With Joss Whedon done with Marvel, at least for the time being, possibly there is only one way for the director to go and that is up.
It’s being speculated/guessed/rumored that Whedon may be in the running to direct Star Wars: Episode IX.
An apparently fan podcast joked about the possibility of Whedon directing a Star Wars movie in which Making Star Wars caught wind of it and stated it’s a possibility.
We were told “It is extremely possible”.
It feels like the rumors are getting going because the possibility exists. It is possible. It almost seems crazy to imagine they never had a meeting or haven’t had a meeting just to discuss the possibilities. Maybe that’s what happened here?
Most would agree that Disney doesn’t want to lose Whedon. Giving him some Star Wars is one way of keeping him in the fold. It would also allow him to work on another project before starting on Star Wars: Episode IX. But for what it is worth, I only heard his name for the second Anthology a few times as well [as a replacement for Josh Trank], within the last week and that seems a bit beneath him after doing both Avengers films.
Interestingly enough, Whedon recently did state he has interest in directing a Star Wars film as he told IGN:
Right now I’d be interested in a long nap! But are you kidding? It’s Star Wars! It’s always going to be Star Wars!
I rule out nothing. But I think it would not be my choice. You have two enormously strong, very textured universes. To say we have just the one would be to in some way dilute them. I think it makes sense to keep them in their own time, which I believe was long ago and not so close by.
Whedon also told Collider he wouldn’t want to use the characters or storylines from the original Trilogy, but something new, which more than likely with Star Wars: Episode IX being the last in the new Trilogy would feature:
You know, I wouldn’t go back, I’d go forward. I would want to create characters that would resonate the way that they did. I mean not that I don’t want to see [the new movies], I would be excited to, but I also feel like I would want to explore a very different part of that universe.