Idea For Future Of Star Wars

My ideas about where I’d take Star Wars if I had the opportunity to pitch the next installment(s).

This is primarily concerned with the first film in my hypothetical saga. The idea is to create a film that would more or less be a stand alone adventure that would serve as a reintroduction to the Star Wars Universe. However if well received it could potentially be the launching point for a whole new era of Star Wars.

My overall approach is to use familiar iconography (Jedi & lightsabers, ships & technology, alien species and locations) while telling new kinds of stories with new kinds of characters.

Timescale

I feel that going forward is the more interesting direction for the franchise. Not an Old Republic set prequel, not an Empire-Era story happening alongside the originals and certainly not a side-stories or filling in the blanks of the newer films. I’d have things pick up a hundred years (minimum) after Rise of Skywalker and really push things into new territory.

State of the Galaxy

It’s chaos out there! The fall of the First Order created a serious power vacuum. There’s no Republic to speak of with the galaxy fractured into independent factions and coalitions. Some are benign, some are corrupt while crime syndicates and other malevolent organisations also vie for power.

Setting

For the first film I thought I’d take things in a different direction and go small, confining most of the action to a single planet; Coruscant. I want to take a familiar location but then add a centuries worth of decay, rust and grime to it. As the capitol world of the Republic and Empire I’d use it as a microcosm of the state of the galaxy in that it’s descended into a collection of warring factions with an ineffectual government trying to maintain control.

I’m consciously drawing inspiration from 80’s urban decay movies. Think ‘The Warriors’ or ‘Escape from New York’ (Escape from Coruscant if you will).

Jedi

The Jedi are back and trying to live up to their legend and take on the roles of guardians of peace and justice. While they try to cooperate with friendly governments they’re autonomous without any political affiliation. Right now the order is still small, maybe a dozen or so active Jedi. They do what they can but their resources are stretched thin. While most agree they do good work their small numbers can draw accusations of elitism as they’re only able to accept a small fraction of those born Force sensitive.

The head of the order has the title ‘Skywalker’

Villains

My idea for the new villains is a Force using cult with the high priest being the main antagonist. They start out growing the lower levels of Coruscant with the priest uniting the various factions under their leadership. The priest is a powerful Force user with their primary talent being mind manipulation which they uses to bend large numbers of followers to their will. In most cases this is done by repeating a mantra to the followers and over time this can turn loyalty into fanaticism. However more extreme and aggressive techniques can be used one on one, a sort of ‘Force brainwashing.’

Ordinary beings make up the lower levels of the cult while those who are Force sensitive can rise through the ranks. The highest level, and the most dangerous cultists, are the Inner Circle.

Story

The story begins on a shuttle transporting hopeful cult members to Coruscant. We get acquainted with our new group of core characters and upon arrival we see the initiation, indoctrination and the beginnings of the training. However they soon discover a dark secret; the cult has acquired significant weaponry and is planing on dispatching it’s newly recruited army of followers against Coruscant’s governor. If successful they would take control of the entire planet. Our heroes attempt to flee and now have to navigate the treacherous streets clashing with gangs and pursued by members of the cult’s Inner Circle as they attempt to reach safe ground and warn of the upcoming attack…

Cast of Characters

The story would focus on four of the passengers from the shuttle.

The first is someone searching for their true purpose. As a child they were declined training by the Jedi, despite being Force sensitive, and still feel bitter about this. The cult represents a second chance at the power they feel were denied. A novice Force user who has acquired some training from the cult. Their power and abilities can grow across the series as well as exploring their relationship with Force both using organisations.

The second is a more spiritual being similarly searching for a path. Not accustomed to violence but forced to fight for the first time in the name of self defense and the defense of others. Non-human.

The third and fourth would be a Jedi and mercenary respectively. They are working together to infiltrate the cult and determine if they pose a threat.
The Jedi are concerned about the rapid growth of the cult as they have all the hallmarks of a Dark Side organisation. This Jedi would be reasonably experienced but has spent their time battling small scale threats and this is their first encounter with Force using opponents with comparable skills.
The descriptor of ‘mercenary’ isn’t to imply that they’re be constantly grumbling about the money and being paid, just that with the lack of a central government private individuals and organisations are being employed to maintain order. I see this character as a good person and loyal ally doing what they can to help during a chaotic time.
They are the ones to make the discovery of the armoury dragging the others into the adventure.

Finally, there would be a fifth cultist who would never fully be able to break their connection to the High Priest. They would be a liability to the main heroes and die a tragic death.

