Looking over the lineup of upcoming Star Wars movies, one of the many projects in development comes from the mind of Shawn Levy, the filmmaker behind Free Guy, The Adam Project and Deadpool & Wolverine, the latest of the Marvel movies in order. Unlike 2026’s The Mandalorian & Grogu, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s movie about Rey and James Mangold’s movie about the origins of the Jedi Order, we have no idea of what Levy has planned for his Star Wars movie. However, he has shared the big goal he’s come up with, and my fingers are crossed that Disney doesn’t mess with it.
While the majority of Levy’s recent interview on Happy Sad Confused understandably focused on Deadpool & Wolverine, the writer/director did spend some time towards the end talking with host Josh Horowitz to provide an update on what’s going on with his Star Wars movie. When asked what he loves about the franchise set in a galaxy far, far away, Levy started off by saying:
I’ll say that the experience of crafting this story has forced me to think about that question. Because there’s only so many times that Star Wars movies can revisit the same section of the timeline. … Because I don’t want to do a Star Wars film that is redundant to others. Nor am I interested in doing one that has to serve another movie. I really wanted to craft something that felt organic to me both in tone and characters.
The Star Wars franchise has been around for nearly 50 years now, and along with the main film series being collectively referred to as the Skywalker Saga, lately many of the Star Wars TV shows that can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription have also been tying back into the deeper mythology. Obviously there’s always going to be some degree of connectivity, like how The Acolyte included those surprise cameos in its Season 1 finale, but then there are series like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka that have been going pretty deep-cut, like tying back to The Clone Wars and Rebels. That can make it harder for someone who’s only watched the Star Wars movies in order to follow along.
Judging by Shawn Levy’s comment, it sounds like he wants his Star Wars movie to be a more standalone affair. Obviously he’ll still lean into the core concepts of the franchise, which is unavoidable, but it won’t be alienating to the more casual fans and general audiences. He continued:
So I think that there is certainly the Force and a connection to something bigger than our individual selves, and the way that that can make us powerful. Those themes, combined with visual delight and wish fulfillment, that’s Star Wars to me.
It’s nice to have a little more context about what Shawn Levy is planning for his Star Wars movie, and perhaps these new characters he’ll introduce will lead to another corner of the universe being fleshed out further, like how Andor is fleshing out the life of Diego Luna’s character before the events of Rogue One. That said, it may be a long time before we learn any specific details about Levy’s movie, and that’s assuming the project gets off the ground. After all, multiple movies announced/reported about during the Disney era never ended up moving forward.
For now, you can see Shawn Levy’s directorial and scripting work on display in Deadpool & Wolverine, which is playing in theaters. The cinematic side of the Star Wars franchise will resume when The Mandalorian & Grogu opens on May 22, 2026.
