Star Wars creator George Lucas shocked the world when he decided to sell Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, but it had been a long time since Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005, and fans were eager to return to this Galaxy Far, Far Away.
A press release promised the filmmaker's story outlines would be used for a new sequel trilogy, and ultimately, that didn't happen. Since then, Kathleen Kennedy has forged ahead with five movies, several TV shows, video games, and books and comics, which have expanded on Lucas's work in a big way.
The question is, what does Lucas think about the Star Wars sequels? For that matter, how does he rate the spin-off movies and what we've seen from Lucasfilm on Disney+? Well, we've rounded up everything he's ever said about all of them and, honestly, the legendary writer and director's assessments may surprise you.
To check out his comments in full, click on the "Next" or "View List" buttons below...
6. The Force Awakens
When The Force Awakens was released in 2015, Star Wars fans couldn't have been any more excited. The movie appeared to be in safe hands with J.J. Abrams, but has since been criticised for essentially being a retelling of A New Hope.
Abrams' quest to pay homage to a movie he loved resulted in a poor imitation that, while entertaining in its own right, now feels like a bad start to this sequel trilogy. That's how Lucas felt after watching The Force Awakens, anyway.
An excerpt from Bob Iger's book, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years As CEO Of The Walt Disney Company, reveals that following a screening, "[Lucas] didn’t hide his disappointment. 'There’s nothing new,' he said. In each of the films in the original trilogy, it was important to him to present new worlds, new stories, new characters, and new technologies. In this one, he said, 'There weren’t enough visual or technical leaps forward.'"
The legendary filmmaker has also admitted he was upset with Disney and Lucasfilm's decision not to use the story outlines he provided (which were mentioned as a starting point when the House of Mouse announced a new sequel trilogy).
"They looked at the stories, and they said, 'We want to make something for the fans.' They decided they didn’t want to use those stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing. They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway...and so I said, 'Okay, I will go my way, and I’ll let them go their way.'"
5. The Last Jedi
The most divisive instalment of the sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi, has come under fire for its depiction of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa's "Mary Poppins" moment, and the way it shrugged off the big mysteries introduced in The Force Awakens (to name just a few of the biggest sticking points).
Lucas has never spoken publicly about the movie, but one of his representatives, Connie Wethington, shared his assessment that it was "beautifully made." The filmmaker is also believed to have met with writer and director Rian Johnson, though details of their conversation have never been shared.
Even The Last Jedi's cast - including Mark Hamill - have openly criticised this middle chapter of the sequel trilogy, so we'd be shocked if Lucas was a fan of seeing what became of Luke.
Until he reveals his thoughts on the movie, though, we can only make assumptions.
4. The Rise of Skywalker
By far the least popular instalment of the sequel trilogy - yes, even more so than The Last Jedi - The Rise of Skywalker was an awful conclusion to the Skywalker Saga on several levels.
The returning Abrams shot back at Johnson by reviving The Force Awakens' biggest unanswered questions. With that, he revealed who Rey's parents were (Johnson said they were nobodies) and the mystery behind Supreme Leader Snoke (the previous film killed him without explanation). Emperor Palpatine was thrown into the mix despite no previous hints he'd been resurrected, and the whole thing was a fan-service-laden mess.
Lucas has never commented on Episode IX, either out of indifference or because he has nothing nice to say.
What we do know is the filmmaker never supported the idea of the Emperor's resurrection in the Expanded Universe, so we doubt he appreciated Return of the Jedi's ending being retconned so significantly. Potentially quite telling is the fact that Lucas did not attend The Rise of Skywalker's premiere.
3. The Spin-Offs
Disney and Lucasfilm were supposed to make a whole slate of movies under the "A Star Wars Story" banner, including big screen adventures for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Boba Fett, and Yoda. When all was said and done, we got only Rogue One and Solo.
The former told the story of the Rebels who stole the Death Star plans. The movie was a critical and commercial success (despite issues behind the scenes), and director Gareth Edwards has said on multiple occasions that Lucas was complimentary of what he'd brought to this Galaxy Far, Far Away.
According to him, the Star Wars creator "really liked the movie" and was "highly complimentary" while sharing his thoughts on the 2016 blockbuster. Tony Gilroy, who helped with those reshoots, has also said Lucas "loved it."
Solo, on the other hand, struggled to strike a chord with fans and critics alike, and delved into a character's origin story that Lucas himself had considered exploring in Revenge of the Sith. Ron Howard, who was tapped to finish the movie after Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired, said Lucas was "supportive" and "really complimentary" during a set visit, though his thoughts on the final product are unknown.
We'd guess he liked them both more than the sequels, anyway.
2. What About The Disney+ TV Shows?
Between The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Ahsoka, there are almost too many Star Wars TV shows for Lucas to share his thoughts on. We've heard from various creatives that he's been complimentary (there's that word again) during set visits, and we know he met Grogu at least once.
Beyond that, the filmmaker has never really given his assessment of these TV shows; we don't even know whether he's watched them.
Lucas has said on multiple occasions that he struggled not being hands-on with Star Wars—which was why he helmed the prequels—so expecting him to sit down and watch hours and hours of television...well, c'mon, give the man a break!
Still, we'd bet that he likes seeing what Dave Filoni is doing, even though Jon Favreau has admitted the legendary director enjoyed giving his old protege a hard time on the set of The Mandalorian!
"He would give Dave [Filoni] a hard time in a very playful and caring way," he recalled. "He has nothing but tremendous care and respect for Dave. I think he sees Dave's creative life as an extension of the relationship that they had."
1. He's Moved On
It's been 13 years since George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion. While Star Wars fans have been waiting patiently for the legendary filmmaker to step back behind the camera, Lucas has been busy working on opening a museum.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will showcase narrative art, but much to the disappointment of some, it isn't a movie museum or even a journey through Lucas' storied career. Recently, he explained why he's eager for it not to become known as "the Star Wars museum." He added, "It’s one gallery out of 33. And I did it grudgingly. I didn’t want people to come to the museum and say, 'Where’s the Star Wars?'"
Addressing the current state of the franchise and how he now views the world he created, Lucas said, "Disney took it over and they gave it their vision. That’s what happens. Of course, I’ve moved past it. I mean, I’ve got a life. I’m building a museum. A museum is harder than making movies." In other words, he's done with Star Wars!
This isn't surprising, as in 2024, he shared his most candid thoughts on Disney's approach yet when he said, "When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up..."