Director Patty Jenkins is headed to a galaxy far, far away with the upcoming Rogue Squadron, making her the first woman to direct a Star Wars film. This also marks the third franchise movie in a row for the filmmaker, following her efforts on the smash-hit Wonder Woman and its much-hyped sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, but can Jenkins repeat her success in the DC Extended Universe with Star Wars?
Before Jenkins' first Wonder Woman movie, many people were disenchanted with the DCEU. All three of the films made prior to that were box office hits, yet they struggled to win over the masses for different reasons. Man of Steel was a controversial re-imagining of the Superman origin story, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice put an equally dark, operatic and polarizing spin on the Caped Crusader and Suicide Squad was overhauled in post-production, resulting in the lucrative but poorly-reviewed theatrical cut.
Part of the reason Wonder Woman went over as well as it did was because Jenkins found a way to make a more uplifting DCEU film that appealed to those who felt the earlier movies were superficially grim and broody. At the same time, Wonder Woman honored what had come before and built upon that foundation, rather than ignoring or retconning it like many felt the theatrical version of Justice League tried to do. The result was a DCEU movie that was clearly influenced by the previous entries, yet it had its own tone, themes and style.
The Star Wars films are in a place that's similar to the DCEU pre-Wonder Woman. Four of the five movies released by Disney so far have been commercial hits, yet increasingly people seem dissatisfied with them. Whereas The Last Jedi received great reviews but left fans divided over its subversive take on the Star Wars mythology, The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker were criticized for relying too much on fan-service and nostalgia. Meanwhile, the spinoffs Rogue One and Solo tend to play great with Star Wars TV fans, but they are more divisive among others.
If Jenkins is able to balance innovation with respect for the past the way she did with Wonder Woman and the DCEU, there's a real chance her Rogue Squadron will similarly renew faith in the Star Wars movies. Thankfully, it sounds like her approach on the film will be more or less the same as it was with Wonder Woman in that sense.
When she was interviewed about Rogue Squadron by IGN, Jenkins confirmed the movie will take, "great influence from the games and the books." She also acknowledged "the greatness of all those things," but this will still be a unique and original story.
Rogue Squadron could also be the perfect movie to achieve this based on its premise. In Star Wars canon, the Rogue Squadron was a Rebel starfighter squadron founded by Luke Skywalker during the Galactic Civil War and got its name from the Rogue One team. That's to say, the film inherently builds on the events depicted in the Original Trilogy and Rogue One spin-off, yet it has the potential to move the franchise beyond them, as a growing number of people and, by the sound of it, Jenkins feels it should.
Directed by Patty Jenkins, Rogue Squadron is scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 22, 2023.