Speculation: Is Yahya Abdul-Mateen II the Lead of the Next ‘Star Wars’ Movie?
After staying off multiplexes for over three years, it is quite clear at this point that the Star Wars film franchise is preparing for a comeback. The galaxy far, far away that George Lucas created 46 years ago has been claustrophobically living inside our TVs lately, and despite Lucasfilm’s efforts to convince us that films from high-profile directors are in the works, we now know that the one film that could finally make it in front of the cameras is the one that Damon Lindelof has been working on for over a year.
Damon Lindelof and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Star Wars film
We learned about this project last March, when film reporter Jeff Sneider posted on Twitter the Watchmen and The Leftovers showrunner was working on a Star Wars film, later saying that he had been consistently meeting with executives at Lucasfilm. We now know a few more details about the project, including that it enlisted Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy to direct. Moreover, according to rumors, the film would be looking to cast non-white male and female co-leads. But no specific names have really been mentioned… until now.
During the most recent episode of The Hot Mic podcast, Sneider asserted that, according to sources, the project was packaged at Lucasfilm with Lindelof and the lead actor attached. Reports on the film have failed to include that name, or even mention this detail so far, but looking at Lindelof’s filmography, there is one name that stands out, particularly when we combine the non-white male description with another tidbit previously shared by Sneider — he is a now-established actor that has been successfully transitioning between film and television over the past few years. And knowing that Lindelof’s last project was a TV series for HBO, the clear candidate here is Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who starred in the Watchmen series as Cal Abar, Regina King’s on-screen husband.
If true, this makes perfect sense. Besides Watchmen, Abdul-Mateen II has been positioning himself as a recognizable face that hasn’t been crowned a movie star yet, but who certainly has the chops and charisma necessary to become one. He played a key role in 2018’s Aquaman as Black Manta, and will return for the sequel; he played Bobby Seale in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago Seven, and also had a major role in The Matrix Resurrections as the new Morpheus. With the DC franchise going through a creative overhaul, his days as Aquaman’s arch-enemy are likely counted, but they certainly served him well, as partially thanks to them he now has the profile to headline a major franchise like Star Wars.
The only inconvenience, though, is that another major shark in town saw this too. We’re talking, obviously, about Marvel Studios, who reportedly cast him last year as Simon Williams, a.k.a. Wonder Man, in the character’s own Disney Plus series soon. This doesn’t necessarily negate the possibility of Abdul-Mateen II joining Lindelof’s film, and in turn, would teach us a lot about the timing of both projects if it were true. Let’s go back for a second and explore the full timeline of events.
A trip down memory lane and looking at the future of Star Wars
Jeff Sneider’s tweet was posted on March 14, 2022, but by that time, the project had likely been in development for a while. If Abdul-Mateen II was the actor that came attached with it, he would have also known about it for a few months. Reports on Marvel developing a Wonder Man series with Destin Daniel Cretton attached surfaced in June of that year, and taking an educated guess, we can assume that the casting for the lead character hadn’t been finalized at that point. Even if it had, though, the truth is that it had to have happened after Lindelof pitched his idea to Lucasfilm. Reports on Abdul-Mateen II being cast in Wonder Man first came out on October 18, 2022, and were later corroborated by Deadline on October 31 — by that time, Obaid-Chinoy had already signed on to do the Star Wars film, and the writers’ room had been set up for a few months. That train was already moving full-steam ahead.
What does this all mean? Well, we know that Marvel likes to keep its actors around for several years, and that Wonder Man will not be a one-and-done project for Abdul-Mateen II. He’s, no doubt, looking at a multi-year commitment with the studio. That could be an argument why he may have signed with Lucasfilm first. After all, we know that Lindelof’s film is supposed to be set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, and the company is thinking about launching a new era of interconnected stories with it — another multi-year commitment.
But, once again, let’s assume that Abdul-Mateen II landed the role, and see where that leads us. By the time he signed with Marvel, he had to know when Wonder Man would be shooting and when Star Wars would be filming too. Well, according to a Production Weekly listing, Marvel is scheduled to begin principal photography on their series this March, while insider Daniel Richtman said earlier that it would happen in April in Atlanta. Whatever the case may be, it looks like it’s happening this spring. At the same time, according to rumors, that is also when Lucasfilm would be commencing principal photography on their film too.
Two possibilities arise — either the actor is not the chosen one, or the rumors are not true (they could, in turn, refer to pre-production). Assuming it’s the latter, we can clearly see in front of our eyes that Lindelof’s film will roll cameras this fall (sometime between October and December, giving Wonder Man six-to-eight months of shooting) in order for the film to meet its December 19, 2025, release date, which is the next slot in Disney’s calendar has reserved for a Star Wars film.
What’s next?
There is no question that, with the project all set up now, an announcement from Lucasfilm is imminent. There is good reason to believe that Star Wars Celebration is going to fire on all cylinders in terms of laying out the future of the franchise, and a major element in that plan is the theatrical exhibition. With Bob Iger now back and with his first quarterly reports now behind us, we have a clearer picture than ever before that Disney is desperate to get some money in the bank as soon as possible. This is the reason why they are laying off 7,000 employees, why they greenlit sequels to billion-dollar animated films, and also why they are likely betting the house on their two major money-makers, Marvel and Star Wars (remember, on average, every time Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilm puts out a movie in theaters, Disney cashes in $1 billion).
For this reason alone, and ignoring all reports reaffirming so, we know that both parent and sub-company are keen on having a movie in theaters by December of 2025. The first details on the project will officially be announced during Star Wars Celebration in London, that much we are sure of, but if the wheels are internally moving, the likely scenario is that reporters in town will hear something, and in the coming weeks we might get stories from the major trades providing the first details. Possibly not the title, which could be the biggest takeaway from Celebration, but certainly the male and female co-leads of the film.
A good rule in Hollywood is to always have another project in the pipeline once you release your latest one. This hasn’t turned out exactly great for Star Wars filmmakers in recent years, but Lindelof could break the curse here (or be the last name to be added to the list). His Peacock series Mrs. Davis premieres April 20, less than two weeks after Star Wars Celebration takes place. It all lines up for an announcement to be made at the ExCeL Centre, because by that point, everyone in town will be booking interviews with Lindelof as part of the press tour for the series just so they can ask about Star Wars.
Make sure to stay tuned into Star Wars News Net, because we have some exciting times ahead!
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
