Speculation Do not assume anything...

It seems that most of the discussion around here these days is mostly operating on the assumption that Episode VII will be set in a time period not too far removed from the OT, and that the Big Three will be returning. I've been guilty of it myself, but we must remember that it's really only guesswork right now. What do we actually have to go on? Mark Hamill said he and Carrie Fisher talked to George Lucas in the summer about there being more movies. Carrie confirmed that she would be in it but then her representative said she was joking. An unnamed source at EW said Harrison Ford was open to it, but there was no indication that he had even been approached. I'm thinking we may be reading far too much into all of this.

Remember that Nerdvana blog which stated that a connection at Lucasfilm said a writer and director had already been chosen? What if that was true? They announced that Michael Arndt was writing just after it was leaked by The Hollywood Reporter. What if they were planning on announcing the writer and director together along with some kind of other information about the movies at a planned juncture... say December 31? When that same person was asked if the ST would be set 50 years or more after ROTJ, they said, "Think further out".

So here's my theory. What if after a 10 year gap between I and II, and a 20 year gap between III and IV, there's a much longer gap between VI and VII... like a hundred years or more? Completely new time period, completely new characters (with the exception of Artoo and Threepio, and maybe some other character(s) if they have a long enough life span). The Republic has been at peace for a long time, and we really get to see the legacy of the characters and events of the previous films. Then maybe at some crucial juncture Luke and Leia appear in cameos as Force ghosts to offer their descendents guidance. We would still be dealing with the theme of passing the torch, only not quite as literally as we thought... or maybe more so, depending on your point of view. This way it's a blank slate, they don't have to use or overwrite the EU, and a couple of old faces show up briefly and make the fans smile. Then everybody's happy, as long as they haven't let their imaginations get the best of them already.

Totally possible, and I might even really like that. But, I admit I'm kinda getting my hopes up about seeing the Big 3 again.

OK, but what about that makes this "Episode 7", as opposed to one of the spinoffs that Lucasfilm is also planning? The mere fact that it takes place after ROTJ doesn't strike me as sufficient.

Because it still continues the same storyline and deals with the same themes, only further in the future than we expected and with new characters, at least one or more of which are directly descended from the Skywalker family. It actually starts to make a lot of sense the more you think about it.

Well that would blow much of the discussion here out of the water, my own ideas included. I was thinking that we've been waiting 30 years to see Luke as a bad*** Jedi Master and that we would get our wish for that much at least. Even if the ST does take place a century (or more) out from the OT, we still might get to see Luke as a Jedi Master--just in force ghost form. Over the years scuttlebutt had it that one of the possible forms the ST would take would be a story centuries down the line, so if this does turn out to be the case it won't be that much of a surprise.

For my part, if it is going to be Episode VII and be a part of the Skywalker saga, I'd like to have Luke appear in it playing the Yoda role as the wise older sage to the young protagonist(s). I think we've all been waiting for this for so long that once news of the ST broke it was difficult (for me at least) not to see the ST this way. But I think the way that GL sees his SW universe is different than how any one of us see it, so he'll do whatever he wants to do with it. In my mind it doesn't make sense to call these films Episodes VII-IX and not have Luke, Leia, and Han. Whatever the ST looks like, I will adjust to it, I just hope they are great films, even if they are different than what they looked like in my mind's eye.

Episodes I-III didn't have Luke, Leia and Han... why should we expect them in significantly large roles now? Their part of the story was wrapped up pretty well.

I'm not seeing it. It would make far more sense (to me, anyway) to treat any story ideas about events located that far in the future from the existing saga as a spinoff movie, rather than "Episode 7."

But, we'll see We might get some kind of news about the setting on the 31st with the 5th video.

I think having the big three back automatically raises the profile of the film and for that reason they will at least appear in transitional hand off roles.

If it's set long after all the characters we know and love are dead, it would be horribly depressing. It would feel too much like those novels set hundreds of years before or after the movies. Besides, calling it Episode 7 in those circumstances would just feel weird. Even the Prequels had OT characters (Yoda, Chewie, the droids, Obi-Wan, Palpatine, even Luke and Leia as babies).

To be perfectly honest, I'd think George has gone off his rocker. I mean this 'Detours' thing looks bad enough...

That's what I would have thought at first, but it's actually a pretty logical way for the Skywalker Saga to proceed. The Saga contains varying time jumps, and we were already expecting another one. And Lucas was quoted a long time ago as saying the droids would be the only characters to appear in all nine films... there's even a thread about that already. We just seem to be ignoring that fact all of a sudden. I know there have been other ideas thrown around over the years about a cast reunion trilogy as well, but I'm just saying there's still no real reason to make that assumption at this point, and it might be wise not to.

I'm pretty sure Disney wants to play it safe and reunited the big three for at least EpVII. After the sequel trilogy, however, all bets are off.

