Kathleen Kennedy Is “Sad” Marvel Hired Nia DaCosta Before She Did

According to Lucasfilm's president Kathleen Kennedy, hiring more women is a priority over at Lucasfilm. By and large, there has not been a lot of diversity in terms of the big names working behind the scenes on Star Wars films. However, The Mandalorian, which itself is cinematic and feels like a long film or a few films despite being a television series, is setting a fine precedent. Deborah Chow directed "Chapter 3: The Sin" and "Chapter 7: The Reckoning." The former was a high point for Star Wars fans, a climax that closed off the first little arc of the series. The latter was a suspenseful set-up for what was to come in the season finale. And of course, she is the sole director of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series that is set for a 2022 release.

Another name that seems to have come about when it comes to Star Wars and potential female directors is Nia DaCosta. She made her feature film debut with 2018's Little Woods. After that, she directed two 2019 episodes of Top Boy, and then she co-wrote and directed Candyman. This particular film is a sequel to the 1992 horror film of the same name, albeit set many years later in modern times. It is one that I have been curious about, given how amazing the trailer looked. However, like many other films in the time of the pandemic, it has been delayed a couple of times. What was originally supposed to be a June 2020 release is currently scheduled to be a 2021 release.

Still, DaCosta's career has been moving forward. Within the last couple of months, she was announced as the director of the sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel. In an interview with The Wrap back in August, Kathleen Kennedy, on the subject of hiring more directors who are women, mentioned Nia DaCosta, and how she wished she could have hired her:

“I was actually sad because I love Nia DaCosta, who was just announced to do Captain Marvel [2]. She’s another director I’ve been watching, and I think she’s enormously talented.”

Given that DaCosta is working with Marvel Studios, this quote makes it sound as though there is an expectation that she may work on more Marvel films in the future that would make her too busy to work with Lucasfilm. However, that did not seem to stop Taika Waititi from working on both seasons of The Mandalorian. Waititi directed Thor: Ragnarok, which was a hit with MCU fans, and he is directing the next Thor film, titled Thor: Love and Thunder. Plus, Peyton Reed, director of Ant-Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp, and the currently untitled upcoming third Ant-Man film, will be one of the directors for The Mandalorian season 2. So it seems odd that Kennedy would suggest that DaCosta may be off the table. Then again, perhaps she wanted to hire DaCosta sooner, and that might not prevent Lucasfilm from hiring her later. Maybe DaCosta had some scheduling issues to which we are not privy. Who knows?

In any case, all of this might be enough to make one wonder what type of Star Wars story Nia DaCosta would do if she were hired by Lucasfilm. Star Wars certainly seems to have its own limits, not expanding a whole lot beyond the genre or mix of genres that the films have generally presented. Still, it seems that there is a lot of potential talent to consider when it comes to the future of Star Wars. Perhaps there are names big and small who can surprise us and inject more great things into the beloved franchise.

Written By Steven Shinder

Syndicated From Culture Slate