With the massively successful release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens today, I have decided rather than spoil everything and talk about the movie, I would give you a post full of what may come next in the Star Wars universe regarding the very promising spin offs that have been confirmed and what we'd like to see. Now obviously we have Episode VII, and we will for sure get episodes VIII and IX. But in addition to these Disney has confirmed three spin off films in addition to the new trilogy. They have even given one of the spin offs a name. So lets talk about that.
Now you may be wondering, "Star Wars doesn't count as comics! Why are you writing about it on a comic book nerd blog?" There are Star Wars comics, and the majority of them are really good, so all this is still relevant, and I needed something topical for this week.
A Note Regarding Continuity:
So the Star Wars continuity has become a little complicated in order to make it a lot more simpler. When the original trilogy was released it wasn't long before the expanded universe began. The expanded universe is a large collection of books, comics and video games telling more stories and detailing the background of the Star Wars Universe. As it continued to grow Star Wars become exponentially more popular. However, the expanded universe is often mocked for containing too much backstory, (For instance, you can find a character bio on Wookiepedia.com for almost any alien in the Cantina scene from A New Hope). In order for Disney to wipe the slate clean they branded all the books and comics as "Legends", meaning that they are just stories, not actual canon.
So what is canon nowadays? The stories that are officially considered canon and will be recognized in the movies are:
The prequel trilogy (despite how awful it is).
The Clone Wars TV Series.
The Rebels TV Series
and of course, The Original trilogy.
There have been some comics that have been made since they cut down the canon but all you really need to remember are the big movies. Now, on to the actual spin offs.
Rogue One:
Star Wars: Rogue One is the only officially announced Star Wars spin off at the moment. It chronicles the adventure of an X-wing fighter squadron called Rogue One. Their mission is to steal the plans to the Death Star in order for the Rebel Alliance to destroy it. It is set before A New Hope and will be released in December of 2016. This is promising because it's set alternately to the original trilogy and may give us a good look some old faces, (*cough cough, Darth Vader). Disney has also confirmed that there are two other spin offs that have not been announced, but they will show one between Episode VIII and IX and one after. So let's speculate what these other spin offs should be about.
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| Official Promotional Photo of Rogue One. |
There have been rumors floating around about this, and I'm one hundred percent on board. Just imagine this, Obi Wan Kenobi has "killed" Anakin, he is in hiding, the Jedi order is disbanded and he's forced to live in hiding until Luke is ready to become a Jedi. We see a fairly stark contrast between Episode III Obi Wan Kenobi and the Ben Kenobi of Episode IV. He goes from a very disciplined and focused warrior to a grizzled old man who will cut your arm off when he's had enough of your crap. I want to see that transformation. I want to see what years of isolation and solo adventuring would be like for him. We could see a re-return of Darth Maul and how Obi Wan has to deal with that. Maybe he searches for other Jedi. Or maybe he literally just farms moisture on Tatooine. Regardless, I want to see it. Ewan Mcgregor has even expressed interest in reprising the role.
Boba Fett Solo Movie:
There have been rumors and I think this one is as good as confirmed. Here's why a Boba Fett movie would be cool. In the expanded universe Boba Fett is like the Batman of the Star Wars Universe. He's got a gadget for everything, a flamethrower, a sweet jetpack that he actually can control, and some really great stories revolving around him. But since everything but the movies have been retconned, he is actually just an idiotic Stormtrooper who was given a jetpack. And what would you expect a Stormtrooper to do if you gave him a jetpack? Fall into a Sarlacc pit because he didn't know how to work it. Lets see what led him from a rage filled boy who's father was decapitated to a bounty hunter who for some reason, hasn't ended up like all the other clones and knows how to aim. Lets see him either crawl out of that Sarlacc pit, or somebody else fishes his armor out of it and takes up the mantle. Do the character some justice.
Han and Lando:
There has been lots of speculation and interest towards a Han Solo film. It would most likely tell the story of him growing up, becoming a smuggler, doing something that makes Chewbacca owe him a life dept and obtaining the Millennium Falcoln from Lando. Or maybe just make a Han Solo/Lando Calrissian buddy movie. How great would that be? The Adventures of Han and Lando, with intermittent flashbacks to their childhoods. Is this a good idea? I don't know, there just so much potential for anything.
Darth Vader and the Empire:
There is a particularly good comic book called Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison. It tells of Darth Vader and his quest to save a mortally wounded Emperor Palpatine. In his plight to save him he will seek out the Ghost Prison in order to save him. This is just one story that is very promising but a movie focused around Vader and the Empire would be really cool to see. Maybe a Force Unleashed movie rendition, (The Force Unleashed being a video game about Darth Vader's secret Sith apprentice). I think there is some good material here and it isn't based in the unnecessarily convoluted prequel trilogy.
In conclusion, there are a lot of ideas to go with and honestly, I'm fine if we keep getting Star Wars movies forever. Here's how it works, if a garbage Star Wars movie is made, it will only increase the fandom's love for the originals, but if there is a new addition that is good, then hooray for everyone. But really in the end.....it's all just to sell more toys.
As a lifelong reader of the sadly shunned Expanded Universe I only have a couple things to add.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the thing that made the EU so great was the "Holocron Continuity Database," created in the early 2000s and run almost exclusively by one person, Leland Chee, this was a database that monitored all the officially licensed stories in the entire lucasfilm archive. If you wanted to write a story or create a game that got the official Lucas Licencing stamp you had to make sure your characters, settings and even technological descriptions matched those already stored in the Holocron. It was an incredible tool that allowed dozens of authors to write in the same universe while keeping Continuity with each other.
Also, the EU clarified so much of what the movies tried to convey. Film as a medium is a very quick way to convey the basic gist of the plot, but it leaves so much lacking in the mechanics of the "lore" it is trying to create. Authors like Timothy Zahn and Micheal A Stackpole were able to fill in the gaps that the movies created, explore the true nature of the force and what it really meant to the people in their books. The loss of the EU as a canon source is pretty devastating to several of us, but I fully understand Disney's decision to not want to licence their franchise back from dozens of authors and decide to go in their own direction. With any luck these splinter movies can perhaps explore some of these concepts that the main story cannot.
As always, excellent post. I will be citing your information in discussions with others.