Star Wars has a dense future ahead of it in terms of movies. But one particularly intriguing entry will focus on the early days of the Jedi Order and likely its actual origins. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Logan director James Mangold, who is on board to direct the film, recently had some new info to lay down regarding how he ended up at the helm of this particular story.
Between this movie and the one starring Daisy Ridley as Rey focusing on the New Jedi Order, it seems Star Wars has the story of the Jedi pretty well covered. That's not to mention other stories being told throughout the various eras. But the actual Dawn of the Jedi period hasn't gotten much attention in mainstream Star Wars media since a non-canon comic book run from over a decade ago. So what exactly inspired Mangold and the folks at Lucasfilm to take this largely untrodden path?
Mangold recently spoke with io9 about his upcoming Star Wars movie, and it turns out he was a big part of why the clock is turning itself back so far this time. It all started with some discussions he had with the studio. "Well, I've talked to [Lucasfilm] before and even worked a bit before on other projects," he said, likely referring to a canceled Boba Fett movie he'd been rumored to direct. "And I'm always interested in what's going on there and have friends who work on other Star Wars projects. But I understood that much of what they were doing was kind of continuing the saga forward."
There has been a lot of focus on the original and sequel trilogy of Star Wars regarding where stories are being told. So Mangold had an idea. "So when I mentioned to [Lucasfilm president Kathy Kennedy] the idea that I had about going backward—really far backward—I was surprised that it excited her and the other wonderful people she works with at Lucasfilm," he revealed. "For me, it's about, I want to be part of the saga, but I also don't want to be holding so much lore in the air that you can hardly tell a story. And what I really wanted to do, what I told her, was just can we make a kind of the Ten Commandments of the Force, you know? A kind of origin story of how the Force came to be known, understood, wielded, and harnessed."
Sure, origin stories are nothing new. It seems like they're always in vogue. But somehow, mainstream Star Wars movies and shows haven't covered this idea yet despite Lucasfilm's obsession with revealing the origin story of everything else in the galaxy. The High Republic era –set hundreds of years before the Star Wars prequel era– is already the subject of many upcoming movies and shows. But Mangold setting his story even far before that period allows for an interesting amount of freedom because not much is known about that time yet.
So it looks like Star Wars fans will still be able to feel that intrigue over the unknown that some may have thought has been lost forever. It's nice to see fan favorites like Mark Hamill's ever-relevant Luke Skywalker in new appearances. But Star Wars shines when its creators are given the freedom to tell the stories they want, as shown by the absolutely incredible Andor. So here's hoping Mangold can capture the magic he's searching for.
Source: io9