So, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you probably heard the news that shook the geek world to its very core yesterday. If not, here’s the recap: Disney has bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion dollars, and in even bigger news, has announced Star Wars Episode VII for release in 2015, the start of a whole new trilogy. More to the point, the start of what will be several new trilogies. A few days ago, Star Wars was something that (outside of cartoons and comics) was over and done with, a series of films sitting comfortably on my shelf, and in my heart. (Well, most of them were in my heart) But whatever they were, they were definitely finished. Now, Star Wars will conceivably go one for the rest of my natural life. Gotta say…I didn’t see that comin’, at least not so soon. I was fully expecting ol’ George to be dead before this ever happened, to be honest. Certainly every time the rumor of more Star Wars movies surfaced in the last couple years, Lucas has emphatically denied that there would ever be any new Star Wars movies ever again. If Lucas hadn’t been a filmmaker, he could have been a politician.
George Lucas’ life has oddly paralleled that of his character Anakin Skywalker; both started out as brilliant rebels against a corrupt system, gaining fame and notoriety in the process. Then both became the heads of their own Empires, becoming the very thing they hated the most. Lucas has even publicly acknowledged this irony in interviews he has given in the past few years. But much like Anakin Skywalker, it seems Lucas has learned the point of his own story. He knows what is best for Star Wars now is just to let it go.
If there was any point to the story of the prequels trilogy (and underneath the midi-chlorians and the gungans and the wooden acting, I think there was) it was that possessiveness and the refusal to let go are the path to the dark side; it seems George Lucas has, towards the end of his life, learned that lesson, and finally let Star Wars go. Hopefully, he has let it go to younger filmmakers who arguably love his saga even more than he does. But speaking of younger filmmakers, just who will the Mouse get to do this?
Who Will Disney Get To Write And Direct?
That’s the real question isn’t it? Geekscape’s very own Shawn Madden had some quality suggestions. Whoever they get, they will have to be a name director, someone fans can trust…this isn’t Tron Legacy, where they can get some guy who made his name making commercials and just hope for the best. After all, this isn’t just any movie franchise, this is THE movie franchise. To put it bluntly, Disney can’t afford to fuck this one up. Same goes for the screenwriter. I know they are said to be working off Lucas’ original outline for Episodes VII to IX, but they need to make sure we get a real high quality screenwriter on this one so we don’t get any Lucasy bad dialogue. Oh, and speaking of Lucas’ original outline for the sequel trilogy they are said to be using as a jumping off point, this just proves that Lucas is as big a flip flopper as Mitt Romney; years ago he mentioned a proposed outline for Episodes VII to IX, then in interviews after the release of Revenge of the Sith he said there were never any story ideas for a sequel trilogy. Now, he’s back to having story treatments for all three movies again. Seriously George, run for some kind of public office, you’d be a natural.
Space Them Out
Although the announcement says that starting in 2015 there will be a new Star Wars installment “every two to three years” I really hope Disney pays attention to how the original (as well as prequel) movies were released, and keep to the every three years schedule. Now that you’ve got the golden goose Disney, don’t abuse it by releasing too many, too fast. If you put too much product out, you risk over-saturation of the brand, and you get what happen to the Star Trek franchise in the late 90’s. There was a sixteen year gap between Jedi and Phantom Menace, and we saw that long waits between sagas did nothing to quench the thirst for new Star Wars. Keep to the every three years schedule, and for the love of Chewie, keep a distance of at least five to six years or so between trilogies. Play this one smart, not greedy.
What Will The Story Even Be About?
At the end of Return of the Jedi, the Sith are vanquished and the Galactic Empire defeated. The entire six episode saga is about the rise, fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker, as he fulfills his ultimate destiny and destroys the Sith by killing the Emperor (and himself) in the process. But who could rival Darth Vader and the Emperor as the central villains? Even in episodes I, II and III, Palpatine was the real baddie behind it all. If the Sith somehow return, doesn’t that negate the whole point of the previous films? I mean, the wars have to continue in some form (I mean, Wars is kind of in the title) But who the good guys will be fighting against is the real mystery. Unlike with episodes I-III, there are no real hints from Lucas about what the future installments could be about for fans to chew on for the next few years. All he has ever mentioned over the years are some very vague comments about “Luke passing down the lightsaber” and that is about it.
Which Classic Characters Will Return?
I can say with some certainty that Mark Hamill will probably return as Luke Skywalker, now as a wise old Jedi in the Obi-Wan Kenobi mold. Also certain to return are the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, and probably Chewbacca as well. As for who won’t be back, I think it is fair to say that Han Solo is out of the picture now. Do we really wanna see old fart Harrison Ford back in that black vest again at 75 years of age? I know I sure as hell don’t. I mean, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was bad enough. I have a hard time thinking of a role for an old Han in any Star Wars stories set even just a few decades past Jedi. And I’d bet Carrie Fisher is just as off the table for a return as Princess Leia, although she could have a role as Supreme Chancellor of the New Republic or something. But frankly, I’d rather remember Han and Leia as they were. I really think that Luke is the only human character from the classic films who should make a return.
