Yeah, this seems abundantly clear. I think KK was holding off on any announcements to gauge the reception to TRoS. If it is well received and people want more of these characters, then the next slate would probably be non-saga sequels. However if this thing tanks, which yikes it looks like it very well might, then they probably want to go for a heavier overhaul. It's possible they would still do the former and just want to hold off to avoid spoiling fates of characters, but that seems less likely in prospect. But hey, it's only Saturday so who knows.
They had the original cast this time, now they would have to introduce only new characters as leads and not even use Rey/Finn/Poe to make the bridge if the actors aren't all back.
I think Disney will say screw it, we give up on what we started, we're jumping forward in time with a whole new story and cast built from the ground up to get the Avengers/Marvel-like approach in place with no strings attached.
In that case, I expect them to heavily rely on past characters and story that they could put on the posters/in the trailers to draw people in. They need stuff people will be able to point at and say "I know that!" to put their butts in the seats:
1- C3PO and R2 still present, C3PO being lore-keeper of sorts with R2 his helper.
2- Baby Yoda all grown up, to have another Yoda jedi master in place
3- BB8 still around, since a droid is always a useful bag of tricks, might always go with this one
4- Old grandpa Chewbacca still there, but his kids take his place, might even speak like humans except when speaking to the old wookie
5- Jedi Temple built over Lars' farm where the two light sabers were buried. The two light sabers probably used by the male and female leads, sort of the excaliburs of this story.
6- Millenium falcon still around
7- Some kind of white and black armored enemy soldiers, Tie-Fighter-like spaceships, etc.
Basically, anything they can latch onto without needing the current actors, they will.
I will also say:
They should have brought back Palps as a force ghost trying to come back into the world who was pulling the strings behind the scenes and not physically manifest. It also didn't need the stakes of the big space battle at the end. There were decent ideas in this movie, this just wasn't pulling it off well enough.
I think having Hux and his supporters being led to a dark power in an attempt to retake control of the FO from Kylo and ending up reviving Palpatine accidentally (his spirit taking over Hux) would have allowed for a much more satisfying story. Should have been how the movie started.
