Official Info Confirmed. Disney To Release Additional Films Based On ‘Star Wars’ Characters

My impression, especially from a business stand-point, especially a business like Disney, that is very concerned with the longevity of it's franchises, that all of the recent abrupt cancellations and suspension of projects is for one main reason: so they can sort out the best way, for the fans, and for their share-holders, to see the resolutions to open-ended plot developments. This would be logical mainly keeping The Clone Wars in mind. I love TCW series, but if they were to stay on course, and went to say, Eight Seasons, many of the plot-lines and story-arcs could have been entirely resolved within TCW leading into Episode III, which was probably the original plan. Now Disney/Lucasfilm can:

1.) Do a spin off-movie for any number of unresolved story arcs of TCW, such as:
a. What happens with Darth Maul?
b. What happens with Boba Fett?
c. Does Captain Rex participate in Order 66, or does he defect in some way?
d. What are the fates of Cad Bane, Hondo, Ventress?
e. The big one is Ahsoka, which they can now reasonably do whatever they wish with her in the timeline.

2.) They could create a new TV series, CGI Animated OR Live action, which is set in a different time period, and yet re-introduce characters from TCW to show what happened to them, mixed in with all new characters, EU characters and movie characters, to further intertwine the different time periods of SW, and bring the disparate fan-bases of each time period back together.

3.) Or they could always do some direct to home video releases, stand-alone CGI Movies that tie up the loose ends of TCW.

I for one would love to see McGregor reprise his role as Obi-wan, during his exile on Tatooine period. It could be great with glimpses of Vader, never making contact with Obi-wan of course, it could easily involve Boba Fett and Darth Maul. It wouldn't be the first time a Sith Lord kept another apprentice in the shadows that his main apprentice did not notice. Maul's legs were made to look more natural by the end of TCW, and like any other cybernetic appendages in the SW universe, could be hidden under his clothes, with only damage in a battle to one of his legs to remind us (or for people that never followed his return in TCW, TELL us) that his legs are artificial. They needn't be some hideous CGI eyesores. Either way, now that Lucas made it canon that Maul is still alive between Episode II and III, the fans need some kind of closure to Darth Maul as a character, why not in a spin-off film? And what if there was no real closure even in the spin off film? Then Maul himself, could end up in the sequel trilogy as well. As could Ahsoka Tano.

I'm making the point, that if I were Kennedy and Iger, I would want to focus on ways to continue as many characters into the future as possible, not kill characters off because preconceived notions of these characters' fates says they need to die by such and such period. I do not advocate bringing back to life characters that are obviously dead. They MUST NOT bring back Vader or Sidious, for example.

As long as the spin-off films are done well, whether live action or animated, I'd go see them.

 

TCW isn't that important for them. Sure, I'd like to see what happens to Ahsoka too, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Maybe we'll get a follow-up animation show in the Dark Times, but movies ... ?

 

I'd say finding compelling ways to tie all the different demographics of fans together is important to them, therefore they will do anything and everything to extend the longevity of the characters that matter the most to each key age group of fans. It would be foolish to abandon ANY major character of the SW universe, especially Ahsoka. I'm certain that when Lucas and Filoni decided on Ahsoka's fate being to leave the Jedi Order, and vanish, it was with the Disney acquisition in mind, which Filoni was probably made privy to in confidence. Why disenfranchise all of your young female fans (especially small demographic compared to number of young male fans) by killing off Ahsoka? Better to leave her fate open ended, and let Kennedy's Lucasfilm and Disney decide what she does in the future SW timeline. Same concept with Darth Maul, Cad Bane, Hondo, etc. Why have TCW tie everything up when you know you're about to sell to Disney, when you can leave it all open ended for them to do whatever they want with?

At the very least, I'm sure there will be many spin-off movies over the decades, many direct-to-video features, a few TV series and at least Episodes VII-IX and then later X-XIII. Think about Disney, and how long they keep characters and franchises going. Did they ever "need" to make a Pocahontas II or a Cinderella II? Disney is a company with the "long view" in mind. They will be making new Star Wars movies long after we are dead and buried, my friend, or at least as long as they endure as a Company and the Earth keeps spinning on its axis.

 

I forgot about the straight to dvd movies. Yes, Ahsoka could certainly star in one of those.

But including her into a mainstream movie would be too much of a hassle, imo. In the PT there is no mention that Anakin had a Padawan. If you suddenly claim he has one, a lot of questions would arise. People might reject the idea out of hand like some SW fans already do.

