Here are my twelve possibilities for an imagined Episodes X, XI and XII, counting down to the one that would excite me most. My version begins ten years after Exegol, with room for old friends, new obsessions and some thoroughly unreasonable ideas. These films could honour the people who brought us here while introducing a generation with adventures of its own. By the end, I want a future for this galaxy that feels worth three more films.
12 Practical effects given pride of place
Prioritise practical effects. Build the creature, construct the cockpit and give the actors something wonderful to react to. I want scuffed surfaces, puppets with personality and machinery that looks as though someone has spent thirty years keeping it operational. A performer placing a hand on an alien’s shoulder can make a friendship convincing before either character speaks. That physical connection deserves time, money and imagination from the beginning of production.
And invite Phil Tippett back for something substantial. His studio has already returned to Star Wars, recreating the stop-motion dejarik creatures for The Force Awakens and contributing to other projects.
I would love Tippett himself involved in developing a new creature sequence, with experienced makers working alongside younger artists. Give them a lumbering animal that carries an entire village, or a temple guardian whose peculiar movements make the Jedi hesitate before approaching. Let the audience feel the weight of something painstakingly brought to life.
There is enormous pleasure in discovering that an impossible image began as an object somebody could hold. Miniature ships, animatronic faces and stop-motion performances could give this trilogy a wonderfully tactile foundation. Let the craftsmanship occupy the centre of a major scene. I want the behind-the-scenes footage to make me almost as happy as the film.
11 Emerging technologies used with real imagination
Then take that handmade foundation somewhere new. I would be thrilled by beautifully integrated AI imagery assisting a stop-motion sequence, alongside digital animation, compositing and whatever techniques artists develop next. Imagine a physically animated creature travelling through a dreamlike environment that transforms around it, with experimental imagery extending the world while its performance remains clear and convincing. If the finished shot makes me believe in something impossible, I want to know how they achieved it.
The exciting prospect is artists combining methods with taste and precision. A miniature landscape could expand into an immense living city; a puppet’s reflection could reveal a different creature moving beneath its skin. AI-assisted imagery might help create the shifting surroundings or an uncanny transformation, provided the team can control the result and integrate it across the sequence. These are possibilities I would love filmmakers to explore, with the same care they bring to lighting, movement and every other part of the illusion.
Star Wars should still be a place where visual-effects artists invent things. Give them time to experiment, bring the practical and digital teams into the conversation together, and let successful discoveries influence the filmmaking. I want to watch a scene twice because I cannot quite work out what I saw. Seeing stop-motion craft and emerging technology produce something beautiful together would be a very good reason to buy another ticket.
10 The strangest worlds Ralph McQuarrie and Doug Chiang could inspire
I want a shot that makes me lose track of the dialogue because I am too busy staring. Open the design archives, revisit abandoned ideas and give the artists permission to go somewhere outrageous. Star Wars has done this beautifully before: an early Ralph McQuarrie conception of Chewbacca helped inspire Zeb. Doug Chiang and the next generation of designers deserve the freedom to turn that tradition into images we have never encountered on screen.
And bring back the STAP, the single trooper aerial platform. That slim, upright repulsorlift craft from The Phantom Menace has such a peculiar silhouette that you recognise it immediately.
Put a battered one in civilian hands decades later: a courier weaving through a vertical city, or Finn discovering that the quickest escape requires riding something with a deeply unreasonable amount of exposed bodywork. Then design new machines with that same confidence. A vehicle should suggest an unfamiliar way of living before anybody explains what it does.
Give me a city inside the translucent skeleton of a creature still migrating through space. A monastery that unfolds like a flower when its sun rises. A market where gravity changes between stalls and everyone treats this as a minor inconvenience. Build action around these environments, with Finn losing a pursuer by stepping onto the wrong wall or Rey realising a supposedly abandoned temple has been breathing beneath her feet. I want practical textures and convincing performances inside a galaxy whose imagination has become dangerously overexcited. The art book should be an immediate purchase.
9 Poe Dameron leading a future worth fighting for
Oscar Isaac deserves a return that lets Poe grow into the leader Leia believed he could become. Keep the confidence, the impatience and the grin that suggests he has already decided to attempt something inadvisable. Then give him responsibilities he cannot escape by being the best pilot in the room. I would love to find him organising a fragile alliance of worlds that won their freedom together and now disagree about almost everything. Getting supplies through to an isolated settlement could matter as much as winning the next battle.
