Saga Unused Concepts You Would Like To See Revisited

Know of any specific art, story beats, characters, etc. from previous iterations of scripts or from the pre-production concept/design phase that you would like to see revisited down the line in the Star Wars saga? Post 'em if you got em!

This concept from Solo is one that I find particularly exciting and imaginative:



The snail/processing plant really captures just how weird so much of George Lucas' Star Wars actually was, I feel (and I have to say, I'm quite partial to the Moebius-influenced style of the concept piece).

I've also always been partial to the Jedi robes from The Phantom Menace's concept art, and would love to see this style brought to life on screen as the garb of Jedi of an ancient era (perhaps the Old Republic, if we ever venture back that far?).

 

Holy ****. A city on top of a giant snail sounds amazing. Why the hell is there so much great concept art and every SW project with Disney seems to be obssessed with unpopulated backwater Earth-like locales.

 

Anakin being created by Palpatine meaning Rey and Kylo are related

 

Is there?
Sounds more like on every production - and that means going back to the 70s - there were some occasional wacky ideas, which, for the most part, didn't end up being used. That has little to do with Disney.

That being said, most of the recent planet-designs weren't all that inspiring. Could have done with some more extravagant stuff now and then,

 

Because the movies cost so much, and need to make a lot of money by return. Therefore it is safer to give the audience "familiar" Star Wars imagery than risk a more esoteric, niche type of picture that might alienate the audience.

 

The Whills, as explained by George in his conversation with James Cameron.

 

I agree 100% with this here. I find every word that drips out of Lucas' mouth regarding those ideas to be incredibly compelling. Hearing the term "Guardian of the Whills" in Rogue One was a completely unexpected little moment that made my heart flutter (and without a doubt, easily the most effective 'nostalgia bait' moment of the entire five film string of Disney releases, for me).

It absolutely isn't quite the same, but I think Luke's conversation Rey in The Last Jedi about the way that the Force moves and communicates through all lifeforms as she reaches out through it is probably the closest the Sequel Trilogy ever actually dared to attempt exploring those concepts.

A bit of micro-biotic communication between lifeforms and the ever-flowing Force there, in a sense, with a higher influence within the Force behind it all that transcends an earthly concept like the Jedi. But still... what I wouldn't give for an actual, proper exploration of these ideas in Lucas' own words, following on in the aftermath of the Chosen One's bringing of balance back to the Force.

There's also the "Shaman of the Whills" quote from the Revenge of the Sith script that I think is fascinating, especially in the way that it stands in contrast to the Sith's desire to cling so violently to biological, physical life for eternity.

The way Lucas conveys his ideas surrounding Midi-Chlorians/the Whills/the Force, I always get an inkling of it being his own weird little Monolith/Star Child/Stargate sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think The Clone Wars actually has a really great extension of some of these central ideas in the Mortis arc and in Yoda's season six arc.

On a similar note, I think these particular structures from a version of what ultimately became Ahch-To are pretty neat:

 

Agreed, on all of it!
I love those designs. *sigh* If only I could have a peek at the ST in George's mind...

 

I still want to see the canceled Star Wars series UNDERWORLD, which was supposed to take place between Episode III and IV.

We still have great potential here and a "young Han Solo" or a "younger Jyn Erso" could also play in the series. Boba Fett could also be part of this series.

 

That Underworld test footage excites me every time I see it. That we never got to see that series come to life will always sting. If Lucas had been able to get that off the ground, I wonder if he ever would have still wound up selling the company?

And sticking with Coruscant, another concept I love that we would have seen had The Clone Wars not been canceled is the idea that the Coruscant Jedi Temple was built on top of the ruins of an ancient Sith Temple.

 

reminds me of Exegol

 

Just realised that the Sith Shrine setting would make a great location for Fallen Order 2. Parkour, ancient Sith lore, combat against the strange guardians, it would fit the FO aesthetic to a tee

 

Man Lucas goes into depth with the Whills/Midichlorians stuff in the new Star Wars Archives books and it sounds super interesting. In Lucas' mind the Whills are the smallest and simplest form of life which also makes them the most intelligent and complex form of life as well since their simplicity allows them to connect to the Force on a level unlike any other lifeform. Here's my understanding of Lucas' view of the Force based off those interviews:

So the galaxy starts out with a big bang. Energy permeates through the galaxy. This energy is the Force and one way it manifests is in a wellspring at the center of the galaxy where the first cells of life begin to form. These life cells create more energy aka the Force. Two forms of life form in this wellspring, the Whills and the Midichlorians. Whills are organisms that live on the microbiotic level. Midichlorians are organisms that live in the cellular level. They're connected to one another and eventually some midichlorians end up on asteroids that traverse the galaxy over millions of years.

