Friday Food for Thought #2

A Wilhelm Scream
Week 1, Month 2, Episode 2

Nooo...

Yes, that was my initial knee-jerk reaction to the announcement that Disney's acquisition of the Star Wars franchise.  Now, after assembling my thoughts I have a different reaction than before, with the assembled talent, George Lucas leaving, and the traditional nature of the Star Wars trilogies I suddenly realized.

This could be truly epic.  There are some things I really, really feel were enormous mistakes in the Expanded Universe that this film could completely overwrite and remove, though I do know that a number of fans will disagree vehemently with me on this.

So… what do we know about Episode VII, VIII, and IX?

• It will be an original story, not an EU book promoted to Canon Status (which is sad because the Thrawn Trilogy would be awesome as a film but probably work better as a miniseries, those stories are long and complicated.)
• It will take place 20 to 30 years after Return of the Jedi, as each trilogy is a generational tale, taking place 20-30 years after the previous trilogy.
• It will focus on the Skywalker and Solo families, as it's a generational series of stories.

20 years post Return of the Jedi? Well I know what's definitely getting kicked to the curb and labeled non-canon.  The New Jedi Order and Legacy stories are almost certainly going to be demolished by this trilogy.  As I stopped reading Star Wars novels after the absolutely terrible stories that were the Swarm books and really cannot stand what happened post that point I must say that I'm celebrating their demise.

However if they want to preserve the most liked part of the Expanded Universe they can.  The Thrawn Trilogy, Duology, and other Zahn works are not on the chopping block so long as a certain redheaded force user is a character in the films.  Plus it also removes two of the most useless character deaths in the series… Chewbacca and Mara's.

That's right, I'm happy because this means that we'll be getting one of the most popular female protagonists of the Star Wars Universe as a character.

Mara Jade Skywalker

If its 20-30 years post Endor and she's not there the fans will revolt.  There is nothing considered more sacred by the fans except the films themselves then the Zahn novels.  While Leia and Han's children could have a viable part in the story, I doubt they'd be essential.

Star Wars is the story of the Skywalker family.  It always has been… which means: can anyone say Ben Skywalker?  Honestly just calling VII "The Son of Skywalker" in my mind gives me a rough idea of how the story could progress… and appeal to a younger audience.

In fact that family dynamic… Mara, Luke, and Ben could carry a lot thanks to the very different backgrounds Luke and Mara have.  Young Ben faced with moral dilemmas with those two as role models would be an awesome starting point for the new trilogy.  What is right? What is wrong?  Zahn nailed it exactly in Survivor's Quest when he described Luke as always giving an enemy an opportunity to surrender or withdraw while Mara engaged to eliminate the threat immediately.

If they go with complex characters, moral dilemmas, and give us a villain worth taking down then this could be awesome. If the films fail, well… it'd probably be the nail in the coffin for the universe in my opinion.