ST How Could The ST Be Improved By Other SW Content? (Shows/Books/Etc.)

And that can be done without disrupting the sequel trilogy canon. There is a thirty year period to explore between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, with scant information about what Luke was up to. There is nothing contradictory then to show Luke creating a Jedi Order, with some members who graduate and filter out into the wider Galaxy, before it all goes wrong with Ben Solo. He didn't have to be referring just to Rey when he stated that he wouldn't be the last Jedi.

 

IF they can make it clear that some of those Jedi survived the massacre at the school, THEN I would be interested in seeing stories of Luke and his students/Jedi, but if all of those students end up dying in the school massacre, I am not at all interested in seeing or reading about these Jedi students/ Jedi and Luke. As I have said before, what’s the point in getting invested in characters who have no future? I have no desire to watch/read about the path to their deaths in the destruction of the Jedi school.

I am not sure how they could make it obvious that these are students who have already “ graduated” from the Jedi school and were actually out on missions during the events of the ST though. Plus, the question would then be, why didn’t they come to help fight the first order when things got bad???

 

The Galaxy is a huge place, so you could write that some didn't know. They could also, if they are cute, write into any post-Rise of Skywalker material that some of the Jedi students of Luke's DID come to help, and were in Jedi fighters as part of that massive fleet of ships that came to Exagol. It could be shown with flashbacks.



Any Jedi in here somewhere ^

 

Of course it can be done without disrupting the sequel trilogy canon, but that wasn’t really the point. The point is that, IMO, Lucasfilm is going to focus on a period of Star Wars where they can generate some goodwill from fans/audiences, whom have been alienated by the ST. The result being that the ST will largely be ignored, in terms of ‘new’ high profile material. Ergo, that’s how the ST will be ‘improved’. Not by featuring it in new material, but by ignoring it, and creating new stories and timelines that audiences can invest in.

 

The problem for them is clearly their best, most marketable characters are Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and Obi-wan Kenobi. Kenobi they're already exploiting with the new series, but making use of the others within the context of the Sequel Trilogy story is going to be very difficult. Mandalorian pulled it off with Luke, but in a very specific kind of way.

 

Which is why they are re-doing Galaxy Edge for more Mandalorian characters and phase out the ST at the park. They likely will do the equivalent to the films.

Money talks and no matter how someone feels - there isn't money to be made touching the ST, as @Darth PJ stated.

Edit: Just thought of a bigger example of moving away from ST. Disney/Hasbro has released a line of new toys to celebrate 50 years of Star Wars.

https://www.starwars.com/news/hasbro-pulse-reveals-lucasfilm-50th-anniversary-products-and-more

Every era around SW is mentioned (PT, OT, Clone Wars, Mandalorian, Bad Batch, etc...) Only one era there are no toys with projects around it - the ST.

 

I don’t know... There seems to be a consensus of opinion that The Mandalorian is the content that most fans/general audiences can coalesce around... and that show is very much about the new characters (with ‘classic characters’ having a cameo here and there). And I’d posit that Grogu is probably the most popular new character since Darth Maul. So Star Wars can, and should, be able to naturally move away from the ‘classic’ characters... certainly in terms of having new content be heavily reliant on them. I’m pretty confident about that... but that’s just me...

 

Reliant no. But again, the most marketable characters are the OT characters. The ST storyline marginalized and diminished them; Mandalorian’s spectacular success in using Luke was because it did not, and Luke’s appearance is likely on par with Grogu’s for fueling the show’s current success. Therefore, any stories where the ST is a key element are going to have issues, because it cannot use those characters in the same way.

 

Nah - at this point Grogu is probably the most marketable a Star Wars character has been since the OT. Crossover appeal that goes beyond Star Wars.

 

So whilst I agree that the ST diminished the legacy of the OT3, and whilst I’d say (it’s undeniable) that the OT3 have had a much bigger impact on popular culture than their PT and certainly ST counterparts, those characters (Luke, Leia and Han) are no longer going to automatically generate success or popularity. The Mandalorian has shown that Star Wars can be successful without that. It’s also shown that it can be successful without the tired dynamic of rebels versus empire/resistance versus first order.... and can explore different things. That’s the biggest takeaway from The Mando.

 

I agree. But the OT characters remain the most marketable. So if you want to take advantage of that—and I doubt the corporate overlords overlooked the massive, massive surge in attention to Mandalorian when Luke was used there—the Sequel Trilogy poses some significant obstacles.

 

I think there’s a couple of things being conflated. Darth Vader is probably, still to this day, the most iconic and marketable Star Wars character... However, the Star Wars films and TV shows, have continued to have commercial success even with him (Vader) being dead, within the current timeline, and without him (Vader) being used as a leading character in new material (although clearly he was used to the advantage of Rogue One).

There’s no doubt in my mind that Luke, Leia and Han are the best ‘leading’ characters of any Star Wars film... or any action/fantasy film IMO. However, if they made a new film about a 20 something Luke (with a younger actor in role), it wouldn’t be guaranteed commercial/critical success (see Solo). If they made a new film, with Hamill himself, as a 60 year old Luke (prior to the events of the ST), it wouldn’t be a guaranteed commercial success (although I personally think we WILL get a Grogu/Luke TV show/film for sure).

So whilst there will always be an audience for material featuring the OT3, and as much as I love them, I think it’s an increasingly diminishing one... given that new SW content will invariably focus on new and popular characters such as Grogu, Mando, Ahsoka etc. etc. (and that’s the way it should be). And this is one of the reasons why I was so ****** off with the ST, and why I felt it was such a wasted opportunity... because it was the only real chance of getting to see Luke, Leia and Han back on the big screen and being played by the original actors... and Abrams/Kennedy et al not only dropped the ball, they burst the ball, and kicked it into the waste ground.