So yes, I'm mostly agreeing with what you are saying. Ahsoka is an interesting character and how she reacts to the new regime/her masters turn could be very interesting too. It's a gold mine for drama. But I still don't think she will feature in any big project, only in smaller ones.

 

I do find it very interesting that Ashley Eckstein mentioned at least three times, in the latest ForceCast interview with her, how Ahsoka had started to transition into a "teacher and mentor" character. A Wise Old Teacher angle would be the best role for her in the sequel trilogy, because by then she would be old enough to be similar to Yoda's relative age, and no other role would suit such an old character. I think a new Dark Times Era series, with Ahsoka becoming a sort of leader and mentor to a group of rag-tag refugee Jedi, would further cement her in that role. They could come up with plenty of explanations for how Ahsoka and her group of refugees stayed hidden from Vader and Sidious, they could tie it into an Obi-wan movie, having Ahsoka and Obi-wan make some agreement that she will stay away from the the Core systems. Later, by means of some holocron Obi-wan left for him, Luke could find Ahsoka and the remnants of her group, on some planet far flung in the Outer Rim that we've never even heard of.

Now, why this would be a good idea:

1). It would show that one of the most "unlikely" of padawans would end up becoming the last and wisest Jedi that could help Luke understand the Old Jedi Order, what worked and what did not.
2.) It would be redemptive for Ahsoka, who may have turned her back on the Jedi Code for all those years, rejoin the Order to help in it's rebirth.
3.) It would help further prove that Anakin did indeed bring balance to the force, including through his only Jedi padawan.
4.) They could do a live action spin-off, or even a very adult styled CGI animated spin-off, which takes place IMMEDIATELY before ROTJ, in which a middle aged Ahsoka IS tracked down by Darth Vader, and he attempts to turn her to the Dark Side, and have her as his secret apprentice, in case Luke would not join him. When Ahsoka learns it's really Anakin, the drama is high, and they duel ... but something mysterious happens, Vader commands her to never show her face again, lest he will certainly kill her. The first chinks in the armor of "Darth Vader" are made exposing some sliver of Anakin, which further sets up his ability to break free of the Dark Side in ROTJ, save his son, the galaxy and destroy Sidious.
5.) Keeping Ahsoka around, even as and old wise teacher in the ST, will help tie all of the supposedly "separate" segments of canon together, in the long run, this further strengthens the fan-base.
6.) It gives a compelling reason for people that did not watch TCW, to go back and do so. (I.E.- More iTunes and Box Set sales).

7.) The most important reason: to show that there can be an old Jedi master that is FEMALE and to inspire women of all ages that it's never too late to affect events and those around you for the better. Ahsoka's fanbase will age with her. If the average Ahsoka fan was 8-10 years old in 2008-2009, by the time Episode VII, VIII and IX are released, those fans will be 14-18 years old, and many of them female. This is not even mentioning the adult fans, of course.

There is so much potential, for so many good stories, that I am very optimistic that something similar to what I suggest will take place and for very similar reasons.

 

I got no problems with them entertaining fans with extended universe films. Though I might not know them all I'd think that EU would mostly make introductory films. I don't think Disney would assume we already know the characters. If the EU has any truly remarkable characters I'm totally open to that. I assume that the new films might have brand new characters. We've been talking about films of already existing characters. But has any one begun to consider all the new and fun characters that might appear in the next films? I'm open to new stories and interesting characters. I'm not a big EU reader but I'm open to expand my universe.

 

The chances of Ahsoka appearing in the ST are approximately 3720 to 1.

 

Never tell me the odds!

 

Ashoka will forever be exclusive to TCW. (excepting possible EU novels, comics, and video games). She'll never be in a future Star Wars movie. I'll eat my pants if she does. You can hold me to it. Same with Darth Maul. As far as Disney is concerned, he died in Episode 1. Or at the very least, before episode 3. And that's how it should be.

 

How do you know how Disney regards the fate of Darth Maul for instance? Like it or not, TCW is G canon, which as we all know, supersedes the EU. Ahsoka is more canonical than any EU stuff. So is Darth Maul's return in TCW. We obviously don't agree, based upon your last sentence, that's okay. We'll see.

 

If there's a ragtag group, only Ahsoka should be a Jedi imo. Too many force users on one place = Darth Vader will find and slaughter you. Anyway, we already sort of have the group.
Ventress, Ahsoka, Lux Bonteri, Rex

I'd also rather have 'soka die sometime during Dark Times because otherwise the "last hope" angle with Luke doesn't really work. Plus in the ST we already have a mentor character named Luke Skywalker and to a lesser degree Han or Leia. Don't think we need more of those.

