(Hi-does anyone think this picture on top of the blog is too much? I realize that most blogs have a big picture like this, but after having nothing up there for so long, it feels overwhelming!)
Has everyone heard that the standalone films are official now? Right? Yes? Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger confirmed that Disney and LucasFilm will release standalone films that are separate from the trilogy. He said in a statement:
“I can confirm to you today that in fact we are working on a few standalone films, Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are both working on films derived from great Star Wars characters that are not part of the overall saga. We still plan to make Star Wars 7, 8, and 9 roughly over a six-year period of time, starting in 2015. But there are going to be a few other films released in that period, too.”
At first, all I could think about was how he said that the films are going to be “derived from great Star Wars characters that are not part of the overall saga.” My imagination exploded because I took it the wrong way. In my head – every character is part of the overall saga so I assumed that they would go in a completely different direction by making up new characters. We could have spin-offs on characters 1,000 years before the Prequels, smuggler/underworld characters during the saga, even bring to life some of the Clone Wars or EU characters (think Asajj Ventress or Mara Jade).
Around 15 minutes later I realized that they wouldn’t do that – at least, not at first. It doesn’t make sense. If you want people to come to these Star Wars movies, then give them characters they know and want to know more about. By also dropping in the name of Larry Kasdan (Lawrence Kasdan who was involved in ESB and ROTJ) , I think the first standalone movie will focus on a character from the Original Trilogy.
There are tons of rumors out there saying that the first movies will feature Boba Fett or Yoda.
“Finally!” fans on the interverse are saying, “We get to find out more about the most elusive characters like Boba and Yoda.” Unfortunately, I agree. I think the first standalone will feature a prominent character from the saga.
Who would I want to see get their own movie? I tried to look at this in two ways: (1) Realistically and (2) Anything is possible.
Realistically
- Oola/Aayla Secura. More twi’leks please! I love these species and I think men will go as well to see some possible slippage.
- Lando Calrissian. Scoundrel, handsome, dashing. Tries to steal Princess Leia right under Han’s nose. Used to own the Falcon. That could be an awesome movie.
- Darth Maul. Most terrifying looking bad guy, had only a few lines in TPM, awesome lightsaber skills, and dies too soon. TCW has not done him justice. Let’s get a REAL back story here.
- Boba Fett. I’m not as fascinated as others are with him, but I do want to see some underworld/bounty hunter action.
- Bail Organa. This way, you can bring in young Leia and her childhood without focusing purely on her. Also could make some nice West Wing type movie with politics and finding out more about the Rebellion’s roots and foundation.
Anything is Possible
- First Sith/Jedi era. I know this isn’t a person, but obviously they would make up someone to focus on. This is the era referenced when Ki-Adi-Mundi says, “The Sith have been extinct for over a millennium!” So the era that was over 2000 years before TPM – I want to see that!
- Mara Jade. Oh, please…give us fans a bone! Let us see something from the Thrawn books! Even if they don’t want to tread into the novels, at least give her a pre-Luke movie.
- Cad Bane and the underworld. Yup, I still want to see some smuggler/bounty hunter action in the movies. But Cad Bane should be in it.
- Darth Maul. Yes, I also still want to see more of him regardless of which list he’s on.
Notice how Yoda was not on either list. I don’t know; I just am not interested in seeing anymore of him. I feel like he’s had a good run and I want to keep him as is: the best Jedi Master with a shroud of mystery. It’s kind of like when I found out more about Dumbledore’s background – I was like Harry, sad to realize he was only human and that *gasp* other people actually didn’t like him. But…but…he’s Dumbledore! And that’s what would happen if Yoda got a movie. I would be sad and disappointed that Yoda may have dark sides to his past or that not everything is as it seems.
But another thought arose when I was thinking about these standalone movies.
Is it too much?
I never, EVER thought I would say you can have too much of Star Wars. In some ways, I still believe this. But it’s almost an oversaturation as these movies will be released in between the trilogy movies. This could play out really well if it’s done right (which everyone is hoping will be the case) or it could backfire and the hype for the trilogy may die down. This has never been done before with the movies – we always had a Star Wars movie and knew a sequel was on its way. I think it could succeed if they stick with simple standalones that really are just good movies on their own and not too tied into the Skywalker saga or what we know. Don’t create a movie with the possibility of expansion or sequels with the character because then you have two ongoing series at the same time and I think that will cause confusion or just exhaustion from viewers.
Sometimes these standalone movies just reek of desperation/cash grabbing and it’s a little disappointing. I’m trying to keep an open mind but it’s SO HARD when you’re inundated day after day with new Star Wars rumors and I can feel myself just getting tired. Some of me just wants to say, “Hey, give me the real stuff Disney. Just tell me what’s true before I have to sit through 3 days of tweets about rumor that may or may not be real.”
