Speculation we need more women main characters.

I'd be against a female lead, I really would.

 

Dude, where did you post that great analysis of the group construct? In that thread I amde a guess at my group.

Anyway,

1) Protagonist - Nomi Skywalker
2) Lancer - Jaina Solo

I foresee LFL/Dinsey jumping on the Twilight/Hunger Games bandwagon with youngish/strong female heroes.

3) Tragic Hero - Jaicen Solo = falls to the Dark Side
4) [Doomed] Mentor = Luke Skywalker

Luke is training the new generation of heroes/Jedi. They also happen to be his blood. This puts even more responsibility and burden on Luke's shoulder -- passing on what you've learned as GL said. Generational saga. Luke is a "must" for the ST to work in this structure. I can envision Han & Leia getting killed by the bad guy and Jaina and Jaicen having two separate reactions with Jaicen wanting revenge. Of course Luke intervenes in that Jedi don't seek revenge, which causes the rift. Jaicen falls to the Dark side killing Unlce Luke in the process and thus forcing the sisters (Jaina and Nomi) to redeem Jaicen.

5) Sidekick - Chewbacca = Ordered to pass on his life debt and protect the Solo children
6) Sidekick = new character
7) Bards = Droids

The love interest doesn't have to be part of the group but could be a satellite charachter like Wedge was, with a group of his/her own. BUT I hope it doesn't get too Twilight and Hungry Games on us.

Lastly, I don't think we'd see Jaina fall to the Dark side because she and Nomi would be like sisters. GL did the brothers dynamic with Anakin & Obi-Wan in ROTS.

 

We don't NEED more female characters. What we need are characters that serve the story. So if that means more female characters, that's great.

 

This is all under the presumption that they are going to use EU characters.
My guess is they won't even borrow names from the EU, there's too much precedent behind them and limits the writers ability to develop the characters if it clashes with the novels. "Jaicen would have never done that, what were the writers thinking! This is madness!"

 

Daughter makes more sense, why would they skip a generation since each movie has focused on a Skywalker kid?

I just think using Jania simply because it's an established name and it does imply history and fit into the nice Lucasfilm Star Wars universe package. If you think about it sideways, Jania was "born" in 1993 which would make the character early 20s by the time Ep. 7 rolls around, perfect age for a main protagonist! (Yeah, I know more time has passed post ABY but I'm talking real, actual years here since the character was introduced.).

 

I think some people are getting a bit ahead of themselves. Peter Sciretta is an editor on a movie blogging site(which there are a hundreds of). One of his follow up tweets is "Surprised that a bunch of sites picked up my Star Wars female rumor tweet ". Its fairly obvious the man is trying to get hits on his site and followers on his twitter.

I don't think, for a second, that the man has any significant information at the moment. There are much more reputable movie rumors websites that haven't even written a peep about this. I would be willing to bet the first draft is probably not even finished with only a handful of people in the know. If Disney could keep their acquiring of Star Wars a secret for months, I guarantee they can keep the script completely "hush hush" until they go into production. Especially to a guy on a random movie website. One thing I have learned from these sites, if a guy is being intentionally cryptic-it usually means that he is full of it.

As far as a female lead is concerned:

I think the female character will work in a similar dynamic that the all the other Star Wars films have established thus far: 2 male leads 1 female lead. These movies are ensembles with the three main leads more or less getting equal amounts of screen time. If I had to take a gander I think the leads in the movie will be: Luke's son, Han/Leia's daughter, and some random third character we don't know about yet. If you people think that its Luke's daughter, well then it will be Han/Leia's son etc. Remember, Lucas loves symmetry and I would assume that will continue considering the script are based on his treatments.

I also wouldn't bank on the idea of two female lead characters. Most likely you will get the aformentioned female lead and a female support character down the line. I think these next three films are going to be the very antithesis of "taking chances." out of the gate. Disney isn't going to take major risks with their newly acquired franchise that is mainly merchandised and consumed by young boys by having two of the major characters as females. I think if there is going to be a female centric story its going to happen down the line. Remember, these next three star wars movies are just the beginning of the endless slew we will get in forseeable future.

It makes FAR more sense for Disney to do a female centric Star Wars story as one-off initially and then building upon it if its successful. With these next three films if a character doesn't get the response they hope, they are locked in to two other films. "Brave" was the first pixar movie with a female lead and it wasn't nearly as successful as other Pixar movies. You guys honestly believe they are going to do the same with Star Wars? I am betting dollars to donuts they will initially play it VERY safe.

