Welcome to the latest installment in Star Wars Speculation, a series of blog posts where I talk all things Star Wars! Today's post doesn't really deal with speculation whatsoever, but rather just my thoughts on characters or events in the Star Wars galaxy deserving of a spin-off film. For those that don't know, Lucasfilm has branded all their spin-off films as "Star Wars Stories," and I suspect the trend will continue based on the Solo: A Star Wars Story title announcement last week. However, a Han Solo origin film isn't exactly something the Star Wars fanbase has been craving... I am certainly open to the idea, but it wasn't something I was deeply desiring to see in cinemas. So therefore, I'm going to basically be laying out my opinion as to what I feel does or doesn't deserve a feature length film.
Star Wars Stories I'd Rather Not See
What I personally don't want to see Lucasfilm do is to green-light spin-off movies revolving around literally every iconic Star Wars character. The reason being is that I think there needs to be a story to tell at the core of each of these spin-offs. I'm not interested in learning how the Hutts became crimelords... Actually, I take that back... Do it in the style of The Godfather, and that would be interesting to watch at the very least. I don't need a young Leia or young Luke film because I'm not currently interested in seeing any other actors portray those characters, but I'm not opposed to cameo appearances in other Star Wars Stories (provided they occur naturally). Anyways, my point is that I don't think every unexplained detail in the Star Wars galaxy needs a full film surrounding it. We don't need to learn where Yoda came from. I don't need to know a drawn-out explanation as to why that one stormtrooper hit his head on a door. There's an entire galaxy to explore, so why not explore it and expand the universe?
Star Wars Stories Worth Telling
I think the ideas that warrant the Star Wars Story treatment should be along the same lines as Rogue One, a story that adds subtext to the Star Wars universe. They don't all have to be about existing ideas or characters, but nearly all of my suggestions will be just that, considering this isn't a pitch. So here they are in no particular order...
1. Kenobi: A Star Wars Story- At first glance, this suggestion probably seems to contradict everything I just spoke of. However, the fan demand for this is insurmountable and recent additions to the Star Wars canon have proven that Obi Wan wasn't just chilling on Tatooine in the time between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope. He was protecting Luke while continuing his training to become a force ghost once he died. I think an Obi Wan Kenobi movie set on Tatooine in the style of a Western would be utterly fascinating. The idea of a character-focused story about a man who was forced into hiding because his religion and entire way of life was destroyed by his own pupil seems like a no-brainer in regards to offering material for a great film. Think Logan, but with Obi Wan instead. My one condition is that they bring back Ewan McGregor to reprise the role, otherwise I'm not interested.
2. Bounty Hunters: A Star Wars Story- This title would obviously need some work, but the core ideas would revolve around a team of bounty hunters working together to complete a bounty. It could really be any combination of bounty hunters since there are so many in the universe, but I think seeing Bossk, Boba Fett, Embo, and Cad Bane working together could be interesting (the last two are characters from Star Wars: The Clone Wars for those unfamiliar). Something along the same lines as The Magnificent Seven or a well-executed riff on the premise of Suicide Squad.
3. Thrawn: A Star Wars Story- Grand Admiral Thrawn is quite honestly one of the most interesting antagonists in the Star Wars universe. He's been used to great effect in the animated series Star Wars Rebels and his own novel Thrawn as he demonstrated his resourcefulness and untraditional strategic reasoning to be defining traits. He's cold, calculating, and ruthless in obtaining his goals. I'd love to see him portrayed in live action somewhere down the line.
4. The Knights of Ren: A Star Wars Story- This one was an answer provided by J.J. Abrams himself in an interview when asked what he'd like to see receive a spin-off. It would revolve around the Knights of Ren, the group Kylo Ren leads who are shown in Rey's force vision inThe Force Awakens. I'm primarily interested in the idea for the time being because we still know so little about what happened after Return Of The Jedi. I'm so intrigued in learning what happened during that gap, and I feel like seeing Snoke seduce Ben Solo to the Dark Side would be immensely interesting. On top of that, we could perhaps learn more about the formation of the Knights of Ren and what they are exactly. However, it's quite possible that we'll get a taste of this in The Last Jedi and/or Episode IX.
5. Vader: A Star Wars Story- The Darth Vader scene from Rogue One was quite literally one of the coolest things I'd ever seen in my twenty years on this Earth. He was incredibly imposing as he cut through Rebel scum with relative ease. Could you imagine an entire movie like that? Just picture a "monster movie" through the lens of Rebel soldiers where Vader is the "monster" or vice-versa where we see Vader's escapades entirely through his eyes, similar to his canon comic book series that really flesh his inner conflict remarkably well.
6. Plagueis: A Star Wars Story- We currently only have one canon reference to Darth Plagueis in Palpatine's "Tragedy of Darth Plagueis" monologue, now that Lucasfilm has purged the stories of old. I'd just like to learn more about the guy, that's all.
8. Something completely new- As I said earlier, there's a whole galaxy to explore. Lucasfilm should take advantage of that and introduce new characters and new worlds completely unrelated to the rest of the universe.
Well, that's all I have for this post. It's much shorter than my last two, but as I've said, this series will change drastically from week-to-week. I'm also starting to lean towards posting these on Wednesdays, so expect one each Wednesday for the foreseeable future!
-And, as always, may the force be with you!
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