Rey Skywalker Reportedly Has a Major Role in Simon Kinberg’s New STAR WARS Trilogy
A new Star Wars rumor is making the rounds, and it points to a familiar character stepping back into the spotlight. According to a new rumor, Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker will play a major part in Simon Kinberg’s planned trilogy, though she won’t be positioned as the main lead this time around.
Instead, the focus looks to be shifting toward a new generation of characters, with Rey acting as a key figure in shaping what comes next for the galaxy.
Lucasfilm is finally heading back to theaters in 2026 with The Mandalorian and Grogu, marking the franchise’s first big screen outing since 2019. Beyond that, the studio is clearly trying to chart a future past the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
That post Episode IX era has become increasingly appealing, especially after mixed reactions to projects set between earlier films. While The High Republic era stories didn’t fully connect with audiences and The Acolyte was cut short after one season, moving the timeline forward offers a much cleaner slate.
One project already aiming to do that is the Rey-focused movie from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, set roughly 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker. That film has gone through several writing changes, with George Nolfi currently handling the script after Steven Knight stepped away, who himself replaced Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson.
With Kathleen Kennedy stepping down as Lucasfilm president, questions remain about how all of these projects fit together and what Dave Filoni ultimately wants to prioritize.
During a recent exit interview, Kennedy confirmed that Filoni is pushing ahead with Kinberg’s trilogy. That news didn’t exactly land smoothly with fans, though it’s worth remembering that Kinberg and Filoni previously worked together on Star Wars Rebels.
Now, according to insider Daniel Richtman, Rey Skywalker is expected to have a significant presence in this trilogy, even if the story centers on new leads. In other words, Rey will be front and center, just not as the primary protagonist.
That raises the obvious question of where Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey movie fits into the bigger picture. While it’s tempting to see the trilogy as a replacement, it may actually function as the next step beyond Rey’s solo story. That standalone film could bridge the gap between Episode IX and what many fans see as a de facto Episodes X, XI, and XII.
This rumor follows another recent Richtman report claiming Peyton Reed, director of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, met with Lucasfilm about potentially directing a Star Wars project. Reed is no stranger to the galaxy far, far away, having previously helmed episodes of The Mandalorian, including the Season 2 finale that featured Luke Skywalker’s return.
Kennedy also offered some insight into where Kinberg’s trilogy currently stands creatively. “He’s working right now. He wrote something that we read in August, and it was very good, but not there,” Kennedy said of Kinberg's Star Wars movie.
“We’ve pretty much upended the story, and then spent a great deal of time on the treatment, which he finished literally about four weeks ago. And it’s a very detailed treatment, like 70 pages. And so he is expected to give us something in March.”
She went on to add, “I know that Dave and Lynwen [Brennan] are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy. In the timeline of things, that takes you well into 2030 plus. So that’s really what’s up next.”
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.