 

It's my personal opinion that no amount of content can improve the ST. Any media taking place in or referencing the ST may be good on its own, but that quality will never bleed into the sequels and make the story make sense or fit the characters. The best sequel trilogy content doesn't require the actual movies for context. Case in point: Resistance. You could watch that show without ever seeing the sequels. They don't even end on a cliffhanger setting up the Battle of Exegol and I appreciate the show so much for that. It stands completely on its own.

I'm just waiting for the day when they invariably reskin Galaxy's Edge to be set during the OT era when they realize Darth Vader is still more iconic and marketable than Kylo Ren. Give it a decade or so. Maybe less. The sequels will not age as well as a lot of people think they will.

 

Totally agreed.

The Clone Wars tv shows managed to fill in the blanks and make the PT, as an era, bit better. For that to work here, they'd have to explain some major missing pieces that got left out of the ST, or recon it so that it starts making more sense.

Resistance: they're just a small fighting force that exists along the outer borders of the NR, fighting off the Imperial Remnant, and later when they reorganized into FO.

First Order: Pretty much what we got, although I suppose someone could explain why their ships, armor, uniforms, tech, weapons all look sooooo sophisticated and brand new, and why they seem to have thousands of FO ships that can supposedly reign over the galaxy and still manage to hide successfully for so long. I'd probably push the cult like behavior a bit more. Really show them as crazy dark side believers who believe they are the real government still, the lawful and the rightful order.

GFFA: Most of just trying to rebuild and survive after the collapse of the Empire. Most systems aren't affiliated with the NR, or even really know about the FO, and basically keep to themselves. Some systems are aligning with the resurgent Mandalorian Empire, or maybe even fighting their newly expanding territory.

NR: A small group of systems trying to reestablish the NR. Leia and others have spent the last few decades trying to convince old members to rejoin but it's not going well. Most people don't trust a centralized government yet, for obvious reasons. And frankly, the NR hasn't solved any of the old issues that created their conversion into the Empire. They also can't provide any security, or even get rid of slavery and the various war lords the still control vast swaths of the galaxy.

New Jedi: While most of the dozen or so current students were in fact killed at the Academy, by Ben Solo, some of the older padawans and knights survived. With Luke cut off from the Force, they believe Luke to be dead, and decide to journey out into the far reaches of galaxy to help those who need it. Perhaps they even feel the battle going on, but the Force guides them to stay away, or deal with other pressing matters. Who knows...maybe the Force doesn't want them to get involved in that mess yet. It's definitely a hard task...but i suppose a bit of hand waving could be done, as long as it ends with cool Jedi still out there.

 

Yes, @DarkGingerJedi, as long as “ it ends with cool Jedi still out there”. That could make SUCH a huge difference. First of all, there would actually be some Jedi characters out there that could be utilized in stories in books/tv shows/films. Jedi knights are what make Star Wars unique. I have never understood why in the Disney SW, they didn’t seem to want to include Jedi knights. It was the thought of meeting Luke’s new Jedi that I was most excited about when I heard that a ST was being planned. There are so many different kinds of stories that could be told with Jedi, from rescue missions, to mystery stories, to adventures, to investigations, to diplomatic negotiations, to helping in conflicts, etc. The stories don’t even always need to involve wars.

Having some surviving Jedi also helps to “ redeem” Luke, somewhat, because he actually DID train some new Jedi who could be helpful out in the galaxy, and eventually pass on what they had learned to others. That way, Luke actually WOULD leave a tangible and important legacy instead of being a complete failure.

Finding out that Luke actually did successfully train some Jedi, might actually be able to interest me in SW again.

 

Grogu is (IMO) certainly going to be a device used to redeem the character of Luke in the ST. I predict Grogu will be a very powerful Jedi for future stories, post ST, and his abilities will largely be as a result of Luke’s training, and Luke protecting him from the destruction of the Jedi academy. It won’t make the ST any better as films, but it will allow Luke to have a legacy that perhaps goes beyond his poor outing in the sequels. This is the way...

 

It would be nice but I'm not holding my breath to be honest. When it comes to that, SW has broken my trust so severely, until I see it happen, I'm not gonna have faith in it.

 

I understand that sentiment. "Fool me once...."

But Favreau and Filoni have earned my trust.

 

TFA feels like Ep 8 rather than 7 as too many important events happened off screen, particularly Ben's fall to the dark side. A series of books or TV shows charting Ben's early life would really help.

 

The Rise of Kylo Ren comic exists, but it's not very helpful as it mostly consists of blatant, contradictory retcons.

 

Yes that was a disappointing comic.

 

Friendly reminder that Shadow of the Sith is out this month!


Featuring Luke, Lando, Ochi, Rey’s mother and father, and probably some considerable insights into the timeline and consequential new canon additions, it looks like the best new book of the year for sequel trilogy fans. I’ve got mine on pre-order.

Also, just so you know, the author of the novel is actually a poster on these very forums and has responded to posts here.
https://boards.theforce.net/threads...am-christopher.50056700/page-28#post-58004394

You can also read an excerpt from the novel regarding Rey’s parents here:
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-shadow-of-the-sith-cover-exclusive-excerpt

 

That excerpt actually doesn't have anything to do with Rey's parents, just sayin

 

So it's basically clickbait

 

Not really. Its like watching say ROTS and then reading the novelization. You can say oh there are alot of contradictions here because the film itself didn't tell us certain aspects that the book claims. Stuff in the book that will make you look at the film in a different light.