Lucasfilm may have been taking steps to increase diversity and representation in the Star Wars film franchise, however, while people from minority groups find roles to play in front of the camera, the studio has yet to hire a female director to take on a major Star Wars film.
Sure, Victoria Mahoney might have been the second unit director of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Deborah Chow might have directed episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian, however, all of the lead directors in the Star Wars film franchise have been men. George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand, Dave Filoni (Clone Wars movie), JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson, Gareth Edwards – the directorial line-up of the Star Wars film franchise has been dominantly male.
Things are about to change though. Now that Star Wars is moving away from the Skywalker saga, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy promises to prioritize finding female directors for the galaxy far, far away.
Kennedy just recently spoke in an interview with The Wrap to talk about the future of the franchise, and it looks like female directorship is part of Star Wars' tomorrow.
"It's absolutely a priority. It's been very exciting to see the talent that's come in," Kennedy told the entertainment news outlet, "And we're now developing the limited Obi-Wan Kenobi series with Deborah Chow, and she's just been doing a phenomenal job."
This priority shows because not only is Deborah Chow set to direct Lucasfilm's upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series for Disney+, but Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland is also developing her own female-centric Star Wars series for Disney's streaming site.
The Skywalker saga is available for streaming on Disney+.
Read: Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi Series May Only Run for 1 Season