Fan made art depicting what an Obi-Wan like “Old Luke” could look like.
Will Episodes VII-IX Negate The Expanded Universe? Or Be Inspired By It?
Over the past twenty odd years, the events after Return of the Jedi have been chronicled to death in dozens and dozens of novels, comic books and video games. Although written by many different authors over the past two decades, Lucasfilm has (for the most part) kept this “Expanded Universe” continuity tight between all the various media, resulting in a post Episode VI timeline that covers the marriage of Han and Leia, the birth of their children and their subsequent training as Jedi Knights, and even in some cases their deaths. If I’m not mistaken, the last Star Wars novel with the original characters went up to something like forty years past the events of Return of the Jedi.
But a new movie series set after Jedi could take all these stories fans have invested in over the years and chuck them out the window. But there are a lot of fans of this stuff out there, and to start this new trilogy by saying that all those stories millions of fans have invested in “just didn’t happen” might not be the best way for Disney to start this new relationship with the hard core Star Wars audience. Not only that, but by doing so, it sends the message that the books and comics don’t really matter. If the fans think they don’t count, they’ll be less inclined to buy new books and comics in the future. And I can promise that selling less product is not what Disney wants.
This is just a small fraction of what is known as the “Expanded Universe” of Star Wars novels and comics. Will Episodes VII through IX just ignore all of these?
So what to do? My suggestion is the “have your cake and eat it too” scenario. Have the new trilogy take place not just decades, but maybe even centuries after Return of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker could still be there, as a wise old Jedi Master. We know Yoda was so powerful with the Force he lived hundreds of years, why couldn’t the same be said for Luke? This way, we can skip over all that Expanded Universe stuff that deals with the immediate decades after Return of the Jedi, but not really negate any of it either. They could probably even find some ways to incorporate certain EU stuff into the movies as Easter eggs.
Speaking Of The Expanded Universe, What About The Comics?
Yesterday will probably go down as “Black Tuesday” at the offices of Dark Horse Comics. Dark Horse has been the home of Star Wars comics for over twenty years now, but probably not for a whole lot longer. In fact, Star Wars comics have been what has kept the company afloat in tough times. But as soon as their current contract with Lucasfilm ends, you can be sure Star Wars will go to Disney-owned rival Marvel Comics. There is a certain poetic symmetry to that, as Marvel was Star Wars‘ original comic book home back during the 1970’s. Similarly, you can expect Clone Wars (or whatever future Star Wars animated shows) to leave Time-Warner owned Cartoon Network and go to Disney XD. For both comics and toons, it is only a matter of time for everything to converge at the House of Mouse.
Star Wars will soon likely return to it’s original home in comics at Marvel.
What About Future Box Sets? Can They Even Happen Now?
Even though physical media is on the wane, there is still one set of Blu-rays that people will always want on their shelves, and that’s the Star Wars Saga. With Episodes XII-IX and all future installments coming from Disney now, a complete saga set might prove difficult. Twentieth Century Fox still has the release rights to all six existing Star Wars films until the year 2020. Now, that’s not such a big deal, as by 2021 this new trilogy will be done and then Disney could release a big complete saga box set free and clear.
But there is one tiny little obstacle. Because Fox owns the rights to A New Hope in perpetuity, meaning for there to be any complete series set, a deal will have to be struck with Disney to allow for its inclusion. But this could be all be a good thing, and here is why: In all likelihood, Fox will take a very fat check from Disney and release A New Hope to them, as long as they can release the original theatrical version as a stand alone release, making fanboys all over the world happy. This way, everybody gets what they want. Well, except for fans who want to hear Lapti Nek in Jabba’s Palace again, and not see Hayden Christiansen at the end of Return of the Jedi. You guys might still be screwed.
And here I thought last year’s box set would be the last time I had to buy a “Complete Saga” collection. I really should have known better.
Oh Yeah…And What About Indy??
The best news about the acquisition of Lucasfilm might be for Indiana Jones. I’ve thought for years now that Indiana Jones should be like James Bond, with younger actors taking on the whip and fedora for a series of films, and then turning them over to another new actor after a period of time. Indy should always be in his twenties or thirties, fighting off Nazis during the 1930’s and 40’s, and looking for fortune and glory. Even though the announcement today said that Disney isn’t looking at Indiana Jones as a property right now, don’t expect that attitude to last. Expect a newly rebooted Dr. Jones within the next five years or so. I should add that I think this should be for all NEW adventures for Indiana Jones….anyone who event attempts to remake Raiders of the Lost Ark should be flogged out in public.
So for now, these are this geek’s biggest questions and concerns about the future of Star Wars and a certain intrepid archaeologist. Of course, fandom is just starting to speculate on what this all could mean. All I know is that I’d love to go back in time and tell the 9 year old version of me that in one summer coming up soon, I’d have an Avengers movie, a Justice League movie and a sequel to Return of the Jedi coming out within weeks of each other. Man, I sure hope those Mayans were wrong about 2012, or I’m gonna be pissed off.