Star Wars Rumour: Is Disney Quietly Ditching the Sequel Trilogy?

Star Wars Day, May 4, aka May The Fourth Be With You, has come and gone for 2026. But that hasn’t stopped the Internet from once again having a meltdown over the future of the franchise. 

The website WDW Pro has claimed that Star Wars is preparing to splinter off the sequel trilogy into its own separate ‘reality.’ In terms of how this would work in the canon, a vlogger at Disneyland Galaxy’s Edge claims he was given an interesting tidbit of lore by a cast member playing Ahsoka. This cast member said that the World Between Words — the interconnected realm within the Force that links all the moments in time and space together — has been severed. 

Presumably, this would allow Disney to wipe the slate clean and have future projects, like Kathleen Kennedy’s trilogy, focus on the original characters.

Given the strict rules that cast members abide by, it would be borderline irresponsible for someone to provide a non-canon lore drop like that. Moreover, WDW Pro argues that recent promotional material related to this year’s May 4 leaned heavily on the original trilogy. 

The site also claims that sequel stuff at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland has been pretty much restricted to just one ride, and that the recent Fortnite special event was mostly based around the original trilogy. This, in turn, raises the question of whether moves are being made behind the scenes. 

The Pros and Cons of Abandoning the Sequels

I have to admit, the idea of The Rise of Skywalker being erased from the canon is pretty attractive, and I doubt I’m the only one who thinks so. On that fact alone, I feel like going down that route would definitely be supported by some of the fandom. 

A clean slate could also generate a level of hype that has been somewhat lacking from the franchise in recent years. The sequel trilogy was intended to bring Star Wars to a new generation. Despite its global box office success, it never quite had the same cultural impact as the original trilogy, though. Perhaps that ship has sailed with Millennials/Gen Z, but there’s always Gen Alpha.

Then there’s the other side of the argument. On a practical level, it all boils down to a single question: why pour all that time, money, and world-building down the drain? It would feel absurd, giving off the vibe that Disney is taking the easy way out. If anything, completely disregarding the sequel trilogy and, by extension, the ‘Mandoverse’ could seriously damage the company and brand’s reputation. 

It would also be frustrating from a viewer's perspective to have invested all this time in a narrative that would effectively cease to exist. Contrary to popular belief, Rey does have her fans. If she were to be completely cast aside, I doubt they’d be happy, and I doubt it’s a backlash Disney would want to deal with.

Why The Sequel Trilogy Erasure Could Happen

It’s no secret that the sequel trilogy, especially, is widely considered to be among the weakest instalments in the world of Star Wars. The Force Awakens is often accused of being too derivative in comparison to A New Hope, while everyone knows just how polarising The Last Jedi was (though I personally liked it). Then, in what was a misguided attempt at damage control, The Rise of Skywalker played it way too safe — and ended up scoring the lowest review aggregate out of all the mainline movies. 

None of this is new, but it is important context when one considers how the sequels are perceived compared to other Star Wars projects. Recent data by Neilson revealed the top ten Star Wars projects watched in 2025 — and not a single sequel title was among them. The most embarrassing part is that even the likes of The Phantom Menace made the list (ranked at #3, no less). 

This, coupled with popular discourse and the fact that the new Rey movie doesn’t seem to be making much progress, may well reinforce the sequel trilogy’s precarious position in the Star Wars fandom. 

Why It (Probably) Won’t

The thing about the sequel trilogy backlash is that we’ve been here before. The prequel trilogy was similarly panned with such vitriol that it’s hard to be objective about it. There has also been an undeniable shift in recent years, with fans looking upon the prequels with a more nostalgic, less critical eye. In time, I believe that the sequel trilogy will get the same treatment.

And while The Mandalorian movie numbers aren’t that promising, you can’t discount the level of success this series spawned, especially in its first two seasons. While data shows that the third season didn’t quite reach the heights of the first two, that doesn’t erase the pop culture impact the show has had as a whole. Personally, with how marketable Grogu is, I think we might be surprised by the film’s appeal.

So, while I can see some of the benefits of leaving the sequels behind, and perhaps non-original trilogy-focussed projects with them, I ultimately feel like such a decision would be too big a risk in terms of potential backlash and cost. 

Personally, while the theme park situation is admittedly confusing, I think some are looking into it too deeply. And how do we know these Lucasfilm sources are even reliable? Ultimately, I believe this rumour has exploded because it is a case of wishful thinking by certain parts of the fandom. 

Really, we should all remember one thing: don’t count your chickens (or Porgs) before they hatch.