October 31
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Going Somewhere Solo? Yes, Disneyland!
Going Somewhere Solo? Yes, Disneyland!
By: Meg Humphrey
First off I gotta say that I’m not shock nor appalled by Disney buying Lucasfilm (for dirt cheap!). They’ve been hand in hand for a while now so it’s not surprising that Disney took the plunge. Sure, I’m biased because I actually LIKE Disney magic, but I can separate Disney owning a company from something that is Disney-esque. Please remember that Disney owns quite a few companies and didn’t run them into the ground or turn them into musicals with talking forest creatures. Calm down.
The more interesting news is the Disney announced plans for Episode VII to be released in fall of 2015. The biggest question for me is what story line this new trilogy (I assume it’ll be a trilogy) will follow? I started reading the Expanded Universe books back when I was 10. For me, the natural choice for another round of movies would be based after Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire trilogy.
The Heir to the Empire trilogy takes place a mere five years after Return of the Jedi and are the best Star wars EU books I’ve ever read. Timothy Zahn knows the universe and knows these characters so well it’s mind blowing. Everything wasn’t rainbows and sunshine after the destruction of the Second Death Star – the New Republic is having difficulties establishing itself as a functioning government and the Empire still has PLENTY of forces and influence spread throughout the galaxy. Even our heroes are struggling and desperate.
Even better, the three most notable new characters from this trilogy, Mara Jade, Talon Karrde and Grand Admiral Thrawn, are fan favorites. Mara Jade, a fiery force-sensitive Ginger who enjoyed being Emperor Palpatine’s personal secret agent of justice (I’m not even joking), appears and vows to kill Luke Skywalker for destroying the Empire and ruining her life. Talon Karrde is the most well-mannered, fair, and chivalrous smuggler in the galaxy. He’s surprisingly charming and the reader quickly begins to root for him. Then there’s Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn, blue skinned and red-eyed, was kept secret from most the galaxy due to the Emperor’s distaste for alien races. Thrawn is an amazing villain. He’s calm, calculating, terrifying, and brilliant. Although confined to the Unknown Regions for a good portion of his career, he quickly assumes control of a sizable fleet and pushes back against the New Republic.
But that’s just what I wish for in my nerd heart of hearts. They’d have to recast almost everyone from the original trilogy and maybe Hollywood doesn’t think that Zahn’s trilogy would be perfect to rejuvenate Star Wars. Maybe they won’t use anything from the established EU and make up something completely different or something much further in the future.
At the very least, I’m hoping for some new ewok merchandise! ❤
I’m still apprehensive about the merger, but my rational mind tells me to stop. The original trilogy had a much different feel than the prequels, due mainly to George Lucas having all the control in the world.
I get the feeling like having Disney overseeing things, and Lucas (hopefully) largely out of the mix, we’ll see a return to more collaborative and inspired Star Wars movies.
TL;DR I think it’s past time for a change of guard in the Star Wars franchise.
Someone made an excellent point on twitter (and maybe it was you who retweeted it?) about Disney and how the influence they’ve had on the properties they’ve bought has been largely positive. Directly correlating to Marvel:The Avengers and Muppets:The Muppets. See where I’m going here…this could be the best thing that’s happened to the SW universe since, well, Return of the Jedi 😛