Heirs to the Empire: can Star Wars' new leadership team save the spluttering sci-fi franchise?

It's official: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as overseer of the Star Wars franchise.

After months of speculation, Kennedy's 14-year spell in charge of the Disney subsidiary – and, by proxy, her time managing its flagship sci-fi property – will soon come to an end. Kennedy's impending departure was first announced on the official Star Wars website last night (January 15).

As well as announcing Kennedy's exit, Lucasfilm and parent company Disney revealed who will succeed her. Dave Filoni, who's been viewed as Kennedy's natural heir for some time, will become Lucasfilm President and Chief Creative Officer for the Star Wars franchise, with Lynwen Brennan also serving as Co-President.

With over 30 years' experience working across various Star Wars and other Lucasfilm-developed projects, Filoni and Brennan are viewed as a safe pair of hands who could lead that iconic galaxy far, far away into new and potentially exciting territory. The big question on everyone's minds now, though, is: will they?

The rule of two

Filoni and Brennan clearly have the talent, dedication, expertise, and fanatical affection for the Star Wars universe that should help to usher in a new era of original storytelling.

There's plenty of evidence to suggest they will. Ever since Filoni joined Lucasfilm to direct Star Wars: The Clone Wars' animated feature film, the avid Star Wars fan has become increasingly involved in steering the direction of the franchise. His influence has been most notable in the era of streaming, with Filoni creating and executively producing numerous Disney+ shows amid the explosion of the streaming sector, and the subsequent race between studios to grab viewers' attention.

Not every project has been a success (more on these later). However, Filoni has helped oversee critically-acclaimed and/or hugely popular small-screen endeavors, including Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and, of course, The Mandalorian.

Brennan's 25-year+ career at Lucasfilm has been less forward-facing than her new studio presidential partner's, but it's nonetheless been an impressive rise through the ranks for the company stalwart. Initially joining Lucasfilm division Industrial Light & Magic in 1999, Brennan became leader of said sub-company in 2009, before being promoted to Lucasfilm General Manager in 2015. Eleven years on from her last career advancement, Brennan is now set to use her evident leadership and business skills to co-run the place she's called home for 27 years.

Will the Force reawaken under Filoni and Brennan's leadership?

Prepared as Filoni and Brennan no doubt are to assume control of Lucasfilm, there's no denying that they're taking charge of an incredibly popular franchise that's lost its way in recent years.

For starters, it's been eight years since the last Star Wars movie – the overly cautious and predictable The Rise of Skywalker – was released in theaters. And, while that big-screen hiatus will come to an end in mid-2026 with the arrival of The Mandalorian and Grogu, it's debatable how well it'll perform – and, perhaps more importantly, if it's the right movie to end the drought.

Indeed, to all intents and purposes, Mando and Baby Yoda's silver-screen debut seems to be a reworked version of what should have been The Mandalorian season 4. Throw in the lack of buzz around the movie, the sluggish nature of its marketing push – it's out in four months and we've only seen one trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu – and the fact that it's coming off the back of the series' worst-rated installment (that being season 3), and the Filoni-Brennan era may get off to an inauspicious start if the movie doesn't hit the ground running.

There are other movie-based issues to be tackled too. The Mandalorian and Grogu and the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars: Starfighter, which arrives in May 2027, notwithstanding, all other new Star Wars movies have been trapped in development hell for a while.

In a wide-ranging Deadline interview as part of her farewell tour, Kennedy confirmed that scripts for various films had been turned in by Taiki Waititi, Donald Glover, James Mangold/Beau Willimon, and Adam Driver/Scott Burns/Steven Soderbergh. Given that some of those have been in the works for years with no sign of actually getting made, plus Kennedy's comments that "we’re in an era where companies are so risk-averse" about making original, creatively distinct movies, it's unclear if they'll ever see the light of day.

Then there's the TV side of the money-spinning IP. The rapid rise of the streaming industry saw Lucasfilm pivot away from big-screen offerings in favor of telling stories via Disney+, aka one of the world's best streaming services.

And, for a time, that decision paid off. The Mandalorian was a key driver behind millions signing up in the early days of Disney+. Other TV series have also been popular (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Ahsoka) enough among viewers, and/or rightly earned widespread acclaim and awards for their creative endeavors (Andor, Star Wars: Visions).

There have been notable duds, though. The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew are two such examples that didn't resonate with audiences and, where The Acolyte is concerned, led to accusations from some fans that the franchise had become too woke and no longer appealed to its predominantly white, heterosexual male demographic. Given the backlash and/or poor viewership, neither title got a second season.

Filoni and Brennan's in-trays will be full of other pressing matters that require their attention when they officially replace Kennedy. To me, though, the three biggest problems they need to solve are getting Star Wars back on the big screen, favoring quality over quantity with their movie and TV show output, and – most important of all – greenlighting projects that continue to take big, creative swings that appeal to every Star Wars fan.

Nail those and Kennedy's heirs to the throne might turn this stuttering ship around. Fail, and the Force will no longer be with one of Disney's biggest IPs.

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