The news that Kathleen Kennedy will be stepping down as President of Lucasfilm later this year broke this morning, and THR has now shared an update with a list of potential candidates to replace her - and one of the names is none other than current Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige.
Star Wars creator George Lucas hand-picked Kennedy as his successor back in 2012 before selling his ownership stake to Disney. Now, for the first time, the Mouse House will pick somebody new to lead the next era of the galaxy far, far away.
Kennedy came in for a lot of criticism over the years for a number of missteps associated with the franchise, but there's no arguing with the huge level of success (early on, at least) she managed to achieve, and insiders believe finding a replacement will be no easy task.
Outside of Star Wars, Kennedy played a part in developing the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Gremlins (1984), The Color Purple (1985), The Goonies (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and the Back to the Future trilogy (1985-1990).
“One reason Kathy stuck around for so long is because there is no credible alternative,” said one of THR's sources. “What people don’t understand is that it’s not a creative job,” said another. “That’s about 10 percent. The rest of it is dealing with Disney, licensing and fans.”
“It’s really hard to find people who have love and knowledge of Star Wars and can run a big company. This is someone who needs to know how long a lightsaber is and how you charge it,” says Stephen Galloway, dean of Chapman University’s film school (via Variety). “How many executives know the answer to those questions?"
Even so, a few potential names have emerged: Along with Feige, there's The Mandalorian and Grogu director Jon Favreau, current Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni, Bad Robot's Hannah Minghella, The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams, and former 20th Century Fox Head of Production Emma Watts.
We're not sure if these are all realistic possibilities, but insiders believe that Filoni is the most likely pick. Others feel that Feige would be the best choice, but don't think he's quite finished at Marvel - no matter how much some would love to see him step aside.
Who would you most like to see step in to replace Kathleen Kennedy at Lucasfilm? Drop us a comment down below.