The Star Wars Director Who Could Bring Samuel L. Jackson's Mace Windu Back

Could Samuel L. Jackson return as his seemingly-dead-but-maybe-not-really-dead Jedi Master Mace Windu in a future "Star Wars" project? Well, anything could happen but will it happen? That's the better question. For years, Jackson has been absolutely insistent that Mace Windu survived "Revenge of the Sith," despite the fact that he was seemingly killed by Palpatine. What's more, Jackson has expressed a strong desire to reprise his role. Now it seems Bryce Dallas Howard has at least explored the idea of doing something with this long standing idea.

On a recent episode of the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, Howard touched on the idea of possibly directing a "Star Wars" movie. Howard has directed episodes of "The Mandalorian," "The Book of Boba Fett," and "Skeleton Crew," with her name often coming up online as someone who should helm an upcoming movie in a galaxy far, far away. "I would always say yes," Howard said when pressed about whether or not she's spoken with the brass at Lucasfilm about such a thing.

Speaking further about her directing career more generally, Howard said that "Sam Jackson has been incredibly supportive of me, and has told me many times that he would act in something that I directed." That's when things got interesting. Howard revealed that she actually spoke with Lucasfilm Chief Creative Office Dave Filoni about Mace Windu's official status within the franchise.

"And then I went straight to Dave Filoni, and I was like, 'So let's just talk about Mace Windu and where he is. Can we just talk about this? Because is he dead? Is he?'"

To be crystal clear, at this moment in time nothing is in development. Howard was very emphatic during the interview that she couldn't speak about anything that may or may not be happening in the future. We also don't know what Filoni had to say about Windu. Just because Jackson thinks he's alive, doesn't mean that he actually is. Even so, it's a fun idea to explore.

For what it's worth, Mace Windu has returned in comics and novels in recent years, such as the "Star Wars: Jedi Knights" series from Marvel. If he truly did survive Palpatine's attack and Order 66, what has Windu been up to for all of these years? Why haven't we seen him during any other relevant events in the galaxy? These are questions that could be worth exploring.

Having directed arguably the best episode of "The Book of Boba Fett" and some great episodes of "The Mandalorian," Howard has proven herself more than capable of handling a Mace Windu story. Still, she maintained an air of humbleness about the idea during the interview. The actress and filmmaker revealed that she visited director Jon Favreau on the set of next year's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" movie:

"Honestly, it's how many Star Wars features are there, right? I'm excited to see 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' with Jon Favreau. I got to visit [the] set. It's awesome. It's gonna be fantastic ... People dream of winning Oscars and directing Star Wars movies. It's a little bit like that."

"What I would say is that I'm still learning and that I've loved everything that I've gotten to do with Lucasfilm and if I ever get a chance to do more, they know that I would do it," Howard added.

Most of the "Star Wars" movies in development do indeed have directors. Coming in 2027, "Star Wars: Starfighter" is being directed by Shawn Levy and will star Ryan Gosling. Filoni is also directing a movie that will tie together all of the movies in the "Mandalorian" universe. But who's to say that Lucasfilm couldn't put something new together? Maybe as a one-off special on Disney+ like what Marvel did with "Werewolf by Night?" Stranger things have happened. Your move, Lucasfilm.