Following the revelation that Taika Waititi has no script for a new Star Wars movie and isn’t even sure he may make one, the best Star Wars fans can hope for is perhaps a movie by 2027. One writer looks at possibilities for the franchise to save itself given the lack of new major material on the way.
Star Wars is Dead – So Now What?
For some time now, I’ve been holding out hope that a restoration of the glory days of Star Wars could occur. For much of that time, I’ve also said that the Obi-Wan Kenobi series would be the make-or-break point for Disney Star Wars. Now that the series has concluded, I don’t think that any other conclusion than the death of the franchise is possible.
As a preface to this article, I’d like to lay out the following: I don’t think Obi-Wan Kenobi was as bad as The Book of Boba Fett. I also don’t think that the series ruined the characters of Obi-Wan or Vader. However, the major logic and plot holes of the series asks too much of the audience when it comes to suspending disbelief, and the series did not justify its own existence. It did not satisfy the critics of Obi-Wan and Vader encountering each other prior to Episode IV because Obi-Wan did not offer Anakin a path back to the light – he simply accepted Vader’s assertion that he had killed Anakin.
I think there may be a way to make a fan edit of Obi-Wan Kenobi that would be satisfying, but unless the ending were refilmed, it would be pointless. The series simply rehashed the ending of Revenge of the Sith.
Because this was the critical brick in the Star Wars wall, I believe this series has done far more damage than The Book of Boba Fett did. The damning thing about Disney Star Wars is that it will not have the critical re-evaluation that the prequels did. Prior revivals of Star Wars came because each new generation loved what had been provided to them – and that audience reached critical mass. No such core of supporters exists for the sequel trilogy – only a noisy niche.
Want proof? Look at toy and collectible sales. That’s the true barometer, and where the real money for Star Wars always was. Ten years from now, there will not be fans talking about how Rey or Kylo Ren inspired them. My preference would be for all Star Wars productions to be mothballed – any TV series, movies, animated series, etc. As much as I have enjoyed The Mandalorian, Disney and the core creatives have not shown the requisite care for the property or the characters. At the very least, anything involving Legacy characters should be off-limits. I would prefer that the property lay dormant for ten years – to let the heat and anger die down, to be revived in the future. Unfortunately, since this generations fans have not planted the seed of fandom in fertile ground, waiting that long would likely lead to a permanent death for the franchise. As it stands, Disney have reduced Star Wars from cinematic gold to half-baked TV series – and not even must-see TV.
Star Wars Yoda R2-D2 Empire Strikes Back Collection Kenner Commercial Retro Toys and Cartoonshttps://t.co/BoSUcr8I8K pic.twitter.com/JidTdc3AtX
— Retro Toys and Cartoons (@toys_retro) June 23, 2022
Not all is doom and gloom though – this is the first in a series of articles where I’m going to lay out the case for a restoration. I don’t expect Lucasfilm or Disney to listen – but they would be wise to do so if they ever hope to make Star Wars a viable franchise again.
Restore the Line of Kings
One of the reasons that Star Wars was revived as a property in the 90’s is because the EU was wise enough to carve out several “niches” of history in which they could explore different eras without intruding on the existing media, or future media. One of the most succesful efforts was in the Old Republic era. The first hints of this era came from the Jedi Academy Trilogy, by Kevin J. Anderson. This era was further explored through the Dark Horse Tales of the Jedi comics, and later the Knights of the Old Republic video games and tie-in comics. This may be the single most succesful “outside the movies” era, and I submit that much of this had to do with fleshing out the Sith. Prior to the prequel trilogy, the word “Sith” had not been uttered in any of the movies. It was mentioned in script drafts of the original movies, but began as the “Legions of Lettow” in some of the earlier drafts.
Die-hard fans were aware that Darth Vader and the Emperor were Sith Lords, but prior to this exploration, nobody knew what that meant. The answers that the Tales of the Jedi comics provided at first seemed wholly alien to what we knew of as Star Wars at the time – but as more content was produced, and more history was built – it provided a convenient solution to a storytelling problem: the Sith could technically be almost anything the author needed them to be, so long as they were separated by large gaps in time. Thus, the Sith were originally exiled Jedi who interbred with a Sith species on Korriban, creating extremely force-sensitive individuals in a heavily caste-driven society, who hated the Jedi who had exiled them. They were more like sorcerors than monks, but still had a martial aspect, wielding swords instead of lightsabers.
The Line of Kings descended from Marka Ragnos, to Naga Sadow, Darth Andeddu and more. Uliq Qel-Droma evengtually fell, and joined forced with Exar Kun. Later Sith included Darth Revan and Malak, followed by a Triumvirate of Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Traya. As the Sith rose and fell over and over, their governing philosophies changed – from legions of Sith and Jedi under charismatic rulers, to Sith Triumvirates or dueling brothers (see Knight Errant) or Triumvirates led by a Sith Witch who wanted to kill the Force itself. And finally – to Darth Bane – creator of the Rule of Two. All of this is to say that the Sith weren’t real particular about what a Sith “was” – so long as it involved destroying the Jedi.
What a convenient plot device and backdrop against which to tell stories, and what an interesting method to show how the philosophies of the Jedi changed in response over time!
Do I think it’s likely that Lucasfilm would wholesale import such wide swaths of the EU back into canon? No, probably not. But I also think it’s a mistake to wholly dismiss it. I think too many people forget the context of Kathleen Kennedys infamous quote where she stated, “We don’t have comic books or 800 page novels to draw from like Marvel.” I’m no Kathleen Kennedy apologist, but most people have forgotten when and where she actually said this. At the time, Kennedy was facing a tremendous amount of backlash for The Last Jedi. While Lucasfilm tried to gaslight fans and the public, internally some serious discussions at Lucasfilm were going on. Into this came sudden announcements – that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (of Game of Thrones fame) would be producing a Star Wars Trilogy, and that Kevin Feige was also interested in producing a Star Wars movie. The Feige announcement especially rankled Kennedy; he was at the same management tier within the Disney organization, and a huge fan of the Thrawn Trilogy. Had production ramped up on his intended project at that time, it’s likely he would’ve been far more faithful to the source material than Kennedy would’ve wanted, and she would’ve been shown up immediately.
The quote was a direct swipe at these potential threats – not an actual ignorance of the source material Lucasfilm had at their disposal. With those threats now basically disposed of, Lucasfilm would be wise to mine this material. It allows you to play with Jedi and Sith of all different types and philosophies before either order settled into their current configuations. It also allows you to tell the stories through the haze of history, as more “legend” than fact – “The Qel Droma Epics” would be an interesting miniseries, and would allow you to cast relative unknowns who can be cheaper “gets” than the big-name actors Disney seems to be trying to rely on.
Up next: The Clone Wars…
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