Let his relationship with Finn remain central. These two should know each other well enough to recognise a bad idea before the explanation is finished. Finn becoming a Jedi could delight Poe while also leaving him wondering whether their lives are pulling apart. Give Isaac and Boyega a scene with room for that affection, followed by a mission that reminds us why they belong on screen together. BB-8 should be right there, expressing entirely justified objections to their plan.
And yes, give Poe a spectacular flight. Imagine him guiding inexperienced pilots through the moving ribs of an enormous spaceborne creature, trusting a younger recruit who notices something he has missed. His growth becomes visible in the decision to listen. He can help new heroes earn their place while remaining thrilling in his own right. A future in which Poe passes on what Leia taught him, and still occasionally flies like a lunatic, would make me ridiculously happy.
8 Rose Tico and Beaumont Kin getting a future together
Justice for Rose Tico means giving Kelly Marie Tran a substantial adventure. The Last Jedi introduced someone whose courage grew from loss, work and a fierce concern for people others overlooked. I want those qualities shaping the next era. Put Rose in charge of restoring transport and power on worlds the war exhausted. Let her challenge a comfortable government that keeps postponing help. When a crisis arrives, she should already know the machinery, the community and exactly which official has been making excuses.
And bring back Dominic Monaghan as Beaumont Kin. I would love a romance between him and Rose to develop across these films. That is a wish for their future, and there is plenty of room to make it convincing. Pair her practical ingenuity with his interest in history on an expedition where both are indispensable. He recognises an ancient warning; she works out why the mechanism behind it is still running. Their first proper disagreement could end with each realising the other has spotted something vital. Let admiration turn into teasing, trust and the slightly alarming discovery that they would rather face the next disaster together.
Give them a victory they own. Rose could rescue a settlement by repairing technology everyone else has dismissed, while Beaumont finds the missing knowledge that makes her solution possible. Afterwards, let them have a quiet moment to admit what has been growing between them. Their relationship should give both characters more life, with ambitions and decisions beyond the romance. I want to leave knowing Rose has work she believes in, someone who appreciates her, and a place in this saga that the films are finally prepared to explore.
7 Rey and Grogu founding the new Jedi Order together
Rey and Grogu should build this Order as partners. She brings the determination to give the Jedi a future; he carries memories of their past and a life shaped by Din Djarin. I want them choosing how to teach, disagreeing over difficult pupils and discovering that founding a school is occasionally less glamorous than saving the galaxy. Give us a place we can grow attached to, and let it survive its first crisis. These Jedi deserve the chance to build something that lasts.
Ten years after Exegol, Grogu would be roughly 86, about 36 years older than when we first met him, while Rey would be around 30. His species’ slow development leaves room for interpretation, so I would imagine a more assured Grogu rather than simply a miniature elderly man. Perhaps he has the beginnings of whiskers. Certainly he has learned things worth sharing. His Mandalorian upbringing could influence a school where children remain connected to their families and students arriving late are welcomed. Luke’s teachings could have a continuing place there, too; I would love his spirit to see something his successors have built and take pleasure in it.
And give me Grogu meeting Yoda’s Force ghost. Let it happen after a difficult lesson, when Grogu is alone wondering whether he has failed a student. Then comes that familiar laugh. Yoda could acknowledge his own mistakes, offer advice and gently puncture Grogu’s solemnity. We need not invent an established friendship between them for the encounter to matter. Two lives spanning vastly different stretches of Jedi history, sitting together as a new generation sleeps nearby: that is a scene worth making time for. Rey could arrive to find her fellow founder, for once, happily taking instruction.
6 Familiar faces sharing the adventure with unforgettable newcomers
Bring back as many familiar faces as the story can use. Alongside substantial roles for Poe and Rose, I want Jannah helping people whose lives the First Order stole and old allies arriving from unexpected corners of the galaxy. Chewbacca and the droids should have things to do that affect the adventure. Let us visit a place these people have made better before someone threatens it. After everything they endured, seeing their victories improve ordinary lives would give the next battle something worth defending.
