ST Recasting the Heroes

Just for pure discussion.

What's wrong with a recast?

Why are you sure that the original actors are back?

Have we had official confirmation from Lucasfilm, Disney, or Bad Robot
about when the movies take place, and who's in it.

I'm not talking rumors, or old Lucas quotes, or pre script rewrites

Why haven't Disney announced the big three, or four yet?
they've had lots of great opportunities.

 

My guess for the delay in announcing the Big 3 is that they want to have one big giant casting announcement that involves both them and the new cast. It'll save time since they wont have to do announcements for every single new person. Just announce them all at once.
Now I think the OT3 are back but probably not in lead roles despite what the rumors say. Most likely they'll be major supporting for the new leads. Now nothing is wrong with a recast if its absolutely necessary *ducks getting ready for fans to kill me*, but I just think its highly unlikely due to almost every website saying its a done deal. Its hollywood's worst kept secret.

 

1. The timeline of when the ST is being made fits with what Lucas said decades ago about bringing the actors back in their 60's.
2. Lucas and multiple actors have essentially confirmed that they will be in it.
3. If someone changed their mind, and now they're using younger versions of the characters closer to ROTJ, it will create a major incongruity from one movie to the next, which will render the ST pretty much impossible to accept as part of the series for most people.
4. The O3 are too big of a draw for Disney to ignore.

Did I miss anything?

 

I don't see the harm in entertaining this discussion on a "what if" basis. especially since there is one regarding whether Fett is alive or not. What ages are we talking for a recast for the purpose of this discussion?

 

The fact that you can't back up 1 with official evidence.
2. was any of that said after the rewrites.
3. How do you know, that that's not how the pattern for future movies.
4. The characters are important, and they are targeting a new generation of fans, who are not as invested as older fans, in the original actors.
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I'm thinking mid 30s for han
Mid 20s, for Luke, and Leia

 

Hmm. To a dark place this line of thought will carry us. Great care we must take.

 

They won't recast, at least not with the big three. I think they'd write them out of the story before they'd recast them. If this movie gets billed as the return of the OT gang, then people won't be coming to theaters just to see Han, Luke, and Leia. They'll be coming to see Harrison Ford, Mark Hammil, and Carrie Fisher.

Star Wars isn't James Bond. It isn't Batman. It isn't even Star Trek. Those films essentialy hit the "reset" button from a plot standpoint with each new installment, so nobody really blinks an eye when a major role is given to a new actor.

But Star Wars is different. It's a saga with an ongoing, overarching plot, where each film is directly connected to and relies upon the next. And in franchises such as that, recasting has rarely been well received or welcomed.

But more than that, these characters, unlike James Bond or Batman, became iconic through the actors they were played by. Han Solo in ESB without Harrison Ford is a totally different beast. Same with Mark and Carrie. Those actors built those characters. They're inseparable.

I think the makers of this film recognize that. I think JJ especially knows that. I think they'd rather write, and I know I'd rather see, a sequel trilogy with no Han, Luke and Leia than a sequel trilogy with a mishandled Han, Luie, and Leia.

 

So basically the same age they were in ROTJ? WHY would they set a new trilogy immediately after ROTJ? That doesn't make any sense. And IMO that's the absolute worst thing they could do. Not that I think for a second they will.

 

That does seem a bit early.

 

I'd be fine with a recast down the road if Lucasfilm ever decides to give us a film set in the recent post-ROTJ era (if only because it's likely the only viable avenue for having such a story made in a live-action format).

But for the ST? No way, Jose!

For one thing, there was a decades long jump between PT and OT, so there's already a precedent for (and a kind of poetry in) having an ST which begins some 30 years after Episode VI.

Then, there are at least two obvious benefits of setting Episodes 7, 8 and 9 three or so decades hence from ROTJ. First and foremost, I feel, is that we fans who have been waiting thirty years to see Mark, Carrie, Harrison, Billy Dee, etc. reprise their SW roles again, will finally (finally!) have the chance to see it happen. "O, glorious day!"