Am I being a spoiled fan? After thinking we’ll never get Star Wars movies again and being petulant about that, now I have what I wished for and instead I’m whining about the possibility that the standalone movies will suck (great word, I know).
Star Wars Anonymous 
I think I’d rather see a Bossk film than a Boba Fett film. No, I’m not joking. And I think I’d rather see a Lando film than a Han film. I don’t see that happening.
I think my big fear is that any standalone films will screw up the canon – not just the EU, but the regular film canon as well. Like what the Wolverine origin film did between the three X-Men movies and the prequel. Maybe its because I spend so much time in my own works meticulously connecting every strand of story so that continuity is maintained that I really get frustrated by continuity errors in other people’s works – especially simple ones like I just saw Xavier paralyzed with hair (but maybe they plan to take care of that in Days of Future Past, since its all about alternate timelines … but I stray).
As a polymath of geek culture, I want more Star Wars .. period. As a realist, I’m skeered.
I like the idea of a Bossk film actually! I really like that. I think I would prefer it over a Boba film as well. I only picked Boba and Lando because it has what I would like to see, but fits in the “realistic” group. They might choose them because they are well known characters, but will it happen? Who knows.
As for continuity – your comment reminded me of how I wrote a super long letter to George Lucas when I was in 6th grade (right after TPM came out). I brought up all these continuity points that I hoped he would touch on in the next two movies. I wrote about anything like Mouse Droids to how the ships in TPM looked way too nice compared to the trilogy. I was seriously wondering if he was going to address these issues. Alas, he didn’t write back of course, but they did send me a copy of the Star Wars Insider (which I got hooked on) and a bunch of other Star Wars goodies.
I also once read an interview with J.K. Rowling and she described how she strolled on a blog once that listed all the continuity errors in her novels. She just kind of shrugged it off and was like, “Oops.”
But I feel you. I definitely try to keep every strand of the story intertwined together with no short strings (bad analogy?). It’s part of how my brain works…it’s too OCD to not have everything come together perfectly. Even when I’m making up a story in my head, I have to make sure that it’s making sense with what I thought of before. For example: if main character gets special powers that do A, B, C and later on I realize that B and C powers seem to cause problems/contradict each other, I can’t just let it slide. Even if it’s a minor flaw, I have to think of a whole new power so there are no gaps.
Will Disney keep the continuity as much as possible? I’m not so sure of that. I hope so, but it’s difficult as Lucas himself has already created problems (Leia remembers her mother in ROTJ, but how is that possible?). Let’s hope for the best, right?
Ok, ramble over!
Oh hey, I was going to throw an idea out here and see if it resonated with anyone. But I’m working on starting an online writing group. It’ll likely be based in a private group on Facebook, where members only will be able share, read, and react to each others work. I’m hoping to keep it pretty flexible just a way for people interested in writing (especially genre fiction) to be accountable to one another while receiving some feedback on their work.
Both of you have made comments about writing on this forum, so if you have any interest in a group like this just let me know! 😀
Hmmm…I’d be pseudo-interested if it wasn’t on facebook. I’m planning on deactivating my facebook profile soon so therefore wouldn’t be able to participate.
And I only have one piece of work that I could really share. I have multiple stories in my head, but nothing written except my Epic Novel. I might be too nervous to do such a thing!
I can’t speak for Epicipseity, but he does use his own WordPress blog for writing his stories, so not sure if he would be interested.
Keep me updated though! I may follow and comment even if I don’t participate.
i understand your reservations. I dragged my feet on using Facebook to host the group, but a couple of friends convinced me they had used it for similar groups with some success…
If you are interested, I hope to kick it off in earnest the first of March. I’m going to be submitting primarily new work to the group, but you can definitely piece out excerpts of your Epic Novel to get some feedback on it if you like. You can look me up on Facebook if you want to join.
My initial reaction to the news was similar to yours. At first glance, its easy to see this as fast road to over saturation, but… as has been mentioned other places on the interwebs, this is basically Disney’s business model for the Marvel movies. And I personally think that is working very well so far. Especially if you consider the cohesive Marvel Cinematic Universe started by Iron Man. Any Spidey films, X-men spin-offs, or Fantastic Four attempts are actually owned by other studios. At this point.
I think the most important factor is that the movies need to feel different enough in tone. Some should focus on force users and others should be more about fun adventures in the Star Wars universe.
As far as characters I would love to see explored on screen: Lando, definitely!
Then I’ve always been a fan of Wedge Antilles, and Rogue Squadron in general could be a lot of fun. A Mara Jade movie would be great, but I’m willing to bet at this point they’ll stick to characters who’ve been at least introduced in the movies. Dash Rendar, if we’re considering far flung possibilities?
(P.S. – I like the header image! If you feel it’s too much, maybe make it a bit narrower?)
I also hold the fear of over-saturation. On the other hand, I think of the many video games and books I’ve experienced. I think we’ll be okay.