 

Another thing I should add and some of you don't want to hear:

The expanded Universe, generally, will get torched. I'm sure they will cherry pick certain characters, planets, and concepts. But the narratives will probably be thrown out entirely.

 

I count myself as a fan of Jaina and I've nothing against the concept of a female lead (so long as the impetus for the move itself doesn't come off as pandering to a 'neglected demographic' $$$), but personally speaking, I'm much more interested in seeing a Ben Skywalker-type role for the lead in the ST. As Mr. McDiarmid said, it's "Fathers and Sons" and it would be great to finally give focus to an actual loving, successful father/son relationship, as seen through the Jedi lens. Of course, there's no reason this same premise wouldn't work with a daughter. It's simply my preference.

That said, I certainly welcome a Jaina-type for the ensemble, just not for the lead. Again, just my preference, so no offense intended to those who disagree.

 

Well fathers and daughters is different which could be equally interesting(and unexplored), but isn't the same dynamic. Personally, I think the perspective of a mother is most interesting. But I think that is better explored down the road without any "baggage."

It would be interesting to see a theme of fathers and son's fully explored in this trilogy:
1)PT dealt with the lack of a father figure
2)OT dealt with a dysfunctional father
3)ST deals with the idea of a loving father/family. Maybe the idea is a dysfunctional son?

 

Well said.

 

To elaborate a bit on the bit on a dysfunctional son angle. I don't mean dysfunctional in regards to "turning to the darkside" I think that angle has been played out already in the Skywalker saga.

I think a more interesting approach would be the concept of birthright. I would think a really interesting ensemble dynamic would be that Luke's son has NO interest in being a Jedi. That even though he has been given tremendous gifts he doesn't see the value in it. Maybe Luke's son relates more to Han than he does to Luke.

In contrast, Han/Leia's daughter could be the one who fully embraces the concepts of a Jedi and takes more after her uncle. Much to the chagrin Han/Leia who have no interest that their daughter to become a Jedi.

Perhaps the character interactions in the ensemble would be the relationship of the cousins. Han/Leia daughter would be trying to persuade Luke's son to embrace/accept his birth right. In turn going down another narrative path which is the concept of "what exactly does it mean to be a Jedi?"

 

IF he doesn't have any significant insider info he sure as hell is acting like he does.

 

Sure, he is implying he does. Its a no lose situation for him. He can make implications without having to actually back it up. Who is to argue with him? Meanwhile people will go to his website and read his tweets.

This stuff happens with movie rumor websites all the time. Until you get an official synopsis, take EVERYTHING you read with a grain of salt. We haven't even gotten to casting call sheets yet.

Let me ask a question: Did you know who this guy was? Did you even know about this website?

Its just speculation at this point.

 

Not to sound like a male chauvinist pig, but I don't want to see too many female leads. Star Was is after all a boy's interest. I don't know that many girls who even like Star Wars, or science fiction for that matter.

 

Just because you don't know 'em...<sticks hand out> "Howdy, think I'm pleased to meetcha."

 

Take minute and look over current Disney Channel (and it's affiliates) content. Clearly, the majority of programming is geared toward a young, quite female audience. I see what you're saying, but I'd have to disagree. Don't underestimate the power of the fangirl.

 

I meant no offense. I grew up with Star Wars since it first came out in '77 and never knew any female fans, is all.

 

That's why I said "howdy" - it's about time you met some of us. We're plentiful, just probably a substantial minority.

 

Bob Iger, head of Disney, when doing his conference call specifically said that acquiring Star Wars(as well Marvel) was to strengthen their "boys line". Disney has had a problem of retaining male audiences after a certain age. In turn to make more boy centric stuff to put on their Disney channels. Specifically to get more of the boy demographic on Disney XD.

Disney has gotten the girl market down. In acquiring Star Wars they are pretty much going after boys and I don't see them changing formula out of the gate.

That isn't to say that Star Wars won't expand, eventually, to include female centric stories. But that isn't going to be their objective at their first go around.

If you don't believe what I am saying, look to see what they tried to do with Tron Legacy and John Carter. Now, they actually have the brand they were trying to emulate.

 

That's cool. Nice to meet you, too.

 

Umm...Cade Skywalker?

 

Sure, something of that nature. I could see them lifting that general concept. The difference is how it plays into the an ensemble or how it effects the character of Han, Luke, Leia when they are alive. Not to mention Cade is a distant relative; the character, in question, would be Luke's son.

 

Annoys me to no end

Whether it's Star Wars, Batman, Avengers, Phineas and Ferb, etc people seem to forget that girls like such things too

Hopefully with a female lead, that can change