst of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Stay tuned for more on that front, including Episode IX‘s supposed ties to the prequel trilogy.
Beyond Solo, J.J. Abrams plans to share Star Wars: Episode IX with the world on December 20th, 2019. He’s leveraging script duties with Chris Terrio, too, who was recently a part of Warner’s ill-fated Justice League.