Discussion Potential Threats/Antagonists For New Films

Or slavery, "where the Republic doesn't exist..."

 

Something evil and powerful enough that it would force the Sith and Jedi to work together. An ancient swarming entity (that, like the Borg, are highly intelligent as a whole) that consumes entire civilizations like a locust plague.

 

Cthulhu.

 

More non-force sensitive villains please. It’s almost impossible to compete with Vader and Sidious, but as Tarkin, Krennic, Herzog and Gideon show, there are endless ways to make ****** humans interesting.

I think Star Wars should avoid that kind of villain like the plague.

 

Yeah I really disliked the "light sith" stuff in SW:ToR for example.
Bring back Durge!

 

There was this conversation between Lucas and Alan Dean Foster sometime in 1977 or 1978:

Lucas: We also wanted to have a scene where Vader goes and bows before the Force and the Force picks him up and tells him that he better go out and get that crystal... But it’s not the Force personified; it’s on the verge of personification. Maybe it’s a shadow or something.

Alan Dean Foster: The ultimate...

Lucas: It's the ultimate evil. It's the devil.

At the end of the Legends EU’s lifespan, it was hinted that an ancient dark entity was the power behind the Sith species. I’d love the horror aspects of the Sith species and their ties to the Sith Order, the precursor aspects of the Rakata, and the extra-galactic post-Saga invader aspect of the Vong to be combined.

 

A droid uprising. This Babu Frik looks like Blade Runner's Chew.

Maybe they toyed with the idea at some point. It was a part of 'Solo' (L3-37), although in a benign frorm. But you only need an evil Babu Frik and evil, red-eyed droids; then a war like that being fought in Terminator (in the future), or in that animatrix short film ('the second renaissance').
Or a Niander Wallace 'to teach them all to fly'. We know JJ saw BR2049, and the 'civilizational collapse' was something very real in that film.

 

Oh yeah! Durge and a droid uprising.

I thought Durge was a bit "out there" in the cartoon but I grew to like him. The comics were good with him in too. Although a new galactic threat? There'd need to be a few of hundred of him I think.

A droid uprising was in one of the Old Republic comics too. In passing anyway; I think they were programmed to rise up. Was quite well done if I recall correctly.

 

This would be a different kind of movie with a villain like that than SW has ever had; it's always been epic battles against galactic-level threats. That's what the whole thing was about stopping the Sith in the saga movies- the galaxy would suffer overall if they weren't stopped.
A more personal baddie would go along with a more personal story, which I actually like. My idea would be to start out on a lost, remote planet in the GFFA that is unattached to anything known in SW; with a force sensitive individual that begins developing his/her own power in this context without knowing what it really is. The kind of baddie that you describe would fit that story.

 

So now they've just gotta do the Lucas "Diseased Force" plotline.

Those Midichlorans get damaged, infected, and so The Force plays up.

Force users go a bit weird in the head, their superhuman abilities begin to fail be or acting unexpectedly. A Force Push rips out a heart, etc. Rey loses her lightsaber skills at a critical moment
Etc.

And the New Jedi go into Ahch-tu isolation to avoid getting infected.

Sort of a Kryptonite moment for the Jedi.

And of course a new Baddie comes along to take advantage of the situation.

 

Is this a real world analogy?

I'd like to see a film where a Star Destroyer is actually threatening, rather than cumbersome and highly explosive like they are in the comics.

 

Yes, and what makes Star Wars STAR WARS to people can vary quite a bit. People invested in the franchise often choose a specific element or aspect that become a must for them, and for a SW film to feel authentic it must include that element. Some of these elements are:

-The Force
-Jedi/Sith dynamic
-Good/Evil struggles
-Personal struggles (redemption or fall to the dark side, choosing to act selfishly or altruistically, etc)
-Family
-Romance
-Spaceship battles
-Galaxy-level threats
-Specific characters from the OT (IE some are not that interested if it doesn't have Luke/Han/Leia/Vader/Obi-Wan or some other OT character in a central role, which is one reason some do not think going to a Knights of the Old Republic era for stories is a good idea)
-Western (cowboy) and/or Samurai influences
-Creatures (helpers like tauntauns and/or foes like the Rancor)
-SW tech (blasters, speeders, droids)
-"good" underdogs vs "bad" establishment
-bizarre aliens

So ANH, ESB, and RotJ have all of these to varying degrees. I remember people complaining that TPM and AOTC didn't have enough space battles.

Also, it can be argued that some properties (like the CW) are at their best when they leave out some or many of the above elements. For example the Umbara episodes do not have OT characters in central roles and many praise that arc as the series's high point. Rogue One doesn't have a lot to do with the Force, Jedi, or romance, the OT characters are more peripheral or cameos, and the good/evil conflict is more murky (rebels killing in cold blood). The Mandalorian is even more muddy with good/evil, is not (yet) about galactic-wide threats, with no Jedi or Sith (yes, Baby Yoda uses the force), but really doubles down on things like the western influences and creatures.

Furthermore, one criticism of the Disney era films is that there are TOO many OT characters and elements, which sometimes feel forced or shrink the galaxy.

I think future films could be really interesting in subtracting some of the established SW elements.

 

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I'd like to see a film where a Star Destroyer is actually threatening, rather than cumbersome and highly explosive like they are in the comics.[/QUOTE]

Agree. And I think there is fertile ground for stories about efficient, competent, and deadly stormtroopers. I fault Rebels for doubling-down on the incompetent stormtrooper cliché.

 

They should just resurrect Palpatine again.

 

Palpatine's twin brother, Tesla. He's been on the vacation planet for decades, the exact opposite of workaholic Sheev. Still evil though, just a lazy ladies and guys' man.

 

Lets do witches, the nightsisters as villains in the old times of the repubilc. It got so bad that they began they own witch trials and burned every witch they could find. The jedi lead a purge of witches as they like the sith was an order of the dark side and needed to be purged.

 

Good points here.

I agree that the Disney era overdoes the OT, and that was my complaint from the start. I think that filmmakers will feel less restrained by OT elements and characters in the new movies, and that will set the films up in a better position to be quality, imaginative stories. I think it will be less of a setup for fans to feel discontent since the sacred cows of the OT won't be involved, so people won't feel the "Kathy Bates in Misery" syndrome of not getting what they want out of the original story and characters. Don't get me wrong, SW fans are some of the world's most implacable and will complain no matter what. But the Mandalorian has shown that something can still be wildly popular and liked by a broad swath of fans and casuals alike. It doesn't have to be as divisive as it has been.

 

The Sith. But when they began.

I would like to see a trilogy set thousands of years before the PT and show us how the Sith started. And the big reveal could be that the first Sith will be the main hero of the series. The Campbell's Hero's Journey, but twisted.

 

I like this! I would watch this.

 

Interesting ideas! I agree with you that the best SW stories are exploring themes of government. That's one of the key aspects of the SW World that too many have ignored of late.

 

Au courant - The Plague - Darth Covid

 

Hey,Ghost ever thought of using Palpatine's Dark Adepts in the roles of "The Destroyers"?

 

Darth Plagueis brings the Plague! That's where his name really came from- he was destined to bring the plague, after he takes on a new apprentice- Darth Covid! Experimenting with evil viral plagues to destroy the Jedi!