Skeleton Crew offers another lovely possibility. Jon Watts and Christopher Ford created an ensemble I wanted to spend time with, and I would welcome that instinct for endearing characters in a new trilogy. (Skeleton Crew creators) That is exactly the energy I want from Watts in this new era. Bring back Wim, Fern, KB or Neel, too, allowing for the decades that would have passed: these would be adults with histories, rather than the same children having another school-holiday adventure. Imagine an older Wim encountering Rey’s students and remembering how desperately he once wanted to meet a Jedi, or Fern commanding a ship with a little of her childhood swagger intact.
Then give the new kids room to steal scenes. Think of the affection an ensemble like Stranger Things can build: distinct personalities, friendships under pressure and enough everyday humour to make the frightening moments hurt. Skeleton Crew already showed how naturally youthful wonder fits this galaxy. I want that investment in a new group, with mysteries and loyalties specific to their own era. A Jedi pupil with appalling timing and enormous courage could become a favourite within minutes. The returning characters would help us feel at home; the newcomers would give us reasons to keep visiting. I want to leave the cinema arguing about which character needs their own story next.
5 Ben Solo as a Force ghost with something left to say
Adam Driver gave us so little time with the redeemed Ben Solo that I still want to know that person. The ease of his movement and sudden flicker of humour suggested someone emerging after years of darkness. The enthusiasm around The Hunt for Ben Solo is easy to understand. (Driver interview) A recurring role as a Force ghost would be one route I would love a new trilogy to explore, even if some fans understandably want a living Ben with a future of his own.
Give him a quiet scene with Rey that allows affection and grief to coexist with difficult memories. Saving her did not erase the damage he caused, and redemption need not make him instantly wise. Driver could do something extraordinary with a Ben who has finally stopped lying to himself but still struggles to find the right words. His humour should survive the transition into a luminous apparition. He is Han Solo’s son, after all.
Then put him opposite Finn. A former stormtrooper confronting someone who helped lead the First Order is a scene with immediate tension. Let Ben acknowledge his responsibility and Finn decide what he is willing to hear. Their exchange could eventually help them understand each other without requiring easy forgiveness. Rey should also be free to build a life with Finn while retaining a meaningful connection to Ben. These people have enough emotional history for a story that takes all of them seriously.
4 A new character for Jake Lloyd
Ahmed Best gets to play Jar Jar Binks and Kelleran Beq. Anthony Daniels stepped out of C-3PO’s gold plating to play Dannl Faytonni in Attack of the Clones. (Dannl Faytonni) So offer the original young Anakin a new place in the galaxy. If Jake Lloyd wanted to return, a future trilogy could welcome him with a role that gives him something worthwhile to do.
His performance helped establish the innocence on which Anakin’s tragedy depends. Before the armour and the anger, there was a boy who fixed things and wanted to help. I would love Lloyd to play a mechanic keeping a neglected community’s ships flying, or a pilot helping families separated by war find one another. Give him a personality and a consequential choice. When the heroes need a way out, he could be the man who risks his livelihood to help them.
A voice role could be just as appealing: an alien caretaker or an unusually stubborn droid with a few excellent scenes. The invitation should leave the choice with him. My favourite possibility is a small connection to Anakin’s childhood, with Lloyd’s new character helping a child escape circumstances they cannot control. Nobody needs to explain the parallel. A familiar face offering safe passage would carry the feeling beautifully, while giving Lloyd a fresh contribution to make.
3 Jar Jar Binks returning with a proper part to play
Yes, bring back Jar Jar. Absolutely. Ahmed Best has already shown how exciting a return can be through Kelleran Beq, but I want to see him revisit the Gungan himself, with the warmth and comic physicality that belong to that character. An older Jar Jar could be a wonderful presence in a galaxy trying to recover: still prone to trouble, still underestimated, and far more experienced than people realise.
I would love Rey and Grogu’s search for missing Force-sensitive children to lead them to Naboo, where Jar Jar has been helping displaced families find sanctuary. He could know the underwater routes, the people who refuse to speak to officials, and the difference between a welcoming smile and a warning. Give him a rescue that depends on those relationships. There is enormous satisfaction in watching somebody dismissed as foolish recognise danger before the supposedly sensible people do.
