With the new Star Wars trilogy that Disney and Lucasfilm are developing, there appears to be a serious changing of the guard taking place behind the scenes. Series creator/shepherd George Lucas vacated his spot at the top of Lucasfilm and is now acting in a consulting capacity on the new films, and prequel trilogy producer Rick McCallum has also retired from the company, leaving Kathleen Kennedy in charge as the new Lucasfilm president and producer of the new Star Wars trilogy.

With J.J. Abrams set to direct at least the first film, Star Wars: Episode VII, wheels are in motion to bring brand new Star Wars stories to a whole new generation of fans, but it appears that at least one creative stalwart from the previous films might have a more heavy hand in the new trilogy: composer John Williams. Hit the jump to see what Williams had to say about possibly scoring the new Star Wars films.

When J.J. Abrams was first announced as the director of Episode VII, I was immediately giddy about the prospect of Abrams’ longtime composer Michael Giacchino crafting a new score for this revitalized Star Wars universe. His past work on films and TV shows like Lost, Up, and Star Trek is phenomenal, and the idea that he might get to play off of Williams’ themes from Star Wars for a new score sounded most excellent.

Well it appears that Giacchino’s involvement with the new Star Wars trilogy might not be a foregone conclusion after all, as Williams recently made some comments that suggest he might be returning to compose music for the new films—or at least he thinks as much. Here’s what he had to say at the recent YMF event courtesy of the John Williams Fan Network (via First Showing):

“We’re about to play Star Wars and each time we play it, I’m reminded of the first time we played it decades ago. Neither I, nor George, nor anyone else involved thought this would go far or in a few years there would be a sequel and I’d have to revisit the themes…and years later another trilogy. Now we’re hearing of a new set of movies coming in 2015, 2016…so I need to make sure I’m still ready to go in a few years for what I hope would be continued work with George.”

This is in no way a confirmation that Williams is absolutely coming back to score the new Star Wars films, and it’s such early days on Episode VII that I’m sure a decision as to the film’s composer hasn’t been solidified just yet, but it definitely sounds like Williams is operating under the assumption that he’ll be asked back. Personally, I’m of the opinion that new Star Wars would benefit from a new score, but I’m sure there are plenty who would think it blasphemous for a Star Wars movie not to have a John Williams score.

What do you think, dear readers? Is John Williams’ return an absolute necessity for Episode VII or would you rather hear what Michael Giacchino comes up with?