The Future Of Star Wars
With the recent purchase of the Star Wars franchise and Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, there has been much speculation and announcements as to what will happen now with the franchise and as to what characters will reappear in the new trilogy or which will star in their own movie. Here are some ideas that I have as to what will happen and what should happen.
Video Games: The bounty hunter-themed game Star Wars 1313 will be released next year as planned for the PS3 and Xbox 360. It looks great and is rumored to incorporate elements from the shelved TV show that George Lucas tried to produce. As to what future games Lucasarts should tackle, many fans keep waiting for Star Wars: Battlefront 3 which has not been made yet. Maybe under new ownership this game will finally see the light of day. One series I would love to see revived is Rogue Squadron. The last game in that series was Rogue Squadron III for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003. Flying Star Wars starfighters in scenes from the movies was thrilling and definitely should be revisited.
Toys & Comics: Expect to see more and more toys to be produced by Hasbro. Right now that Angry Birds Star Wars mashup is the rage, but that will change as soon as the next movie nears completion. Personally, I hope the classic characters won't be forgotten in favor of the new ones. But expect a deeper hole in your wallet!
It was announced that long-time publisher of Star Wars comics Dark Horse Comics will lose their license of the property at the end of 2013. Marvel Comics (owned by Disney) will get the rights beginning next year and is expected to produce Star Wars comics around 2015. Who knows how good these will be? But the old Marvel Star Wars comics from the '70s and '80s are beloved by some fans.
Disney Parks: Right now the recently updated Star Tours is in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, FL and Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. I would not be surprised to see more rides and experiences like this one expanding to more of Disney’s parks (aside from the updated Star Tours premiering next year in Tokyo Disneyland).
Why not use the same ride system in Soarin' where riders are elevated over a huge film and recreate the attack on the Death Star? Perhaps even a whole section of a park can be devoted to Star Wars. This is something I would like to see happen. Or even an entire Star Wars-themed park, with each section named after the different planets of the saga. Instead of Main Street USA, how about Coruscant Central? Having lunch at the Mos Eisley Cantina, or visiting the Jedi Temple all seem like really neat experiences and would absolutely be a big hit with tourists and fans. There are rumors on Disney fan sites that an expanded Star Wars-themed land will be built in Disney's Hollywood Studios and one or both of the California parks. There is even speculation that the expansion in Disney's Animal Kingdom that was to be built for an Avatar section will instead be dedicated to the wildlife seen in Star Wars films. That would be cool.
TV Shows: The popular Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series is in its fifth season. A sixth season is in the works, and will air on the Disney XD channel instead of the Cartoon Network. Hopefully the long-delayed, live-action show will get a green light with Disney’s backing and dollars. The TV network ABC, which is owned by Disney, recently announced they wanted to further develop the shelved live-action series that Lucas tried to produce. It was abandoned because it was supposedly too expensive, but with Disney's money, hopefully something can come of it. Something else I would like to see is another CGI animated series like The Clone Wars, but one that takes place during the original trilogy, perhaps between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. It could detail the Galactic Civil War and seems to be a ripe area for interesting Star Wars stories.
The Movies: The most obvious thing that will happen now is a new trilogy of films starting in 2015 (Episodes VII, VIII and IX). it will be a new story line created by George Lucas and written by Michael Arndt. Some fans wanted the Thrawn trilogy of books (written by Timothy Zahn) to be made into films but it seems the new Star Wars movies will be about the Skywalker clan taking place long after Return Of The Jedi. Lucas has said in the past that any sequels would be about this and it seems this will come to pass as it should.
On a side note, the trio of stars from the original trilogy Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher have recently stated that they would be interested in appearing in the new films. If that will happen or if they will even reprise their famous roles remains to be seen. According to the website Latino Review.com, Harrison Ford has supposedly agreed to reprise his Han Solo role. Meanwhile, it was recently reported on ET Online.com that Mark Hamill is in negotiations to return to his role of Luke Skywalker. The only one missing from the triad is Carrie Fisher, but that will most probably change soon.
Aside from the new trilogy, it was announced that some characters will get their own films apart from the trilogy. One interesting idea I heard about years ago after Revenge Of The Sith was released was a movie that takes place hundreds of years before A New Hope with a young Yoda at the center. Apparently, this rumor had merit because a film about Yoda will be made. Hopefully it will focus on his younger days hundreds of years before the two trilogies, perhaps similar to the Knights Of The Old Republic series of comic books and games. Seeing him in his youthful prime, perhaps like Luke Skywalker was in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back should be a treat and fun to watch.
It was also announced that Han Solo will also be getting his own Star Wars standalone movie. It will probably focus on his younger days and maybe show how he got his ship the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian. Perhaps the movie will show how he met up with Chewbacca, as well as his early run ins with Jabba the Hutt and the Empire. This sounds like an interesting film and could be based on the series of novels that focused on this time period. Those include A.C. Crispin’s Han Solo trilogy and the first Han Solo books written in the late ’70s/early ’80s by Brian Daley.
Boba Fett will also be starring in a Star Wars standalone film. I think it should take place after Return Of the Jedi and show how he survived falling into the sarlaac pit. This would alleviate many upset fans that were unhappy to see their favorite bounty hunter so carelessly killed off. One possibility is it could flashback to his early days after Attack Of The Clones and show how he became such a feared bounty hunter.
I am hoping that Darth Maul gets his own film as well and it could show he became such a ferocious fighter and sith lord. Maybe the story of the novel Shadow Hunter where he takes down the Black Sun crime syndicate could be used. His early interactions with Darth Sidious would be interesting to see.
The droids R2-D2 and C3PO could have their own film as well, as there is a precedence with the Droids animated series. Seeing how they managed to survive from Revenge Of The Sith to A New Hope could have them going across the galaxy and interacting with all sorts of characters from this era could be neat.
Finally, another no brainer is a Star Wars standalone film for fan favorite Jar Jar Binks–just kidding!
Regardless of what happens, having Star Wars under the Disney umbrella does present several new opportunities for the franchise. Hopefully whoever makes the decisions will do right by Star Wars and not dilute the brand or over saturate it. Either way, this is a very interesting and exciting time for Star Wars fans.
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