It has been a year and a half since Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out, and writer/director Rian Johnson is still engaging with fans and critics on social media. In that respect, he is very different from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. And yet both Johnson and the tag team of D&D are working on their own Star Wars trilogies.
Disney recently announced release dates for three new Star Wars movies -- 2022, 2024, and 2026. There were no details on whether those dates were for Rian Johnson's trilogy, the Game of Thrones showrunners' trilogy, or what. It's almost like Lucasfilm purposely dangled out a troll carrot.
ABC (owned by Disney, like Lucasfilm) correspondent Clayton Sandell reiterated there's no official confirmation on who is making the newly dated Star Wars films:
However, that hasn't stopped another rumor from spreading that Rian Johnson's trilogy was cancelled. That is not based on anything substantial, but it is feeding the hopes of non-fans. Just a few months ago, Johnson addressed a rumor that he was stepping away from his trilogy by saying it wasn't true, he was still working on it.
Meanwhile, Rian Johnson recently had another debate with a Star Wars critic. It started with Johnson re-posting a Mary Sue joke, and a non-fan replied with "omg look at me, I ignore criticism of story and only point to ridiculous examples." Johnson kept it light with jokes, but he did try to make a counter-point about The Last Jedi criticism over Snoke's death vs. the lack of similar criticism over the Emperor's death in the original trilogy:
Rian Johnson has no problem getting into debates with Star Wars: The Last Jedi fans, critics, haters, or people somewhere in between. He's passionate about the stories and he's a fan himself.
Over on the other side, the Game of Thrones showrunners don't engage at all. That's not a criticism, it might be the better way to go. Depends on your perspective. It's not like Game of Thrones hasn't seen its share of criticism, though, and the final season in particular has been met with many complaints. (And not just because that random coffee cup error distracted attention from other major events. They let Ed Sheeran do the same thing a couple of years ago.)
The Game of Thrones showrunners literally plan to go into hiding on finale night, turning off their phones. I can't imagine Rian Johnson doing that. Again, that's not a judgment on which trilogy should move forward first. It's also not a zero sum game -- that whoever gets this trio of release dates wins and the other team loses and their Star Wars project dies. I don't have a clue what Lucasfilm has planned on that front.
I don't have a favorite in this race either, since we don't know enough about the proposed plots yet. It's not clear what's coming to the big screen after the Skywalker Saga ends this December with The Rise of Skywalker. We know some Star Wars stories will be told on Disney+, including The Mandalorian, but nothing has been said yet about either Rian Johnson or the GoT guys' projects moving to the streaming service.
What about you? Would you rather the newly dated Star Wars trilogy be from Rian Johnson or the Game of Thrones showrunners? I don't know that there's a third option besides maybe a mix from both, but go ahead and suggest it anyway.
