Daisy Ridley is officially returning as Rey in Star Wars: New Jedi Order, a sequel set 15 years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Disney and Lucasfilm finally unveiled their future plans for the Star Wars franchise at Star Wars Celebration 2023. This included confirming the development of a new Star Wars movie set after the sequel trilogy, which was previously rumored to be in the works. Star Wars: New Jedi Order will be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, with recent writer changes bringing Steven Knight aboard as the writer.
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As part of Star Wars Celebration 2023, Lucasfilm officially confirmed that Daisy Ridley’s Rey returns in Star Wars: New Jedi Order. It will follow Rey as a Jedi master who is rebuilding the Jedi Order after Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker. Lucasfilm did not announce a release date for Star Wars: New Jedi Order, so it is unclear when exactly Daisy Ridley’s Rey return will happen.

Why Star Wars Is Bringing Back Daisy Ridley’s Rey So Quickly

Daisy Ridley’s return to Star Wars has been announced less than four years since she was last seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The franchise has a history of bringing back stars of its main movies, but it typically takes much longer than the gap between Ridley’s appearances. Rey could only be missing from theaters for six years if Star Wars: New Jedi Order is the 2025 Star Wars movie, while the longest wait could be 10 years if it takes the 2029 Star Wars date. This is quite shorter than the decades it took for Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher to return, or even the 16 years for Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen.

The one reason why Star Wars is not waiting too long to bring back Daisy Ridley after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is Rey’s popularity. She is undeniably the most popular character to come from the sequel trilogy, becoming an iconic hero for a new generation of fans of the galaxy far, far away. Even though the Star Wars sequel trilogy had its problems and struggled with telling a cohesive story for Rey, that did not deter excitement about seeing Daisy Ridley come back to the franchise.

The other explanation for Rey’s return in Star Wars: New Jedi Order is that she is a necessary character for that story. Since the movie is about rebuilding the Jedi Order after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey has to be at least a key piece to that development. It will be up to her to reform the Jedi Order and do so better than before. Star Wars: New Jedi Order happening without her would mean needing to come up with a strange reason why Rey is not involved with the Jedi, but Daisy Ridley’s return ensures that will not happen.

Source: Star Wars Celebration

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