Eventually the asteroids land on various planets and moons seeding new lifeforms that exist in symbiosis with the midichlorians inside their cells. The midichlorians then use their connections to feed their hosts living Force energy to the Whills. The Whills then connect back to the hosts through the midichlorians and communicate the will of the Force to the hosts, which they know due to their highly advanced form of sentience and deep connection to the Force.

Now that living things exist they naturally begin to die and when they die their living Force energy can't just blink out of existence so what happens? It is recycled back into the galaxy. During the recycling process the energy forms what is known as the Cosmic Force. The Cosmic Force holds the minds/souls of the living things that have become a part of it, and it lives outside of mortal comprehensions of time and space. In a way you could say that whatever sentience or anything you can call a 'god' that exists within the Force is the Cosmic Force which is sort of a hivemind of every soul that has ever and will ever exist. And various groups ranging from Ahch-To's Jedi to Jedha's Order of the Whills have communicated with the will of the Force/Cosmic Force and it's generally agreed upon that it prefers symbiosis and peace. Which makes sense given that it only exists due to the symbiosis between the midichlorians, their hosts, and the Whills.

He also goes really into depth on how symbiosis is the main theme of TPM. Symbiosis between the Whills and Jedi, the Jedi and Republic, the Republic and the Trade Federation, the Trade Federation and the Naboo, the Naboo and the Gungans, etc.

 

I need to read those Star Wars Archives books. $200 though....

 

I must have misread your post yesterday.

So the "cosmic force“ is composed of the force of people who have already died. This would also explain the forceghosts in the Star Wars movies.

So the concept you described makes sense.

 

Really interesting thing, thanks for sharing! This is something George himself stated? May I ask once you are talking about the cosmic force it means it’s like the union of every soul that has ever existed? Is it possible that it’s another plane of “existence” where the souls of every living thing that has died exists and the midchlorians can connect with those souls/ energy? Sorry if I made any mistakes, English it’s not my first language so I’m struggling trying to follow all the concepts

 

Yeah from my understanding the Cosmic Force is like another level of reality and the midichlorians help people connect to that level.

 

Thank you so much for answering. Would the cosmic force be the place where all souls go according to the book? And it’s like the closest definition to god/heaven/afterlife in a spiritual sense or it’s something completely different according to the book?

 

Yeah George has often compared the Cosmic Force to an afterlife or god.

 

Darth Talon. A scene or even entire project that channels the AOTC deleted scene with Padme’s family.

 

You just like bare midriffs, don't you?

 

Palps being Anakins creator. my fave concept ever and like to repeat it every so often lol

 

Tor Valum and the planet Remnicore

Spoiler: Tor Valum concept art

For those who don't know, an idea from Colin Trevorrow's unmade Episode IX. Overall, I vastly prefer the IX we did get, but holy ****, do I love this guy and the hidden planet he lives on

He was Darth Plagueis's master, or at the very least, if not his Sith Master, a dark being he received training from. In particular, however, Valum could use the Force to drain the life from other beings and eat it up, possibly explaining his near-immortality (the leaked script describes him as about 7000 years old). I think there was also some connection between this ability and Mortis? But I'm not entirely sure

I think it's a beautiful contrast to how Force healing is described in TROS - literally the opposite. Giving up a bit of one's own life to heal another, and the ultimate expression of the difference between the Jedi and the Sith, or at least the Jedi and those who use the dark side

Spoiler: Remnicore concept art

I can kinda see how the pyramid/temple structure might have translated into the fortress on Exegol? The statues too, maybe? But hell, the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban/Moraband has statues and temples too. The Sith are just into that ****. And I have a thing for "evil worlds", so it'd be cool to add this one into canon someday

Spoiler: concept art of Kylo sucking a tree

Basically the same as the effect we see for Palpatine draining Rey and Ben's dyad energy, isn't it? So I don't see how such a thing could be incompatible with canon. They survived it due to being a dyad, but normal life forms would whither and die

 

No idea where else to post this, but I'm just really curious if there ever was AOTC concept art of Leonardo DiCaprio as Anakin back when he was heavily rumored for the role.

@Iron_lord If anyone knows the answer to this it my be you.

 

I don't know much about concept art, to be fair. I've never seen any AOTC concept art so don't know for sure.