Maybe. Or they might just find ways to work them all into cameos. Luke and Leia would be easy because they can always appear as Force ghosts. Han would be more difficult, but not impossible. I don't actually think he would be needed anyway. When the news was first announced, most people assumed Harrison would never do it, and they seemed to be ok with it for the most part. Then EW published an anonymous rumor that Harrison was up for it and suddenly everybody was sure it was a Big Three reunion trilogy.

We're not forgetting that fact. The only characters to appear in all 6 movies are Anakin/Vader, Obi-Wan, and C-3PO and R2-D2, and the only other two who are alive in both TPM and ROTJ are Yoda and Palpatine. Anakin/Vader, Palpatine, Obi-Wan, and Yoda die in the OT, leaving only C-3PO and R2-D2. So the only way I can see any of the characters other than R2-D2 and C-3PO appear in all nine films would be if Anakin and/or Obi-Wan would appear as ghosts in all three sequel movies.

Additionally, Lucas and Hamill have also said that Luke would appear in the ST in an Obi-Wan-like role and "hand down the torch" and "pass on what he has learned," and a mere Force ghost cameo appearance doesn't seem to fit here.

We don't have to see the torch literally being passed down directly from one generation to the next as long as we can easily trace the connection, and the results of characters' choices and actions carry over into the next set of films.

Well Obi-Wan was a Force ghost in most of the OT.

That's an apples to oranges comparison. Episode IV was the story of their coming together and coming of age, there is no story which could feature the big 3 before ANH and make any sense. After Episode VI, there is still a story (or stories) to be told, where the big 3 (or at least Luke) could play similar roles (to the new protagonists) in the ST as Yoda and Obi-Wan played (to Luke) in the OT. To your point (in the question you posed to me), the PT would take place centuries before the OT and have little directly to do with the OT, you'd still be wondering how Anakin came to be Darth Vader, what happened to the rest of the Jedi, what happened to the Republic, etc. Just like most of the fans will be wondering how Luke "passed on what he has learned," how the Jedi Order was rebuilt, how the Republic was restored, if Han and Leia got married and had kids, etc. At least that is what makes sense to me, if this doesn't make sense to you, we won't be convincing each other of our respective viewpoints on this subject.


As for the possibility of what the ST will be. I'm not saying what you've said isn't true, nor am I saying that I won't adjust to the reality of the ST if and when what your OP states turns out to be the case. It will, however, be a little disappointing, but as I stated before I will get over such disappointment and love the ST for whatever it turns out to be.

No, it’s called Episode 7. That alone should serve as enough proof that it won't be set 100 years after ROTJ. Lucas said in an interview from the 70s, I believe, that each trilogy would have about a twenty year gap between them. Obviously Episode 7 will be more than twenty years to accommodate the original three's ages, but it won't be much more than 35 years.

Bringing personal taste into it, it would slightly deflate me if it was announced that Episode 7 would be based some ridiculous time-frame after ROTJ. Why call it Episode 7, then? For it to have the title of Episode 7 should mean that themes and characters from Episode 6 would play some sort of role. Just like themes and characters from Episode 3 appeared in Episode 4. A 100 year gap (or more) would just be incredibly jarring and wouldn't really make much sense, IMO.

Not to mention the fact that bringing back the main characters from OT, even for cameo roles, would make the most commercial sense. That’s all that Disney cares about first and foremost.

Just because the ST takes place a century after ROTJ, that doesn't it would have little directly to do with the OT. Remember, this isn't just the next part of the OT, it's the next part of the whole Saga... which could be more epic and time-spanning than we thought. Star Wars is a multi-generational epic saga juxtaposing large-scale galactic events with the personal trials of the Skywalker family. Seeing how the repercussions of those events (both on the large and small scale) echo through time could add an interesting and far more epic quality to the saga as a whole.

But that's exactly what I'm saying. Bring back the main characters from the OT in cameo roles, along with their descendents and the droids in the larger roles, and continue the story and themes of the Saga in a completely new era laid directly on the groundwork that's already been established.

Ludicrous.

Lets assume your right.....oh wait we can't assume anything...catch 22

And why does featuring and continuing the story of the Big Three make it any more of a safe bet than it already is? Yes it will bring in the old school fans, and I'm sure they don't want to turn older fans away, but the target demographic is and will always be children. Why would they care about seeing some old geezers in a flashy action movie? Surely a couple of well-placed cameos, even as Force ghosts, would be irresistible enough for the older crowd to have to take a look for themselves. Most if not all of the long-time fans will see it anyway. Probably more than once, regardless of quality. Make them good movies and they will be happy just to see Luke and Leia again, no matter how much screen time they get.

Very true.......so what if we have the same again. VII-IX may be Solo and Skywalker heirs and their story, this means they must somehow have Luke married and Han and Leia married, both having children, then run with it. Yea it treads on the EU stories, but possible.

Not what I would prefer but it is a way to role everyone in to the films.

Right. Leave the EU alone. Let it exist and be a history that you can fill in or ignore if you want, because the films are set far enough ahead to where they can shape the EU to lead into them without being hampered by having to tie in directly to the current EU stories.

Edit: Double Post