His political history also gives him something serious to carry. Jar Jar proposed the emergency powers that helped Palpatine consolidate his authority. A later story could let him acknowledge having trusted the wrong person and show how that experience changed his judgement. Best could make that land without draining the character of humour. Jar Jar might still wreck an immaculate reception, then quietly get every endangered child out of the building. Let him be funny, useful and capable of surprising us. I would cheer very loudly for that return.
2 Finn FINALLY becoming a Jedi
John Boyega igniting a lightsaber Finn has built, standing with the assurance of someone who knows his place in the story, would be the character reveal I most want to see. His journey began with a refusal to obey an order he knew was wrong. Becoming a Jedi could develop that courage into a vocation, giving his connection to the Force the attention it deserves.
Open Episode X with his trials. Let us experience a decisive part of his becoming, even if years of training have already passed. Rey has taken him as her apprentice, and Grogu brings another perspective to his education. Finn’s military conditioning might help with physical discipline while making it harder to trust an instinct that contradicts an instruction. His trial could expose the fear that escaping was not enough while others remained captive. Boyega would have something substantial to play beyond proving Finn can win a duel.
Then give that experience a purpose. Finn and Jannah could lead efforts to find people taken by the First Order and help former soldiers reclaim their identities. Imagine him facing a line of armed troops, recognising hesitation inside one helmet and choosing to speak while civilians escape behind him. His lightsaber stays ready; compassion does not make him careless. He is offering someone the chance he once took, and we feel the risk because we know what that chance cost him. That is the Jedi I want to see: Finn, free to choose his own life, helping somebody else find the courage to choose theirs.
And yes, let Finn and Rey fall in love. Their connection in The Force Awakens still feels full of possibility, and I want Daisy Ridley and Boyega to have the time to develop it. Let Finn complete his apprenticeship and stand beside Rey as a fellow Jedi before the romance takes hold. Give them flirtation, arguments and the courage to say what they mean. If the trilogy earns it, a later epilogue could show them with a child while the school carries on around them. Two people denied secure childhoods creating a loving home together would be an ending capable of destroying me.
1 George Lucas welcomed back as a meaningful creative voice
This is number one. Bring George Lucas into the creative conversation as an elder statesman whose ideas can genuinely shape the next trilogy. Simon Kinberg, open the floodgates. Ask what still fascinates him about the Force, which abandoned ideas he keeps thinking about, and where he would take the galaxy now. Give him the opportunity to respond to treatments and designs throughout development. I want his involvement to reach the films themselves, with room for the new team to develop what he offers.
Imagine making a new Middle-earth trilogy while Tolkien was still alive and willing to answer questions. You would make time for those conversations. You would want to understand what he saw in that world that nobody else had quite grasped. Lucas is here, and Star Wars has that opportunity with its own creator. Letting it pass would be an extraordinary waste. That is why I want Kinberg to make the invitation generous, sustained and real: George, come and help us imagine what happens next.
A flexible consulting role could sit alongside Lucas’s work on the Museum of Narrative Art, which he co-founded with Mellody Hobson. (Lucas Museum) Arrange the collaboration around the time he wants to give it. Share the difficult questions early, listen to his answers, and acknowledge the contribution visibly. A credit such as “Creative Consultant” or “Story Assistance by George Lucas”, reflecting his actual work, would be something I would love to see. Honour him by making his imagination part of the process.
That includes revisiting the sequel ideas he never got to realise. Lucas described a microbiotic world involving the Whills in his conversation with James Cameron; other accounts explored rebuilding the Republic and the Jedi after the Empire. (Lucas on the Whills) (Lucas sequel concepts) Let Episodes X, XI and XII find fresh uses for those ideas, including his fascination with midi-chlorians and the relationships between living things. Imagine Rey, Finn and Grogu discovering an entire realm within something they would once have overlooked, then having to reconsider what service to the Force means. There is room for Lucas to help make this future stranger, more personal and more ambitious. Knowing he had been welcomed back to do that would get me more excited than any casting announcement or trailer reveal. Simon Kinberg, do the right thing. Ask him in.
Extras, Because Of Course There Are (I'll Continually Add To This As 2029 Approaches)
A) Explain who the heck DJ was in The Last Jedi!
B) Let's See Naboo, Hoth and other long-overdue Planets again
