For better or for worse, Kathleen Kennedy is often the one ultimately held responsible for the highs and lows of this era of Star Wars. The sequel trilogy she shepherded introduced a new generation to a galaxy far, far away while still giving longtime fans a (mostly) fulfilling end to this saga. And yet in the nearly six years since that saga ended with Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm has struggled to figure out its next chapter on the big screen. With Kathleen Kennedys rumored exit from Lucasfilm, it doesnt seem likely that these struggles will resolve themselves anytime soon.A number of films from an impressive slate of filmmakers have been announced over the years. Creatives like Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins, Rian Johnson, Kevin Feige, and more all elected to throw their hats in the ring to mold their own corner of the Star Wars universe. And yet, nearly all of them have been scrapped or reworked in one way or another. The only Star Wars film to make it from conception to production in the last six years is the upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu.As far as we know, James Mangolds currently titled Dawn of the Jedi and the upcoming Rey solo film New Jedi Order (directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy) are still moving forward. But with the writer shake ups that New Jedi Order has already faced, a change in leadership doesnt bode well for either of these projects.No matter who takes Kennedys place, they are likely going to have their own vision for how Star Wars should move forward. Whether or not current projects fit into that vision is still to be determined. Its doubtful that Dave Filoni and Jon Favreaus ever-expanding Mando-verse is in jeopardy. The New Republic era has so far proven to be popular and lucrative for the franchise its nearly impossible to enter any kind of big name store nowadays without seeing at least one Grogu-themed item.This isnt necessarily a bad thing. Theres a lot of fun to be had in the New Republic era. But at the same time, theres not really a lot of envelope pushing happening here.With the number of film projects that have been outright canceled over the last few years, Lucasfilm is already coming across as unsure of their own future. They dont seem to know what they want Star Wars to be outside of Filonis sandbox.However, it feels almost cruel to put all of the blame for this confused era of Star Wars solely on Kennedy. Shes had to push through a lot of road blocks over the last six years, from COVID-19 shutting things down to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA work stoppages of 2023 also shutting productions down to Disney leadership changes to increasingly loud internet personalities claiming that Star Wars has suddenly become woke as if the entire franchise isnt about fighting against a fascist regime.Whoever takes Kennedys place has a lot of work to do to figure out what Star Wars films should be outside of the Skywalker Saga. Hopefully the next era isnt just a bunch of nostalgia or money grabs, but well believe it when we see it.