Does NOT include

Planet destroying super-weapons

Legacy characters/ descendants

Characters introduced in spin-off media

Force ghosts

The Sith

Title and Opening Text

Because it makes sense to end at the beginning. I thought I’d use a text open, as is tradition, but as I want to move away from the episodes format I thought I’d put a little twist on it. Just a rough version I threw together in MS Paint.


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I love Star Wars, I really do. I was lucky enough to be an awe struck child when the originals hit cinemas and will always love those 3 films. I also loved R1, TFA and TLJ, but after the awful behaviour of fans online after that film, coupled with poor efforts for Solo and ROS, I sadly think we are seeing the law of diminishing returns in action. The beauty of the first trilogy was its elegant simplicity, but now I think the series is tying itself in knots as fan service. Let the past die (except maybe the odd tv series) and protect the legacy of what was great about the originals.

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For me, Star Wars has always been a swashbuckling adventure set in a fairly tale space.

And quite frankly, all the films have already proven that there is no fresh way to use these elements.

Star Wars has been told. Re-starting this will just be a rehashing, only not as good.

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I think that there is plenty that could still be done with it, as there’s really hasn’t been much new added to the mix since the original trilogy. The new trilogy, I thought, introduced us to some nice new characters, but good lord, the rest of the package was just microwaved leftovers of the original trilogy.

Surely, someone could come up with some compelling characters and set them in the same universe where the looming threat isn’t some weapon that can destroy an entire planet in one shot, and with a villain who isn’t Emperor Palpatine. It’s that kind of low bar that they need to clear that leads me to believe that something worthwhile could still be done with the property.

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Star Wars isn’t visually diverse enough. Oh look, another desert planet/blackness of space/white-walled spaceship.

Solo and Rogue One did this. But then the audience is like, “yeah, but who is Director Krennec compared to Darth Vader?” It’s hard to get worked up over smaller scale villains when they seem small-time.

But I did think Rogue one had an interesting ensemble of new characters, even more so than the sequel trilogy.

This is part of the Star Wars universe–an entire planet with a mono-climate. It’s scientifically not probable but also part of its charm, kind of like how Game of Thrones has winters and summers that last longer than years, but still has days and nights. How is that even astronomically possible? The mythology for fun fan theories.

I remember Timothy Zahn had a planet in one of his Thrawn books where a city was on rollers to stay on a dark side of a planet that was too close to its sun to have humans live on the light side.

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That was exactly why I started this thread. I was trying to propose new ideas, new characters and new villains who pose a different kind of threat. The danger isn’t mass destruction but mental manipulation and brainwashing.

Studio executive: “That isn’t big enough, man - this is Star Wars!”

Counter point: Empire Strikes Back was a smaller more character driven story and that’s generally considered the best of Star Wars. After Rise Of Skywalker anything you do will feel smaller so why not lean into it? If this successfully launch a new era then you’ve got a starting point from which you can increase the scale later. Plus if we go smaller then we could probably do it for half of what any of the newer films cost.

Studio executive: “Hey, “The Mandalorian” is smaller Star Wars already!”

Least profitable, worst reviewed on release, “fans” hated it for the retcon in 1980. Star Wars, as a series, is revisionist history. “Disney destroyed Star Wars!!!” As if they hadn’t been bitching on the prequels for years. The disney films remain the only three to have good reviews (meh in regards to TROS) financial success and, mostly, general audience approval outside of the angry corner of twitter.

That came off way more cynical than intended. I actually love your idea, it has the elements of the spin off media (Rebels, Clone Wars, Jedi Fallen Order, Rogue One, Solo etc) that I’ve loved.

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Given that movie budgets will be considerably lower in a post-COVID Hollywood, what is expected from “blockbusters” will no doubt change. There’s no reason that a smaller budget, lower-key Star Wars movie couldn’t be embraced and be profitable. Considering that lower-key just means clearing the rather high bar of the complete destruction of numerous planets, there’s plenty of room for villainous schemes that are still grand in scope while still being fresh to a Star Wars audience.

I always wanted to see some smaller movies with Luke Skywalker, loved the book "Splinter in a minds eye’ with him being the main character.
I did enjoy Solo a lot and was looking forward to another installment even if it wasn’t Ford who played the role.

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Give you context;

Aiming to hate “ That’s for viewers to find out as the episodes unfold in the coming weeks. If they can be bothered, of course“

…8 months later recommending it as one of the “ hidden gems that aren’t being talked about”

People don’t seem to move beyond secondary school thinking of what’s kule.

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Before writing this I was leafing through an old magazine, really old and weathered, from 1977 and costing the outrageous amount of DM 6,-, a months allowance. At a slender 68 pages it contains a modest compilation of production stills and background info, a few McQuarrie and Hildebrandt artworks, pre-ILM sfx, a panel of Flash Gordon comics and little posters of the Gordon serials. And that was it, all there was to know about ‘STAR WARS - The Most Exceptional Film of All Time’ as the cover claims.

