The Star Wars franchise has been a hot topic in the industry since the 70s. With the Disney acquisition of the property, their foil on the big screen seems to wash off considering their last entry, Star Wars: The rise of Skywalker, became a colossal misfire. Now the studio is adamant to draw the legacy of the franchise on the theatres once again.
And it seems that Damon Lindelof’s next Star Wars movie is getting the big push and can be the next installment in the franchise, as it appears the writer has already got someone for the lead of his new installment, leading to some speculations about the return of a fan-favorite.
Demon Lindelof’s Star Wars will comprise a Person of Color in the lead
Jeff Sneider confirmed Lindelof’s project is moving forward and eying a release date in 2025. As he shared some more light on the project during a podcast with John Rocha, the story is going to be set after 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Sneider also informed that the lead would likely comprise a person of color, as he went on to state,
“So I’ve heard that the lead in Lindelof’s new movie, the Star Wars movie. Is Lindelof directing this movie? I don’t know. So I heard that the lead will be a person of color and likely, though it’s not confirmed, it’s what I took from it, it’s a man. I couldn’t get a name or coloring like that.”
Fans are divisive amid the speculations of John Boyega returning
As speculations circulated, fans shared their desire to see John Boyega reprising his role, as they argue that his force sensitivity powers can be further explored in the later sequels. With Sneider further confirming that the lead is a person of color, fans are once again pumped and hopeful to see Boyega in the project. And fans are wishing that Lindelof can convince Boyega to star as the lead.
While some fans were dissatisfied with this idea and called out it as Disney’s stunt of identity politics. The release of this news led fans to call it out as anti-white propaganda, with others contradicting the debate that skin color shouldn’t matter as long as the acting performance pulls off.
Prepare fore the “More woke propaganda 🤓” comments
— him (@PapaSugarThe1st) January 6, 2023
I dont mind casting an actor depending on their "color", but please have the main focus be on identifying the actor with the best acting skills.
— Drew (@Woodyson83) January 6, 2023
People mad about this have never seen a casting call in their life. I’ve seen a casting call for a background character in one scene be as specific as “blonde woman, 17-23, 5’3”, blue eyes” or “Asian twins, 5-14 months”
Yes, characteristics for characters are planned in advance.
— Bee (@BeeMakingTweets) January 6, 2023
Are they actually gonna stick to it unlike how they did John Boyega & flop the entire franchise again??😒😒
— NotYourAverageNegroeWoman🇭🇹🇺🇲 💋 (@sarah090288) January 6, 2023
The color: pic.twitter.com/YhSPARa9EQ
— JWA (@AdmiralJustin) January 6, 2023
Yay!! More identity politics for Star Wars!!
— Kevin (@actionherokevin) January 6, 2023
It’s nothing new about a small fraction of fans getting resentful over certain castings. Although John Boyega acknowledged Disney’s efforts to address online racism, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to speculate that he might reprise the character after the recent news about a possible lead role.
Source: Twitter