GAZE INTO THE FACE OF SEVERE MULLET LEIA!
I’m sure that look will replace her ‘slave’ variant at Comicon soon enough. Either way, it seems that even the most casual Star Wars knows that there are already a number of stories designed to be the (unofficial/non-canonical) future of the Star Wars universe, from Dark Empire to Legacy and back. (Of course, since they are living ‘long, long ago in ‘a blah blah blah fishcakes, we ARE the future of Star Wars.) Even so, there have been a number of attempts to chronicle what happens after the Battle of Endor and the death of Emperor Platypus. Most have been somewhat hampered by slavish devotion to either continuity or the Skywalker bloodline, but some of them have been relatively successful at recapturing the magic inherent in the summer of ’77.
The MS-QOTD (pronounced “Shee-Zoar”) is also known for the Flinstone Flop, but never lets the beat…
…DRRRRROP, asking: Should Disney use one of the several already-existing storyline futures of Star Wars to relaunch the proposed Episodes VII, VIII and IX? If so, which one would work best?
12 Comments
Yes. And for me it’s a personal reason, I have a couple of friends who are HUGE Star Wars fans, got just about all the books and what not. If they were to stray from those, oh boy, I’d have to hear it for years!
For me, I guess I’d like to see the Dark Empire stories used. Loved that Dark Horse comic!
The Thrawn Trilogy. Of an of the extended universe stories, this is far and away the one that most captures the feel of the original. Many of the rest are appropriate as well, but this is the only one that would feel right as a continuation of Return as well as the one that would feel the most wrong if it were stricken from continuity.
I always thought the Thrawn series to be Episodes 7-9. That being said, I do not NEED the new star wars movies to have the same characters. It definately doesn’t need the same actors. I somehow doubt Timothy Zahn will be a part of the new movies. I think Lucas had his notes and they will not be very simular with what is already portrayed in the EU.
I think the vilification of Jar Jar Binks and The Ewoks by fans mus be followed up on with the big villains of Star Warses 7 – 9 being Darth Bikus of Jar and his apprentice Darth Whutwhut of Endor.
It depends on how far after Jedi they want to take things. I have read about 30+ Star Wars novels and there are two ideas I like. If they want to begin like 5-10 years after Jedi I would say the Thrawn trilogy. If they wanted to focus l 15-25 years after Jedi, the Legacy of the Force series is really good and casting wise would work better. The Legacy series focuses much more on the kids of Han, Leia and Luke as some become leaders in the Jedi order and others turn to the dark side. This could give them the opportunity to create new hero’s and villains in the Star Wars universe.
Ultimately its not going to matter though because Lucas has already said they will be creating entirely new stories for the movies. It is rumored that originally that Lucas had planned 12 movies anyways.
For a TV show I always thought the X-Wing books would make a great series.
My personal preference is that the expanded universe not be invalidated, but the new trilogy be original stories that take place after Fate of the Jedi.
The only Star Wars books that proved to be worth the paper they were printed on were the ones penned by Timothy Zahn. Most of the others were little better than Mary Sue fanfics. I am reminded of one of the very early Star Trek novels, where the author turned vulcan mind melds into a form of sexual intimacy and strongly implied that the reason Spock and Kirk mind melded so often was because they had the hots for each other. I forget the title, thank God, but it just goes to show that the creators or owners of such popular products need to keep a tighter reign on things.
You’re obviously looking at the wrong books, or in the wrong kind of bookstore. The Star Wars EU is a LOT tighter reigned than the Star Trek books. What happens in one affects what happens in any others, and every book has not only a lot of control by Lucasfilm, but they even got quit a bit of input from Lucas himself (such as not allowing any more Wookiee Jedi, having them kill off certain characters, etc). Lucas didn’t read every book, but he did keep more control over the setting than most other novels that spin out of a franchise.
I do agree with Star Trek novels having some problems (they lack cohesion and contradict themselves all the times), though I still enjoyed a few of them (mostly those revolving around Q or The Mirror Universe).
Also, have you read the Outbound Flight novel by Zahn from a few years ago? If you liked his Thrawn trilogy, then I highly recommend it.
100% new stuff. Jettison whatever doesn’t fit.
If they must adapt a previously written story, the Thrawn trilogy is a pretty good fit.
However, I would prefer they slip between the cracks and build a new story somewhere in the timeline the EU has established. The first trilogy chronologically was about Anakin, the second was about his son, so why not have the third continue that pattern and be about a future Skywalker? Maybe Ben (Luke and Mara’s son) or even his kid? There is a lot of free space between Ben’s life and the Legacies timeline with Cade Skywalker, so I say they build something new there, somewhere about 75 – 100 years ABY.
Tie the final movie up the way Lucas once mentioned, too, by having the whole story being told to some kids by R2-D2 and C-3PO.
I’d rather they go in an entirely new direction (simply so I can get a new story) but if they use an existing storyline, I agree with the Thrawn trilogy as the one that would work best.
I agree about the Thrawn series… if this happened twenty years ago. They’ll have to come up with something new. The classic characters would have to be grandparents of any new characters. Maybe Leia is part of the senate and Luke is the master of the new Jedi order or something, but otherwise it would have to be new just because of how much time has passed.