ARE LUKE AND LEIA IN EPISODE IX?

Kennedy has said definitively that Leia is not in Episode IX, and that The Last Jedi gave the character a final send-off. But the door for Luke to reappear in ghost form seems open, doesn’t it?

HOW SOON AFTER THE LAST JEDI WILL EPISODE IX TAKE PLACE?

We don’t know anything definitive yet, but there’s a popular theory that there will be at least some kind of time jump between the two movies. The Last Jedi picks up exactly where The Force Awakens left off—but going back to the original trilogy, six months elapse between The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. We could be looking at a similar gap here. That would be enough time for both the dark side and the light to lick their wounds and regroup for a final showdown. It also leaves time for Fisher’s character to peacefully pass away between films.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT MOVIE?

Well, since the scripts aren’t done yet, we obviously don’t have a conclusive answer there. But we can expect this potentially to be the concluding chapter in the Skywalker saga. With Luke and Leia gone (in a way), there’s nobody living who still bears the Skywalker name—though Ben Solo certainly has some of their blood. But I’d be extremely surprised if Kylo Ren survives the final installment—and with Rey confirmed to not be part of the Chosen One family, it might be time for the Skywalker legacy to end. Kennedy recently told The Independent: “Whether or not we carry on the Skywalker saga, you know, George [Lucas] always intended nine movies, and whether we continue that or not is something we’re talking about right now.”

But even if this is curtains for the Skywalkers, that doesn’t mean Episode IX will be the end for all the new characters you’ve come to know and love. “We’re sitting down now, we’re talking about the next 10 years of Star Wars stories, and we’re looking at, narratively, where that might go,” Kennedy said last month. That could mean “future stories beyond Episode IX with these new characters—Rey, Poe, Finn, BB-8—but we’re also looking at working with people who are interested in coming into the Star Wars world and taking us places we haven’t been yet. That’s exciting, too, because it’s a vast galaxy far, far away.”