In at least one way, Kathleen Kennedy has been a Godsend for Star Wars. The oft-maligned President of Lucasfilm has faced her fair share of criticism, but tapping Jon Favreau to produce The Mandalorian is arguably the best decision of her tenure. Favreau was able to immediately translate his Marvel success to the galaxy far, far away. Disney (Lucasfilm’s parent company) is banking on that success again. As we know, Marvel head Kevin Feige will also produce a Star Wars feature film. While we don’t know much about it, we do know Michael Waldron will write the film. But could that be a problem?
Waldron is no stranger to Marvel and Kevin Feige. The Rick and Morty alumni is the head writer for the upcoming Loki series on Disney+. (That’s set to debut Wednesday.) According to Variety, Feige was so impressed with Waldon’s work on the series he assigned him to write the next Doctor Strange film, as well. The duo’s partnership doesn’t end there; they will team up again on Star Wars, an honor Waldron relishes:
“Star Wars! Indiana Jones! [Kathleen Kennedy], she’s made so many of my favorite movies. So to get to collaborate with both of those entities is a dream come true.”
Could trouble already be brewing for Kevin Feige, Star Wars?
Waldron referencing Kathleen Kennedy is interesting. She hasn’t exactly had the best relationships with her Star Wars writers and directors. (See Solo: A Star Wars Story and Kennedy’s relationship with director Colin Trevorrow, for example.) “Creative differences” border on the norm rather than the exception with Kennedy. Waldron’s old Rick and Morty boss, Dan Harmon, hinted that while Waldon is great with Kevin Feige, but might not be with Kennedy and Lucasfilm:
Star Wars is definitely sticky … [i[f you take it too seriously, you’re doing it wrong. If you don’t take it seriously enough, you’re definitely doing it wrong. It needs that total joy of the greatest franchise ever, along with a kind of swagger. I do think that Waldron would make a good match for that, but I don’t know if he would make a good match for the machine that’s carrying that stuff.” (Emphasis added.)
~Dan Harmon, on how well Michael Waldron will mesh with Kathleen Kennedy and Disney.
If anyone has insight with respect to Waldon, it’s Harmon. If he doesn’t think Waldron will be a good match with Kennedy, well… Could a bad fit with Kennedy and Lucasfilm cause a rift with Kevin Feige and Disney? To paraphrase Sheev Palpatine, we shall watch Waldron’s Star Wars career with great interest.
Source: Variety
