Speculation If this is Episode VII-IX - it MUST feature the old cast

I'm chilled out but I doubt there will be to much backlash at the older characters if they have smaller roles just like Spock did in the Star Trek prequel in 2009 .

Just got an email from Lucas. The title of this thread moved him so much that he immediately called up Mark, Carrie and Harrison. They're all onboard.

Never underestimate a Star Wars fan's capacity for complaining. But if you are content with small cameos then why are you so adamant about the time period? There are other ways to get cameos into a movie than to set it in real time relative to the last one.

Okay, I know I'm really late to this party, but I pretty much totally agree with the original post. Yes, I know that some science fiction has jumped in eras. However, Star Wars isn't even science fiction, it's mythology or fantasy which in the sci-fi subgenre is called Space Opera. One of the reasons we love it so much is because so much happens to our favorite characters. And there is such a large cast really that almost everyone can find someone or something about it to relate to and enjoy.

So my point is this: For argument's sake let us say that the ST takes place about 45 years after ROTJ and the Big 3 don't appear in the movies. Instead we get some convoluted exposition about what happened to them. Would anyone like and/or enjoy that? Especially when they could have been in the ST and the producers and director could have shown us what happened? Personally I'd feel cheated if Episode 7 premiered and I learned that Han Solo died a few years ago in one of the biggest battles of the civil war, but he died a hero when he saved 1000 lives from suicidal Mandalorians etc.... I would want to see that.

As for the term "must" I've kind of used it to. When talking about things that make SW Star Wars, the nuances, there are things that must happen for it to be cohesive and enjoyable. You can look through that thread for examples but they include the opening "A long time ago . . .", John Williams theme music, the opening crawl, the droids, and a
Skywalker protagonist. And IMHO the Big 3 need to have some role -- if even not featured -- in order to pass the torch as has been spoken of ad infinitum.

I'm sure Disney and LFL probably have a team of accountants/math gurus who could calculate the probabilities of success with the ST. I imagine they created a formula that looked sosmething like this:

PROBABLY OF SUCCESS/PROFIT FROM ST

1- Without any of the Big 3 = .15

2- With Carrie Fisher alone = .25

3- With Harrison Ford alone = .25

4- With Mark Hamill alone = .25

5- With combination of 2 = .50

6- With all 3 = 100%

I'm not even joking. I bet someone actually created a pie chart or something guesstimating Disney's chances of success under the aforementioned scenarios and the answer is obvious.

Totally agree.

Sorry Echo, but I have to disagree with you on this one. Personally, I wouldn't need an explanation as to what happened to the OT characters. You can always read the books if you want to know that stuff. And if you aren't interested in the books then their story has already been complete for 30 years, so why worry about it now? If it was set long enough after the OT for everyone to be dead, then we can just assume that they all lived happily ever after and died of natural causes. And on top of that, Luke can always appear as a ghost to pass the torch anyway. I also disagree with your probabilities there. At the very least, I'd give Hamill an edge over Harrison, simply because Han is ultimately pretty useless in story terms (no offense old buddy) and having him alone in the movie just wouldn't make sense.

Not worth arguing anymore. Your destined to lose when logic is thrown at the window. Here is to hoping we just get some really good films, and being thankful that creative and open minded people are behind making it happen.

Well that was an embarrassing auto-correct from my phone Humorous reply though. Any reason why I suddenly cannot edit my posts?

Yeah, but then we join another trilogy with conflict but we're to assume that the OT characters lived happily ever after, which renders a ST pointless. Highly unlikely.If more evnts happen to the Big 3 then I want to see it on film not in some book. An explosion, a fight, a fight, a battle is never as good on paper as it is in a movie.

I totally agree with you on the luke probability thing. I was just making an example though. I'm sure all the probabilities would be quite diffe rent, just illustrating a point.

I think it's more like:

1) Without any of Big Three = 90%
2) With Harrison only = 90%
3) With Carrie only = 90%
4) With Mark only = 90%
5) With all three = 90%

Really? Having the original characters wouldn't help 1 percent?

Nope. Change all the stats to 99%.

The ST will be successful with or without the Big Three, the 1% chance representing the combined possibilities of the absurd, like Walt Disney showing up and insulting Jews or the world ending ten days from now.

So people are now using the maths to explain why the Big 3 (ugh who came up with this stupid ass name?) must come back?

With out the big 3 = Epic fail & the stupidist decision in the history of film $ 300 million worldwide = $ 200 million loss for Disney

With Mark Hamill alone = An ok profit & still a dumb decsision $ 600 million world wide = $ 50 million profit for Disney

With either Carrie Fisher or Harrison for on their own = A medium loss & a very dumb decsision $ 450 million world wide = $75 million loss for Disney

With the Big 3 intact = A huge profit for Disney & an excellent decsision $ 1.8 billion world wide = $ 900 million dollars profit for Disney

Care to pass along lottery numbers while you are looking in that crystal ball?

This is a trainwreck. A really hilariously awesome trainwreck, but a trainwreck none the less.

The Big Three must come back - Yak Face, Ice Cream Maker Guy & Nien Nunb.

I thought it was Larry, Curly, and Groucho?

It don't get no bigger!