The Future of Star Wars - Opinion
I'm a Star Wars kid. Growing up in the 90s and early 2000s how couldn't I be? We all had our thing as kids. Some people had dolls or action figures, others loved cartoons. Mine was ALWAYS Star Wars. I played with little figurines and set them up in imaginary battles in my head, and even gathered up multiple Lego sets that immediately after building I would take apart and make into my own Star Wars creations. Long story short, I love Star Wars. So with that in mind I doubt it would surprise anyone that I would do an opinion piece on this major part of my young life.
With The Last Jedi recently having just hit theaters two weeks ago, this seems like the perfect time to have the discussion of where this franchise will go after Episode IX. There's been tons of rumors about what is to come, and while some of them seem to be coming to fruition, others haven't really been proven one way or the other. Today, I'll present some of these rumors and possibilites, and a few of my own. Let's start with something that I have been championing since Disney bought Lucasfilm: The Old Republic.
For those uninitiated, the Old Republic era is a period of time far before the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War. In this time there was many more Jedi and Sith, and a constantly raging war. This period of time has been explored in the past but since the re-launch of Star Wars canon it has been rarely touched. In an earlier version of this article, I was sold on the idea of Rian Johnson's new trilogy focusing on this era, but I have since moved away from this thought. While I have moved away from Rian Johnson taking over this era in the lore of Star Wars, I still believe this is something that Lucasfilm will decide to explore in the near future. With the emphasis coming that stories will move away from the Skywalker saga post Episode IX, there's nothing farther away from them than the Old Republic. If I were to see a way for this to work the best, I imagine it working as a premium budget TV series like Game of Thrones involving the competing Sith Lords and the war with the Republic.
If we were to continue staying away from the story of the Skywalkers, I believe we could see the time of post Episode IX being handled outside of the saga films. With the story of The Last Jedi, the door is open for this world to finally be explored with more depth. In my ideal world for Star Wars films I believe that there will be a significant break in the saga films after Episode IX, and leaving a large period of time to explore an untapped era would be fantastic. If decades are skipped between trilogies, using that decade of time to fulfill stories after Rey's would be great. I firmly believe that Rian Johnson's new trilogy will work along with the Star Wars Story films. Rian wants to introduce the galaxy to new characters, and nothing would be better than looking at the newest time in the galxay from far far away.
Finally, fans of Star Wars know that the time of the Skywalker saga is filled with rich lore to continue exploring. As can be seen with the first two Story films Solo and Rogue One, Disney likes to enhance the stories of known characters. There are multiple rumors that I believe could be explored through either story films, or potential future TV series. A heavily rumored idea for a film is that of Yoda's origin. While I at one point believed this would be a great idea, I have moved away from the idea simply due to the fact that I have grown to enjoy the mystery of Yoda's past. If this were to be done, it would most likely come in a Story film. Secondly another heavily rumored Story idea is that of the origins of Palpatine. Seeing the growth of Sheev as he comes from a wealthy family and works with Plagueis would be fantastic and allow for a much darker story in this universe. The final fixture of this grouping is the Boba Fett arc. I believe that Lucasfilm originally intended for this to be an upcoming film but that was replaced by the heavily rumored and essentially confirmed Kenobi film. Moving forward I believe Lucasfilm would be crazy not to explore the criminal underbelly of this galaxy even more. Whether that means Boba is the central character or it is based on a completely new character, I could see this working as an excellent TV series as well.
As I've said multiple times, the Star Wars universe is filled with lore that is ripe to be explored. While I don't know specifically what Disney and Lucasfilm are interested in using, I believe that the ideas presented above are some of those at the top of their lists. Episode IX will also allow a means to establish a future for this franchise outside of just simply closing out the current story. I sincerely hope that they choose to spread their wings with more stories away from the usual struggle of Dark vs. Light, as stories that build the world will make it more enjoyable for everyone.
