Star Wars: Starfighter Will Break George Lucas’ Number 1 Rule

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A new Star Wars film coming out next year will do something that George Lucas specifically avoided for nearly five decades. Since Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, they’ve generally tried to honor Lucas’s original ideas while also introducing fresh concepts. There have been some adjustments—like rebranding the old Expanded Universe as ‘Legends’ and making a few changes to established storylines—but Disney has largely stuck to what Lucas wanted for the franchise.

George Lucas had a vision for Star Wars that wasn’t always written down as strict rules, but everyone has generally followed it. Every Star Wars film, including the newer ones from Disney, centers around the conflict between good and evil and always offers a positive message. They’re all suitable for families, combine elements of fantasy, science fiction, Westerns, and samurai films, and feel distinctly like Star Wars. While these core principles remain untouched, Disney is planning to deviate from another important aspect of Lucas’s original plan.

A new Star Wars film, Star Wars: Starfighter, is set to release on May 28, 2027 – almost 50 years after the original Star Wars debuted in 1977. This movie is different, though, because it’s breaking a long-held rule established by George Lucas: the story will no longer center around the Skywalker family.

George Lucas Made Sure Star Wars Revolved Around The Skywalker Family

From the start, George Lucas intended Star Wars to be a story about family. Although the revelation of Darth Vader and Leia’s relationship wasn’t in the first movie, A New Hope still strongly emphasizes family ties. This is shown through Obi-Wan’s connection to Luke’s father, Luke’s upbringing with Owen and Beru Lars, and the close bond that Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca develop as they work together.

George Lucas’ later films really emphasize family connections. The Empire Strikes Back famously reveals Darth Vader as Anakin Skywalker, while Return of the Jedi centers on their father-son dynamic and the discovery that Leia is Luke’s sister. The prequel trilogy explores Anakin’s childhood, his close bond with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his love for Padmé Amidala. Because of this strong focus on the Skywalker family, the films are often called the Skywalker Saga.

Ultimately, the heart of George Lucas’s Star Wars saga is a story about family. The love Anakin felt for his wife led to his turn to the dark side, while Luke’s love for his father prevented him from delivering a final blow. Family has always been the most important theme in Star Wars, and the Skywalker family consistently embodies that message.

Disney has consistently emphasized family connections throughout the Star Wars saga. Though Rey isn’t related to Anakin by blood, she forms strong father-daughter bonds with Luke and mother-daughter bonds with Leia, and the final film sees her embracing the Skywalker name. Even the standalone movies, Solo and Rogue One, are directly linked to the original trilogy and the larger Skywalker story.

The next Star Wars movie, focusing on The Mandalorian and Grogu, still connects to the Skywalker saga even though it doesn’t center on Jedi or Sith. In The Mandalorian, Din Djarin encountered Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, and Luke almost trained Grogu as a Jedi. Plus, Din and Grogu’s storyline – tracking down the remains of the Empire – directly follows the events at the end of Return of the Jedi.

When Star Wars has explored stories outside of the Skywalker family, it’s been primarily on television. Shows like The Acolyte are set long before Anakin Skywalker was even born, and Skeleton Crew, while mentioning Luke Skywalker, doesn’t directly involve the Skywalker lineage. However, the Star Wars movies Disney has made have largely stayed true to George Lucas’s original vision, continuing to center the story on family and the Skywalkers.

Star Wars: Starfighter Is The First Truly Standalone Star Wars Movie

For a long time, Star Wars focused on the Skywalker family, both during George Lucas’s involvement and in the years that followed. However, the new film, Starfighter, appears to be different. Currently, there’s no indication that Star Wars: Starfighter will connect to the Skywalker Saga. While details are still limited—the movie is over a year away—Lucasfilm has presented it as a separate story.

The upcoming movie, Starfighter, will be set well after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. This means it won’t have strong connections to the old conflicts involving the Empire or the Republic, and it likely won’t focus on the Skywalker family. By the time Starfighter takes place, Rey is the last surviving Skywalker and will probably be occupied with rebuilding the Jedi Order, as seen in her other film, New Jedi Order. All other members of the Skywalker family have passed away by the end of The Rise of Skywalker.

Director Shawn Levy appears to have intentionally kept Starfighter separate from the main Star Wars Skywalker saga. The film is being promoted as a completely new story with original characters. For example, Ryan Gosling plays a pilot who hasn’t appeared in any previous Star Wars films. The closest the movie comes to family connections so far is through Flynn Gray’s character, who will likely form a close, chosen family with Gosling’s character, similar to the bond between Din Djarin and Grogu.

Based on what we’ve learned so far, Starfighter appears to be a completely independent story, separate from the main Skywalker family saga. Unlike previous Star Wars films, which George Lucas always connected to the Skywalkers, Starfighter breaks that pattern entirely. It’s still unclear if this new approach will be successful, but one thing is certain: Star Wars: Starfighter is poised to significantly change the direction of the franchise.

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2026-05-13 02:19