Denis Villeneuve is not desirous about Star Wars films and hasn’t been since 1983’s Return of the Jedi, which is strictly why he ought to make one

If you happen to had been holding out hope for a Denis Villeneuve-directed, completely depressing Star Wars installment, you may wish to sit down, as he hasn’t actually loved the sequence since 1983’s Return of the Jedi.

He briefly spoke in regards to the matter throughout a current episode of The City podcast (through IGN), the place he commented on the spell that each A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Again forged on him and the way it all bought demolished with the conclusion to the unique trilogy of films, which he thought was “a comedy for teenagers.”

Whereas most individuals will agree that Return of the Jedi is not as improbable as the 2 earlier installments, it is constantly bundled with them and praised as a satisfying conclusion to the unique trilogy, so Villeneuve’s scorching sizzling take right here is not a quite common one. Furthermore, it is odd to fully write it off as “a comedy for teenagers” after loving the very first film, which is admittedly rattling humorous and lighthearted too. Maybe the distinction is that he wasn’t a child anymore when he watched the Ewok-filled threequel.

In any case, he is not in a rush to leap into the Star Wars galaxy for the time being. “Star Wars turned crystallized in its personal mythology, very dogmatic… It appeared like a recipe, no extra surprises. So I am not dreaming to do a Star Wars as a result of it appears like code could be very codified.” The ‘second half’ of his feedback is much extra cheap; he is not mistaken in stating that one in every of Star Wars’ greatest struggles is making an attempt to flee its personal shadow and previous. Thoughts you, it is discovered success over the many years by slowly however steadily increasing its galaxy and timeline, however with much more new Star Wars TV reveals and flicks on the horizon after a fairly busy first decade of the IP below Disney, bolder swings reminiscent of Andor are wanted to maintain issues recent.

Villeneuve’s feedback additionally mark a change of coronary heart if we examine them to what he stated about the opportunity of directing a Star Wars film again in 2017: “It’s one thing that, once more it’s like, I’d be intrigued… I don’t know, it’s very troublesome. What’s harmful with ‘Star Wars‘ proper now’s it is turn into its personal vocabulary. I’d like to see them — I feel ‘Rogue One‘ was a really attention-grabbing try and get out of the mould… I feel it might be an amazing thought to get out of there and to go on a brand new a part of the galaxy, that I’d be open to.” Whereas he acknowledged the identical underlying subject with Star Wars, he appeared way more open in regards to the thought again then. What’s modified?

Effectively, for starters, Star Wars has turn into extra bloated since 2017, resembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe mannequin fairly a bit, at the least on the massive and small screens. That appears to be the other of what Villeneuve is on the lookout for even along with his greatest films, reminiscent of his ongoing Dune trilogy. Additionally, with so many initiatives ready to be made after he is carried out with Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe, it is regular that he would not really feel the necessity to bounce into a wholly completely different one with a good greater historical past and extra ferocious faNBAse.

Nonetheless, I personally assume his ‘rejection’ of what Star Wars has turn into (and form of at all times has been) is strictly why I feel a Villeneuve-helmed Star Wars could be fairly attention-grabbing to see. Andor is not the one current venture that is been a hit, but it surely’s the one which has attracted extra ‘outsider’ consideration for positive and proved the Star Wars canvas is much wider (and deeper) than you’d assume at first. You solely have to discover a voice that is not beholden to the established canon to inform a brand new story… however respects it sufficient to collaborate inside that sandbox. Tony Gilroy did precisely that along with his staff, and I am sure that is an method Villeneuve might get behind.

The filMMAker’s subsequent film is just about confirmed to be an adaptation of Dune: Messiah, the second novel within the sequence, and it is presently dated for December 18, 2026.