Daisy Ridley's Upcoming Star Wars Comeback As Rey Skywalker Fixes A Massive Sequel Trilogy Problem
By Dan Bibby
October 5th, 2025
There's been very little movement on Daisy Ridley's upcoming Star Wars movie since it was announced in 2023, but the small amount of information that is available on the subject makes it seem that the franchise has learned from past mistakes.
Currently titled Star Wars: New Jedi Order, Rey Skywalker's return to the big screen is reportedly set to begin shooting in 2026. So, I don't think a 2027 release date is necessarily out of the question. Regardless of when it's released, New Jedi Order will explore a new part of the Star Wars timeline while also dealing with the fallout of 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker.
Currently titled Star Wars: New Jedi Order, Rey Skywalker's return to the big screen is reportedly set to begin shooting in 2026. So, I don't think a 2027 release date is necessarily out of the question. Regardless of when it's released, New Jedi Order will explore a new part of the Star Wars timeline while also dealing with the fallout of 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker.
New Jedi Order Will Take Place 15 Years After The Events Of Star Wars: Episode IX
Not even a decade has passed since the Star Wars sequel trilogy concluded, but producer Kathleen Kennedy revealed in 2023 that New Jedi Order will be set a hefty 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker, which is currently Daisy Ridley's last live-action appearance as Rey Skywalker. It's a notable time jump, and the largest the core movies have seen since the prequels.
Previous Star Wars movies generally had multi-year gaps between installments. In the sequels, the entire story only lasts roughly a year. 2017's The Last Jedi picks up right where The Force Awakens left off in 2015, and there's about a year in between The Last Jedi and the events of 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. It's rapid-fire storytelling as far as Star Wars is concerned, but New Jedi Order seems to be bucking that trend for movies involving Ridley's character.
Previous Star Wars movies generally had multi-year gaps between installments. In the sequels, the entire story only lasts roughly a year. 2017's The Last Jedi picks up right where The Force Awakens left off in 2015, and there's about a year in between The Last Jedi and the events of 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. It's rapid-fire storytelling as far as Star Wars is concerned, but New Jedi Order seems to be bucking that trend for movies involving Ridley's character.
New Jedi Order's Place In The Star Wars Timeline Is Great For Daisy Ridley's Character
Despite The Force Awakens providing a promising start for the sequel trilogy, the movies had their issues and were lambasted by huge portions of the Star Wars fan base. Sadly, Ridley's character got caught up in the criticism. I think Rey began as a compelling protagonist, but she fell short of her predecessors for several reasons.
One of the most important shortcomings was that her adventures were too sparse for Star Wars. Characters like Anakin (Jacob Matthew Lloyd/Hayden Christensen) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) routinely had countless offscreen adventures in the years that separated their movies. It wasn't just fun to try and piece together those occurrences from dialogue and other context clues, but it also helped them earn their main character status more authentically.
In New Jedi Order, Rey will be given the same treatment as Anakin and Luke. With fifteen years of unseen exploits to help inform the story of the upcoming movie, Ridley's character will feel far more fleshed out and worthy of her role of honoring her late master's legacy. It's a much-needed shot at redemption for Rey, and could retroactively improve the other Star Wars sequels.
One of the most important shortcomings was that her adventures were too sparse for Star Wars. Characters like Anakin (Jacob Matthew Lloyd/Hayden Christensen) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) routinely had countless offscreen adventures in the years that separated their movies. It wasn't just fun to try and piece together those occurrences from dialogue and other context clues, but it also helped them earn their main character status more authentically.
In New Jedi Order, Rey will be given the same treatment as Anakin and Luke. With fifteen years of unseen exploits to help inform the story of the upcoming movie, Ridley's character will feel far more fleshed out and worthy of her role of honoring her late master's legacy. It's a much-needed shot at redemption for Rey, and could retroactively improve the other Star Wars sequels.
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