The announcement of “Star Wars — Episode VII” and the “long-term plan to release a new ‘Star Wars’ feature film every two to three years,” according to Disney’s Bob Iger, has led to an explosion of speculation among fans across the web.
Honestly, the only major change here is the medium: “Star Wars” has been telling new stories at a regular rate in comics and novels since 1991. It’s been telling TV stories at a steady rate since 2008. Movies, though, are different for three reasons: 1, “Star Wars” began with a movie. 2, Movies are considered in the pop-culture world to be bigger events than TV, books, comics or games. And 3, Because of point No. 2, many “Star Wars” fans are only interested in the six blockbuster movies.
Disney can make movies more quickly and efficiently than Lucasfilm could, meaning “Star Wars” now has a reliable moviemaking arm just as it has an outlet for TV, books and comics. Because of all this, the announcement of new movies has increased the volume and passion of the ongoing fan-talk.
Technically, Iger could’ve been referring to a string of “Episodes” stretching endlessly into the future (coming in 2029: “Star Wars — Episode XV”). However, I and many other fans got the impression that these films will jump around the timeline, maybe telling original stories, maybe doing adaptations, maybe doing live-action, maybe doing animation. The possibilities are endless, so here are my list of six non-episodic “Star Wars” yarns that would play nicely on the big screen.
1. Joe Johnston’s Boba Fett movie — Last year when the director was promoting “Captain America,” an interviewer asked him about his time as a storyboard artist on the original trilogy and he mentioned that he’d love see a Boba Fett movie, and in fact he’d be happy to make one himself. Johnston is a legend in “Star Wars” circles, as anyone involved with the OT is — plus (trivia time), he also wrote one episode of “Droids” — although some fans aren’t crazy about his directorial career, which includes the mediocre “Jurassic Park III.” I think a Boba Fett movie should be an original, stand-alone style piece along the lines of all those Fett one-shot comics. Because he wears a mask, there’s flexibility in casting (although, if it takes place between Episodes III and IV, Daniel Logan should be on board for the voice and any unmasked scenes). There might be some conflict here if the live-action TV series ever gets off the ground: Set between Episodes III and VI, Boba Fett would be a candidate to be a major character. On the other hand, the movie could tie in nicely with the TV project.
2. An adaptation of the Thrawn trilogy — Many fans, ignoring the tidbit that “Episode VII” would be an original story (a fact that was solidified further with the hiring of “Little Miss Sunshine’s” Michael Arndt as the scribe), reacted with something along the lines of “The script for ‘Episode VII’ already exists — it’s called ‘Heir to the Empire!’ ” Timothy Zahn started each book with a Star Destroyer shot, just as the OT did, and it’s easy to imagine Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher delivering his dialogue. What’s not so movie-ish is the complex plot, the number of planets and the sheer time it would take to tell these detailed stories. We saw how they were compressed, in often confusing ways, in the comic adaptation. Still, it could be done. The question then is: Animated or live-action? I’d suggest the latter. Although it means re-casting the heroes, I’m curious to see Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Joruus C’baoth and Talon Karrde come to flesh-and-blood life.
3. Han Solo meeting Chewbacca — I felt like this story hadn’t been told, but a quick check of Wookieepedia allows me to stand corrected: It has been chronicled in Issue No. 2 of the “Chewbacca” comic series, as Han’s rescue of Chewbacca coincides with his permanent break from the Imperial army. This would make a great film adaptation as Han’s conflict provides good fodder for an actor and it would allow Peter Mayhew to play Chewie again (something he can’t do in “Episode VII,” assuming it honors Expanded Universe continuity, where Chewie is dead). Although it initially seems unimaginable that someone else could play Han, I think it could be done. Perry King did a respectable job on the radio dramas and, more recently, LucasArts sound designer David Collins did a great job with the character in the live presentation of the “Smuggler’s Gambit” audio drama at “Star Wars Celebration VI.”
4. “The Clone Wars: The Fate of Ahsoka” — I’m not nearly ready for “The Clone Wars” to end just yet, but eventually it will. Since it started with a movie, it could also end with a movie where Ahsoka is essentially the main character, perhaps dealing with dark side-light side issues in her character arc. Anakin would also factor in heavily; in fact, if Ahsoka dies before “Episode III,” it could play into Anakin’s descent to evil. If her story overlaps with “Episode III” or continues beyond it, that could be even cooler as it employs the “Pulp Fiction” technique of allowing us to see familiar scenes in a new light. Since we’ve already got “The Fate of Ahsoka” as a song and music video, we might as well get it as a movie, too.
5. A movie set in the “Old Republic” era — I don’t have strong feelings on whether this should be an adaptation of an existing story or a brand-new story. I remember opening up “Tales of the Jedi” No. 1 back in 1993 and being amazed at the richness of this ancient world that wasn’t quite the “Star Wars” I was familiar with, yet was still “Star Wars.” It could be done in animated style — certainly, the “Clone Wars’ ” recent Onderon arc got me nostalgic for those “Tales” comics. Or it could be done with live actors. Although the trailer for the “Old Republic” video game was animated, it gave a feel for what a live-action movie might look like — something like “Lord of the Rings” or “Snow White and the Huntsman” and all those other fairy-tale-come-to-life movies that are the recent rage, but with a decidedly “Star Wars” spin.
6. A third Ewok movie — The synergy is just too perfect. Everyone said that “Return of the Jedi” was just a bunch of Muppets. Now “Star Wars” and the Muppets are owned by the same company. And there have only been two Ewok movies made; “Star Wars” stories are best told in trilogies, right? This would also provide an opportunity to give the first two films (currently hard to find on DVD) a proper remastering and re-release, with bonus features, on DVD and Blu-ray. By the way, I’m not joking here (I hate lists like these that devolve into jokes); I have a genuine fondness for the Ewok films. If it’s not your cup of caf, well, that’s the great thing about this exciting new era of “Star Wars” — it sounds like there will be plenty of cool movies to go around.
What are your suggestions for one of those “other” “Star Wars” movies we might see in the years ahead? Share your thoughts below.