We've been hearing that Damon Lindelof's upcoming Star Wars movie might feature a person of colour in the lead role, while it's also been reported that characters from the sequel trilogy are set to factor into the mysterious project.
Justin Britt-Gibson is joining the Watchmen showrunner to pen the screenplay, Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is directing, and all signs point to this being the first of the many upcoming movies to arrive in theaters. The question is, will that lead also be a character from the sequels?
The Hot Mic (via SFFGazette.com) has weighed in with an update, with Jeff Sneider confirming that Lucasfilm hopes to cast a male person of colour in the lead role. Their age is currently unknown, but speculation is running rampant that this will either be John Boyega's Finn or a character related to him (the former Stormtrooper's child, for example).
It will ultimately come down to how far into the future this movie goes, though there's a very vocal desire among Star Wars fans to pick up with Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron again.
None of them received overly satisfying endings to their respective stories, though giving them little more than cameo roles here arguably lessens their importance to the wider Star Wars franchise. On the other hand, serialised storytelling is working extremely well for Star Wars on Disney+, so perhaps that's the plan for movies now as well.
The Rise of Skywalker strongly hinted that Finn might be a Jedi in the making, but never really followed up on that. If we do pick up with him or one of his children in this movie, it would be fun to see what became of the Resistance hero and whether he ended up becoming a full-blown Jedi Knight after being trained by Rey.
It's worth noting that, last night, Sneider took to Twitter to say he's now been informed the movie's lead is female. However, as you can see below, he quickly debunked himself, so we're not discounting the possibility that Finn makes his return here.
Damon Lindelof's Star Wars movie is expected to be released in theaters on December 19, 2025.