Disney and Lucasfilm have officially tapped Jon Watts to direct the next film in the Star Wars saga, a project widely reported as “Episode 10” that would continue the Skywalker family legacy. The announcement emerged on September 26, when The Hollywood Reporter and Knight Edge Media broke the news that the filmmaker — best known for helming Marvel’s Spider-Man trilogy — would take the helm of what sources describe as the first installment of “the next phase of a potential new Skywalker Saga.” While the studio has not yet fully greenlit the film, the move signals a significant creative shift for a franchise that has spent nearly seven years searching for its next theatrical blockbuster.
The film is reportedly part of a trilogy penned by Simon Kinberg, a writer-director whose career spans some of the most commercially and critically notable entries in modern blockbuster filmmaking. Kinberg wrote X-Men: The Last Stand, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse before directing the infamous Dark Phoenix, a project that left a complicated legacy for the franchise. Disney has not shared plot details, and the absence of a formal greenlight means the project’s future remains somewhat speculative — but the appointment of a director of Watts’ stature suggests Lucasfilm is ready to make a serious attempt at reviving its flagship cinematic series.
A Director Who Already Knows the Franchise
Watts is a natural fit for the role, given his deep familiarity with both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars universe. He helped fold Spider-Man into the MCU, directing Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, before turning his attention to Star Wars proper. Most recently, he served as the showrunner for the Disney Plus series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, a project that clearly impressed Lucasfilm enough to hand him a Skywalker Saga film. That trajectory — from a beloved fan-favorite streaming series to a potential theatrical tentpole — positions Watts as a director who has already earned the trust of the studio’s leadership.
Watts brings a fresh, character-driven sensibility to the table, and his work on Skeleton Crew demonstrated a genuine understanding of the Star Wars tone that Lucasfilm has been trying to rediscover.
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Still, caution is warranted. The appointment does not yet confirm that Episode 10 is in full production, and the studio’s reluctance to continue the series is well documented. Since Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker messily wrapped up the overarching narrative in 2019, Lucasfilm has been hesitant to continue its flagship movie series. Multiple projects have entered development and never came to fruition in the intervening years, with most new Star Wars releases landing as Disney Plus shows or video games instead of theatrical films.
Looking Ahead
The franchise’s theatrical fortunes have been uneven in recent years. The Mandalorian and Grogu did hit theaters in May, but it underperformed expectations at the box office, raising questions about audience appetite for the brand’s live-action films. Meanwhile, Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter is slated for theaters next May and will serve as a crucial test of how successful a Star Wars movie that is not part of the Skywalker Saga can be. If that film underperforms, Disney and Lucasfilm may have little choice but to lean on a hypothetical Episode 10 to save the franchise’s theatrical future.
For now, the appointment of Jon Watts represents a promising first step toward a new chapter in Star Wars cinema. Whether Episode 10 ultimately reaches the screen depends on the studio’s willingness to greenlight the project and Kinberg’s ability to craft a trilogy that honors the saga’s legacy while appealing to a new generation of fans. Until then, the galaxy far, far away waits to see what the next phase of the Skywalker Saga will bring.
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