Discussion The new characters

He really liked Aayla Secura. The blue Twi'lek in AOTC

 

Which is understandable. And she's in ROTS too, although unfortunately that was mostly just her Order 66 death scene.

 

Those who are familiar with my posts know that the single new character I'm invested in seeing becoming a reality is Luke's son. Regardless of whether this son be written as the central protagonist (my personal preference), or one of the three traditional ensemble leads, to me, it's imperative that the tradition of Skywalker fathers and sons (with its ever-evolving dynamic) continue to be examined. Additionally (and as has been mentioned), in addition to the bloodline, I absolutely want to see the Skywalker name live on, and based upon the known characters at this time, this can only be accomplished through a new "son of Skywalker." Though it's not vital to me that the exact arc of "Ben Skywalker" be followed from the EU, it certainly wouldn't bother me if Luke's son winds up with the name "Ben" (I've always thought it a touching and natural gesture on Luke's behalf to honor the memory of Obi-Wan).

Leia and Han, one would certainly think, will be the parents of at least one of the new characters and, as with Luke's son, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing a daughter styled after Jaina Solo of the EU. Using Ben and Jaina as the templates for the core characters of the next generation of heroes, while staying free of any story restraints the character's previous arcs may hold, sounds to me like a fantastic way of giving a nod to the EU and it's fans, while giving George Lucas, Kathleen Kennedy, Michael Arndt and JJ Abrams the freedom to do as they wish with the characters. While I would rather we see only "Ben" and "Jaina" appear, while an unknown new element rounds out the three leads (thus maintaining some semblance of consistency with the EU), it wouldn't tear me up if the Solo's have a son in the new films, too.

I suppose my only other request for these new heroes would be that they appear no younger than Luke and Leia in A New Hope. The truth is, I really don't care to watch the adventures of a child, or early teen-aged character again. Whether it worked with Anakin in TPM, or not, can be debated (a part of me thinks that if the same story had only featured an older Anakin, it may have worked better), but it wouldn't surprise me if the new powers-that-be consider it a move from the PT they'd care not to repeat, and that would be just fine with me.

As far as the new villains, well, at this point, I'm pretty darned open about it. My only issue is that whoever the 'big bad' turns out to be, the character (and his or her background and motivation), work well within the framework of the first six films, with special attention paid to Anakin's sacrifice, it's effects upon the Sith, specifically, and upon the concept of 'balance of the Force,' more generally.

 

See, I know which quotes of Lucas' you're referencing here, and I've always interpreted them differently than some. To me, George is saying "I have no story past ROTJ."

In George's story, at that point, these EU elements did not exist because nothing beyond ROTJ existed yet, and he's simply listing some of the more well known of these elements as an example. I have never considered George's comments to indicate that he envisions, for example, Luke to never marry or have children, just that in his story, as it stood then, he had not yet created these characters, or written these storylines. Lucas could just as easily have said something like "in my story, Leia never marries Han, or becomes head of state." I honestly don't think that it's indicative of any of George's intent for characters / storyline, etc., should he ever decide to create a sequel trilogy (which of course, he now has).

The one thing I do think may happen is if George decides to give Luke, Leia and Han children, I wouldn't expect Lucas to feel obligated to name the characters "Ben" or "Jaina" (though I certainly wouldn't object if he did). Maybe I'm wrong, but if Luke doesn't wind up with a son, I, for one, won't hold these quotes up as any sort of indicator of why Lucas chose to go said route.

(But that said, Luke had sure better have a son).