Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?
I've mostly enjoyed the ST. I've managed to find ways to enjoy the PT era. I liked Rogue One. I still haven't seen Solo.
To me, there is still infinite potential in Star Wars as a setting in which to tell fantastic stories. I think TLJ cleared the decks and gave the franchise the opportunity to not just reflexively reiterate the OT. I hope that Weiss and Benioff can make that a reality, along with Johnson. But we'll see.
The thing is, I know it's all gonna be ok, at least for me. There's enough Star Wars out there to keep me happy, even if Ep. IX is a huge disappointment. The franchise's continuation would be wonderful if it works, but if it doesn't...that's ok. I've been there already. I know how it goes. If Star Wars was shelved after Ep. IX, I'd be fine with it. The only thing I'd really clamor for is an archival version of the OOT that's been given the same kind of preservation/restoration treatment as the Bond series' early films were for blu-ray (or do it up at 8k or whatever). Everything after that is gravy.
On a COMPLETELY unrelated note, I don't know how many people here are tabletop RPG players, but in the past...hmm...year? 18 months? I've gotten into West End Games' Star Wars RPG on their D6 system. It's a terrific, fast-moving, non-crunchy system, there's a TON of sourcebook material out there (some good, some....not), and if you really dig the old EU, a ton of the sourcebook material covers that stuff. It's also a fantastic avenue to create and participate in your own Star Wars stories, all within the framework of the established Star Wars universe (or at least one version of it). The best part is that you can pick and choose whatever materials you want to include. So, if you think the stuff from Truce at Bakura was just kinda dumb, you can ignore it. Don't incorporate it into your campaign. If you want to run a smuggler-driven campaign a la Firefly, you can do it. There's a supplement (three, actually, that I can think of) for that. I'm finding it's a great way to get a Star Wars fix exactly the way you want it (albeit, not on the big screen). If anyone's curious about it, give a yell and I can point you to some resources.