Here's what Disney's new CEO means for the future of Star Wars. Earlier this week, Bob Iger (who was Disney CEO since 2005) stepped down from his position, effective immediately. Disney Parks chairman Bob Chapek was named Iger's successor, inheriting the most powerful studio in Hollywood today. During Iger's tenure, Disney amassed a massive media empire consisting of several popular subsidiaries including Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. It's become commonplace for the Mouse House to release $1 billion blockbusters (they had seven in 2019 alone), meaning the pressure will be on Chapek to keep things rolling at a high level.

Under Iger's watch, Disney relaunched the Star Wars franchise, beginning with The Force Awakens in 2015. That film was an unqualified success, earning positive reviews and grossing $2 billion at the worldwide box office. However, in the past handful of years, Star Wars has experienced its fair share of ups and downs. Spinoff movie Solo: A Star Wars Story was the property's first box office bomb, and this past December's The Rise of Skywalker has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any live-action Star Wars film (though, it also grossed $1 billion). Even Iger admits Disney rushed out new Star Wars content too quickly, which is one of the reasons why there won't be a new Star Wars movie in theaters until December 2022.

Whereas Marvel has their entire Phase 4 lineup planned (starting with Black Widow this May), there still remain several questions about what's next for Star Wars. Fans know The Mandalorian season 2 premieres this fall, but other Disney+ shows revolving around Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi are undergoing rewrites before production. On the film side, details about the upcoming Star Wars movies remain under lock and key, so it'll be interesting to see how the franchise evolves during Chapek's tenure.

Related: What Disney's New CEO Means for Marvel's Future

Bob Iger Is Still Running Disney's Creative Endeavors

Bob Iger Star Wars Movies Future

It's important to note that even though Iger is no longer Disney's CEO, he's still very much involved with the studio. He's serving as Disney's Executive Chairman on their board of directors until his contract expires in 2021. This'll keep Iger around to help with the transition to Chapek (ensuring it's as seamless as possible) and means Iger will still be calling the shots creatively at the company for the next couple of years. So, any new Star Wars projects that gets officially announced between now and December 2021 (like the new movie from J.D. Dillard) will be approved under Iger.

Everyone at Disney knows how important Star Wars is to the studio. That especially goes for Chapek, who saw Disneyland and Disney World add the Galaxy's Edge attractions when he was Disney Parks chairman. Still, it's only good news for Lucasfilm Iger is still there running the show for a little while longer. Nobody was going to let the lucrative Star Wars property sit on the shelf and collect dust, but Iger was instrumental in acquiring Lucasfilm back in 2012. Because of that connection, he's likely going to make sure Star Wars is set up to have a fruitful run long after he's gone. The Lucasfilm purchase was one of the landmark occasions of Iger's tenure, so he won't want that corner of the Disney empire to go to waste.

Related: How Bob Iger Saved Disney: Everything He Did As CEO

Lucasfilm Could Change In 2021

Iger isn't the only high-profile member of the Disney family whose contract is up in 2021. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy's deal expires that year, too. Handpicked by George Lucas to run Lucasfilm when he sold to Disney in 2021, Kennedy's tenure as studio president has been mixed. While she has overseen four $1 billion tentpoles and the launch of a hit live-action TV show, Lucasfilm has made plenty of unwanted headlines over the years for their numerous disputes with creatives. Just about every Star Wars movie under Kennedy encountered behind-the-scenes issues (amusingly, The Last Jedi is the only one that got through production without any snags) and now the Disney+ series are experiencing their own headaches. Production on Obi-Wan is delayed as the show goes through rewrites, and the Rogue One prequel was nearly cancelled before Tony Gilroy came in to save the day (again).

Kennedy is one of the most successful producers in Hollywood history with an extensive résumé that speaks for itself, but there's no denying Lucasfilm's had some major problems with her in charge (the Lord & Miller situation on Solo is unprecedented in today's industry). Depending on how things go the next couple of years, Chapek may want someone else to run Lucasfilm, hopefully avoiding any of the complications that have plagued Kennedy's term. To be fair, it is standard business practice for directors to have "creative differences" with massive franchises from time to time, but it's happening at an alarming rate as far as Star Wars is concerned. Some believe there are directors who won't want to work with Lucasfilm because of the firings, which isn't a great reputation to have. As Disney transitions from one CEO to another, it might be time for Lucasfilm to go through something similar and institute new leadership at the top.

Related: Star Wars: High Republic Can Correct Original Trilogy Mistakes

Star Wars' Future Is Currently In Publishing and Streaming

Star Wars Disney Plus TV Shows

While the Star Wars films are on hiatus, the franchise is staying active in other mediums. This week, Lucasfilm finally unveiled details about their mysterious Project Luminous, announcing the High Republic publishing line. The initiative consists of novels and comics set 200 years before The Phantom Menace, depicting the Republic and Jedi Order at their peak. It's already been confirmed no movies or TV shows will overlap with the High Republic books, giving the authors plenty of creative freedom to craft their stories. And as mentioned earlier, Lucasfilm also has multiple Star Wars TV shows in the works for Disney+. These will be the main attraction for the property as fans wait for the movies to resume.

With the High Republic already on its way (the first wave of books debut this August) and the Disney+ shows in various stages of development, Chapek doesn't have a whole lot to do in terms of Star Wars' immediate future. That should make things a little easier for him, as it's one less thing to worry about. There's still a little bit of time remaining until the Star Wars movies come back in full force, giving Chapek and company an opportunity to iron things out. An argument can be made the Star Wars films need to get their mojo back. Solo was a commercial disappointment (leading to Lucasfilm pulling the plug on other anthologies) and The Rise of Skywalker was the lowest-grossing film of the sequel trilogy. Iger will help get the ball rolling on the next Star Wars movie slate, but it'll be up to Chapek to make sure the galaxy far, far away remains a dominant force in pop culture. Lucasfilm is reportedly working on a variety of big screen projects, so Chapek may have some tough calls to make.

More: Star Wars' High Republic Is Bad News For An Old Republic Movie