And the real astounding thing is how actually little it tells. Back in 1977 we knew next to nothing. Even if you have watched the film ten times - some people did - you still had no idea about that great unknown that spread after and beyond the end titles. The world of Star Wars was as yet almost completely unexplored because it did not exist yet. Most of my peers didn’t even know about a sequel - and those who did often didn’t believe it would really be made. Star Wars was a single film and everything set in that world could still be everything it wanted to be. Just look at the Marvel comics between STAR WARS and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and you’ll see what I mean.

For the future of Star Wars I would go far into the future. Make it thousands of years, any number necessary so the protagonists live not on the ruins of the Republic but on the ruins of the ruins of what came after. (That’s how far 1977 is away…)

The inhabitants of the galaxy have forgotten about the force. Jedi are a mere myth not even faerie tales mention any more. The galaxy is mostly rich and prosperous - a peaceful and good place by most definitions where technology and robots have enabled humans and alien species to live in a kind of Elysium.

To this paradise come a species of humans who know how to use the force. Not simply an army of Jedi or Sith - a whole race who use the force like their limbs. A race that doesn’t have a concept of a light or dark side since it’s just the force, period.

And they don’t have much use for the concerns of creatures who don’t share their powers.

I’d move from there, let the protagonists suffer under their new masters so they must learn to understand their powers and ways to beat them.

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In the last few years, I’ve grown to hate talking about Star Wars. Because a handful of select individuals, write clickbait articles, armchair critics create BS videos on youtube to whine about whatever the popular sentiment is at the moment, and nostalgia-fueled thoughts have ruined creativity. It makes it just plain not fun. Why do I have to explain why I like The Last Jedi? It all plays into why I don’t really want to see new Star Wars movies for a very long time. I want something new, not some rehashed crap to remind people that things were better in the past.

I say this because what I want is something far more akin to what everyone has suggested here. Star Wars is meant to be in a huge galaxy where there are billions of stars and billions of planets. The Skywalker saga takes place in one tiny corner of it. Surely there are many stories that can be told that don’t involve the Emperor, the Skywalkers, Tatooine, or the Kessel run. Surely there can be some other galactic superthreat that doesn’t involve blowing up planets. We’ve seen incredible Star Wars stories that don’t involve the Empire: Knights of the Old Republic for example.

I like Vanya’s idea which sounds similar to the cancelled Star Wars 1313 or the cancelled game from Visceral. Couple it with what Dustin suggested, set the story thousands and thousands of years in the future. Make the Jedi a myth in a setting that would actually make sense (not 30 years after Vader’s death in Luke’s lifetime goddammit JJ). Have a religious cult rise up that uses the force, but doesn’t know what it is or understand it. Never mention the word Skywalker. Have worlds that feel real, not one climate oceans. It’s possible to make good Star Wars stories that don’t involve the Skywalkers. Rant over.

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YES, I still own that one, too! What a lovely way to get a glimpse into the way movies were promoted back then.

THIS is the first absolutely interesting idea about future Star Wars movies I have ever encountered.

Honestly, I don’t understand what the point of more Star Wars would be, particularly without the original characters. Is it just continuation for its own sake? What would make it “Star Wars”? The “universe”? That’s just “stuff”. “Oh, look, here’s some stuff you recognise from better movies”.

WRATH OF KHAN referenced Melville, Dickens, the Book of Genesis, etc. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS referenced WRATH OF KHAN. All these “franchises” and “properties” are beginning to feel like empty monuments to their own iconography and longevity. Oh, look here comes the Aston Martin DB5 with a trunk full of meta-commentary!

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I’m not necessarily sure that it would just boil down to being “stuff you recognize from better movies”. It very well could, depending on how they handle it, but given just how spotty the franchise is in terms of quality from one film to the next, I think that there’s certainly a very real chance that they could bring in filmmakers who could do something that exceeds most of the films in the current 9-film saga. One thing that they should do, however, is let it rest for a bit. Let the universe live on in a smaller format on Disney+, and wait a while before bringing it back to the big screen.

This is a huge problem these days. I, for one, if/when we get to Bond #7, would welcome them changing the brand of car for Bond. I love the Aston Martins, and you could bring them back for a special occasion here and there, but the car now seems to serve as more of a vehicle for self-reference than one that actually gets Bond from Point A to Point B.

Splinter of the minds eye was originally an idea for a low budget B movie style sequel to star wars, had it had not been the blockbuster it was, hence only like, Leia, vader and the droids are present, put of the main cast and is set on a mining world.

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