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Credit: LucasfilmWe’ve seen a string of major moves within the Star Wars franchise lately, with the latest retconning the sequel trilogy.
With the release of a new comic, the studio has quietly rewritten an important character moment for Han Solo (Harrison Ford), effectively changing the way audiences interpret Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
Multiple Changes Hit ‘Star Wars’ Franchise
It’s been over six years since Star Wars hit the big screen. Fortunately, 2026 marks the franchise’s grand return to theaters, with The Mandalorian & Grogu due for release on May 22, 2026.
This follows several years of Lucasfilm going all-in on the Star Wars universe on Disney+. Also known as the MandoVerse, this started with Season 1 of The Mandalorian and encompasses additional projects such as Ahsoka and The Book of Boba Fett.
However, as per recent reports, this universe is coming to an end.
According to industry insider Daniel Richtman (via Patreon), the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu and Season 2 of Ahsoka may mark the final chapters of the MandoVerse.
Lucasfilm – which will reportedly shift hands from president Kathleen Kennedy to two new co-presidents, Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, later this year – apparently wants to use the performance of Ahsoka‘s second season as a barometer for future MandoVerse projects, with no new installments greenlit at this time.
This follows previous reports that a previously announced Season 4 of The Mandalorian will not happen, despite the completion of scripts before the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.
‘Star Wars’ Retcons Unpopular Sequel Trilogy
Fresh off pressing pause on the MandoVerse, Star Wars has retconned the sequel trilogy.
One of the most nostalgic moments in Star Wars: The Force Awakens sees Han Solo and Chewbacca burst onto their old ship, the Millennium Falcon, after Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) steal it from Unkar Plutt (Simon Pegg) and fly it out of Jakku. It’s later revealed that the ship was stolen, with Han lamenting that they “should’ve double-checked the Western Reaches.”
But according to The Direct, the recently released comic book miniseries Han Solo – Hunt for the Falcon – which is set before The Force Awakens – Han Solo is shown tracking the Millennium Falcon to the desert planet. Han even travels to Jakku, where he confronts Unkar Plutt but realizes that it’s too dangerous to push the situation, ultimately deciding to leave the Falcon behind.
Of course, that totally rewrites a massive moment in The Force Awakens. The film sees Rey reveal that Unkar Plutt stole the Millennium Falcon from the Irving Boys, who stole it from Ducain, while Han assumed that Ducain had his ship.
If Han already knows Unkar Plutt has the ship, then their entire exchange makes absolutely no sense. It also seems out of character for Han to know exactly where his beloved Falcon is located but to give up recovering the ship after just one confrontation.
At the same time, the retcon also corrects the previous complaint that it was unrealistic for Han to have never figured out where the Falcon ended up.
Rumors of a Deeper Sequel Trilogy Retcon
Past reports have suggested that Lucasfilm could conduct a wider retcon of the sequel trilogy at some point.
The odds of this happening seem slim. For how much some fans hated certain elements of the sequels – such as the decision to separate Han, Luke (Mark Hamill), and Leia (Carrie Fisher), Rey’s innate abilities with the Force, and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) abrupt death after his redemption – Disney is unlikely to sweep a trilogy that both cost and earned hundreds of millions of dollars under the rug.
More likely is the idea of Disney meeting fan complaints in other ways.
For example, Lucasfilm is set to give Rey a solo outing (that is, if the project ever nails its script), which some fans have theorized will include some kind of return for Ben Solo after Disney axed the latter’s standalone film last year.
In an effort to placate fans who were disappointed by Luke Skywalker’s journey in the sequel trilogy, particularly Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), the studio has also incorporated a younger version of the character at the height of his Jedi powers into both The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian, all thanks to the power of CGI de-aging.
Taken together, the winding down of the MandoVerse and smaller continuity tweaks suggest a franchise entering a period of consolidation rather than correction. Instead of aggressively revising past films, Lucasfilm appears focused on refining how different eras connect, using side projects to clarify motivations and smooth narrative edges.
These softer attempts at swaying disappointed fans seem more likely than a full-blown retcon. But at the end of the day, anything can happen in a franchise that “somehow” brought Palpatine back from the dead.
Are you excited for the future of Star Wars?