What I like to see like you do is some back and forth conversion attempts between Vader and her. I don't think he would want to kill her, she'd be a useful ally and he also cares for her, wants her to embrace the "stronger side of the force". Then she dies in one last heroic standoff instead of embracing corruption, just like Luke did on TESB.

 

I could see it all happening the way you just laid it out, as well. I could see her and Ventress teaming up with those others. That would make two Force users in the group, but they could conceal their Force abilities enough, most likely. It never occurred to me that Rex might stay with them. As I said, I feel that there are too many possibilities for good stories to just kill her (or Ventress) off right away.

I could see Ahsoka heroically going out in the Dark times, but I was thinking ahead when I mentioned her being useful in the ST as a mentor character.

Example: What if it's not Luke that discovers her whereabouts, and instead, when all hope seems lost for the inevitable new young protagonist/s, they seek her out. That would not only "rhyme" with ESB and Luke finding Yoda on Dagobah, but it would also alleviate the necessity to have Hamill in more of the trilogy than Episode VII (assuming he doesn't want to be in more or in case they have Luke die some hero's death, rhyming with Obi-wan's death in ANH?)

I'm just throwing ideas out here, to show that there can be good things that come out of the lack of resolution in TCW various story arcs and characters, that may very well fit into spin-off movies and the ST in the future. I like your ideas too.

 

Some nice theories here on Ahsoka and very well thought out ways of implementing her into the bigger SW picture, but I just can't see her breaking out of TCW, not onto the big screen at least anyway! I wish I could say I was annoyed by this - but her name is becoming as overused as a certain Fett's as of late

Don't get me wrong, she's a nice character - but really, giving her a presence post-TCW seems a little... unnecessary. But hey, maybe I'm biased 'cause there's only room in my heart for one Togruta, and that is of course Shaak Ti

 

*BAHHHHH!!! BAH BAH BAH BAH!!! DUM-DAAAHHHH-DAHHHHH!!*
(Insert tie-fighters exploding against asteroids and stuff)

See? There's a spin-off movie right there. Ejected Tie Fighter Pilot spends 90 minutes floating in the Hoth asteroid belt, hoping that somebody will come pick up him if it's within the Empire's budget. Very philosophical, very dark, open-ended ending for potential franchise spin-off trilogy.

 

I'm all for an Obi-Wan/Maul movie set during the Dark Times. Bring Ewan back as Obi-Wan, bring Joel Edgerton back as Owen Lars (he is a pretty well known actor now, thanks to stuff like The Great Gatsby) and of course bring Ray Park back as Darth Maul. I could see it working really well if they shot it like a Western. I'm thinking True Grit or 3:10 to Yuma.

 

fixed

 

Adapting the "X-wing Alliance" game into a movie or two would be great. As much as I'd love an adapation of Rogue Squadron books, though I think focusing on 'newer characters' to general audiences vs having to hire a new actor to play Wedge might be the wiser move here. Plus benificially by avoiding the EU mistake of reusing the same 50 characters endlessly it gives the writes more freedom and expands the universe rather than contracting it to a select few who never die, and Star Wars needs a good death or two every movie (which was part of the failing of the PT knowing whod make it before hand)

While the most classic Star Wars space dogfighting sim imho is Tie Fighter, X-wing Alliance had the best plot and characters (though the two overlap, so Id have no problem some crossover). Plus it was rather dark, with most of the Azzameen family not surviving the game and there was plenty of betrayal too. Best part being getting to expand upon the space battle at Endor for the final act, I mean who doesnt want more Admiral Ackbar one liners (Dash Rendar was also in the game)

 

I think Rouge Squadron would be perfect for a TV show.

 

Here are a couple of spinoffs I could see happening
1. Obi-Wan/Maul - Ties up TCW loose end and sounds like a great way to expand on the characters, I think it has a lot of potential
2. Boba Fett - Getting trained by Cad Bane would be freaking awesome
3. Han/Chewy/Lando - Explores some of what is going on in the wider galaxy, the aftermath of the Clone Wars, and of course how Han got the Falcon
I think these are the most likely candidates, all would be cool films

 

I'm inclined to agree. I still don't think Maul would pop up in an Obi-Wan spin-off, though.

 

Except Obi-Wan chopped Maul's lower half off, and Maul assasinated Kenobi's girlfriend, so they are archnemesises.

 

Hey, as long as we get to see more Star Wars, I really don't care