Kathleen Kennedy Claims George Lucas Never Had STAR WARS Sequel Trilogy Treatments, But There's Plenty of Evidence Saying Otherwise

Kathleen Kennedy has made a pretty surprising claim about George Lucas and his original plans for the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and it directly contradicts what we've been told for years by Lucas himself and former Disney CEO Bob Iger.

During a recent interview with Bloomberg at the Bloomberg Screentime 2026 event in Los Angeles, the former Lucasfilm president claimed that Lucas never actually had full story treatments for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX.

That's an interesting claim, especially considering the documented history of Lucas developing his sequel trilogy before selling Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012. We're talking about story outlines, character concepts, artwork, and firsthand accounts from people who were directly involved in the deal.

Kennedy recalled a conversation she had with Lucas after he selected her to take over Lucasfilm. She remembered asking him, “So, George, the stories that we’re going to do next. I mean, is there anything I should look at?”

According to Kennedy, Lucas simply pointed to his head and replied, “No, no, it’s all here.” When the interviewer brought up the story treatments that have been widely reported over the years, Kennedy pushed back.

“We had a couple of paragraphs. He didn’t really have story treatments,” she said. Kennedy explained that Lucasfilm instead relied on its internal creative team, including Dave Filoni, who had worked closely with Lucas and understood his ideas for the franchise.

But here's where things get interesting. Kennedy's account doesn't exactly match what Iger previously revealed about Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm.

In his 2019 memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, Iger specifically discussed the story treatments Lucas had developed for three additional Star Wars movies. According to Iger, Disney actually purchased those treatments as part of the deal.

Iger wrote that Lucas had completed outlines for three movies and provided them to Disney executives. He also explained that the purchase agreement specifically stated Disney wasn't obligated to follow those stories.

Iger even described how Lucas felt betrayed when he discovered Disney wasn't going to use his ideas for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

That's a pretty significant contradiction. We're talking about the Disney CEO who negotiated the Lucasfilm acquisition directly with Lucas, describing written sequel plans that Disney purchased and ultimately decided to abandon. This wasn't some internet rumor. It came straight from the man running Disney at the time.

Then there's Lucas himself, who has publicly discussed what he wanted to do with the sequel trilogy. In The Star Wars Archives: 1999–2005, Lucas shared details about his vision for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. His plans involved bringing Darth Maul back as a major villain, with the former Sith Lord building a criminal empire following the collapse of the Empire.

Maul would have trained Darth Talon, a Sith character introduced in the Star Wars: Legacy comics, to become his apprentice. Lucas envisioned Talon as a major threat throughout the trilogy.

His story would have also explored Luke Skywalker's efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order, Leia's role in restoring the Republic, and the challenges of rebuilding the galaxy after the Empire's defeat.

Lucas additionally discussed his interest in exploring Darth Vader's grandchildren and the Whills, mysterious beings connected to the Force that could have taken the mythology in a very different direction.

These weren't just random ideas Lucas casually mentioned over lunch. He had a direction for his trilogy, established characters, major conflicts, and themes he wanted to explore.

There's also actual concept art connected to the development of Lucas's sequel ideas. Lucasfilm artist Iain McCaig created artwork featuring Darth Talon, and some of those early character concepts were published in The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The creative development that eventually led to Kylo Ren also passed through earlier ideas involving Talon and a Jedi killer.

That artwork provides another piece of evidence that Lucas's ideas were being developed beyond conversations and a few notes

Lucas was preparing to make these movies himself before deciding to sell Lucasfilm. He had already begun gearing up for another trilogy and had spoken with actors about returning. Ultimately, he decided that spending another decade making Star Wars movies wasn't how he wanted to spend that stage of his life.

So, when Kennedy says Lucas never really had story treatments, it's difficult to reconcile that with everything we've learned over the years.

There's certainly a difference between a completed screenplay, a detailed treatment, and a shorter story outline. Kennedy may be referring to how extensive the material was when she took over Lucasfilm.

But Iger specifically described Disney purchasing Lucas's treatments, and Lucas has personally provided considerable details about the trilogy he intended to make. The evidence establishes that written sequel material existed, even if the exact length and level of detail remain unclear.

It's hard to believe that all of that amounted to nothing more than a couple of paragraphs.

Kennedy stepped down as Lucasfilm president earlier this year, with Filoni and Lynwen Brennan taking over leadership duties. She's currently producing Star Wars: Starfighter, which is being directed by Shawn Levy.

As for Lucas's abandoned sequel trilogy, I still wish we could have seen what he would have done with it. His ideas involving Maul, Darth Talon, Luke rebuilding the Jedi, and Leia restoring the Republic sound like they could have made for a fascinating continuation of the original saga.

Whether fans would have loved those movies is another question entirely, but I would have liked to see Lucas finish the nine-film story on his own terms.

Kennedy's comments certainly raise questions, but they don't erase Iger's account, Lucas's own statements, or the creative work that was done before Disney took the franchise in another direction.

Whatever terminology Kennedy wants to use to describe those original plans, it's clear Lucas had put real thought and development into his sequel trilogy. There's simply too much documented history to dismiss it as a few ideas he was carrying around in his head.

What do you think? Do you believe Kennedy's account, or do Lucas's own statements and Iger's firsthand account paint a much more convincing picture of what really happened?