Second, thirty years gives the in-universe story enough time for the next generation to have been born and grown to early adulthood, and the benefits of having new heroes to root for (and for the Big3 to pass on their teachings to), should, I think, be pretty self-explanatory.

 

"The only notion on that was, wouldn't it be fun to get all the actors to come back when they're 60 or 70 years old and make three more about them as old people" - George Lucas, 1997

 

I thought they said that they aren't recasting?

 

And this quote

Hamill: He {Lucas] at one time said, "Would you consider playing an Obi-Wan-type character, handing Excalibur down to the next generation?" I said, "When would that be?" and at the time he said, "Around 2011."

 

None of that though has been confirmed by Lucasfilm, this is a different team from the PT, JJ said he'd honor, but not revere what came before.
They will draw from what they have to create a good story, but they're not bound by what George Lucas said before the rewrites, or to
fan service. Added to that Pablo, and JJ have said all the rumors are wrong, and the biggest rumors are thirty years after ROTJ, and the return of the original actors. As for the TV guide interview with Carrie Fisher, where it says that they'd be going to London, in March/April
Carrie didn't say that, the author of the interview assumed it, and inserted it into his article/

 

Pre Abrams/Kasdan rewrite, and Input

JJ, and Kathleen are in charge now, not George Lucas

 

The sequel trilogy will still be based off of Lucas' original story treatments. Just because Kasdan and Abrams took over the script doesn't mean it won't follow what Lucas intended it to follow. Scripts go through MANY rewrites, that's part of the movie making process. I'm sure the fundamentals are still very much in place.

 

The fundamentals may be the same, but things can change, in order to tell a better story.

 

Seriously, if they went for a 'recast' of the OT heroes as appose to a rewrite where they are given smaller roles and graceful exits, I would be hard pressed to go see it.

 

They've been promoting the OT era very heavily, but really not building anticipation for a new generation of Heroes.
No stories leading to them.
A sereies set Pre OT, but not post ROTJ

Marvel excited about the cosmic adventures of Chewie, Han, Luke, and Leia
Bob Iger excited about introducing a new generation of fans to the Iconic heroes of Star Wars

Marvel did not say anything about the cosmic adventures of a new generation of Star Wars heroes
Bob Iger did not say, he was excited about introducing a new generation of Star Wars Heroes to a new generation of Star Wars Fans

Kids who are watching Rebels are going to get a disconnect if they see Rebels fighting the empire, on TV, and in the ST, not see the empire as the villians onscreen, and I doubt the empire would
be the bad guys 20 to 30 years later.

 

I won't say recasting a role never works, but outside of James Bond I don't know that I've ever seen it work well.

Why am I sure that the original actors are back? I'm not sure and I won't be until there's an official announcement. However, it makes sense to me for one reason: actors they're more familiar with the roles and how they they interact both with one another and the universe they exist in than anybody else. They may not have created these characters but they did help develop them over the span of three movies.

 

Heavily promoting the OT makes perfect sense considering we are going to see those iconic characters on screen again, and be introduced to their children. It in no way supports the idea that they are setting us up for a new trilogy set immediately after ROTJ.

 

It's best not to be sure of anything, not even when it takes place, or who's in it, or what happens.
We can speculate, but we shouldn't take anything for granted, not even the return of the big 3

 

Yeah assuming something is happening for a fact can lead to MAJOR disappointment if it doesn't. Now I still think the OT3 return is highly likely, but I'm not gunna act like its a 1000% guarantee that they will be back and major ass-kicking leads (cause the last part I find to be unlikely based off what we've seen lately )

also...hello other Claire.

 

Ugh. Recasting the "Big 3" roles would be the biggest (even bigger) affront to the "Star Wars" legacy since Jar Jar and midichlorians. Maybe I'm stubborn and grumpy and set in my ways, but I really couldn't get into a new "Star Wars" film if they went that route.