The Five Disney 'Star Wars' Series I Want to See

Which Ones Would You Greenlight?

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 7 min read

Disney’s taken an interesting approach with their Star Wars series. They began with The Mandalorian – a nobody in the Star Wars universe. Arguably, they wanted to test receptivity to a series. When that was, for the most part, positive, they proceeded to announce a whole raft of new series introducing familiar characters they could use as touchpoints.

But look at those characters: The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars: Andor, Ahsoka, and Lando – they’re all supporting or minor characters. The Obi-Wan Kenobi series is the exception. But you have to question what’s next? Star Wars: Finn, which follows Finn’s time as a janitor on the Starkiller Base? How about some meaty stories that explore the significant mythology? These are the five series I’d like to see.

5. The New Republic

While third-party material, such as the books, explored the establishment of the New Republic and the challenges they faced, all that material has been de-canonized. So what happened after the events of Return of the Jedi?

This would be a property that I’d set-up almost like Star Trek – a couple of years after the Endor victory, give some captain command of a new battle destroyer, the New Republic’s pride, and charge them with the task of establishing (or reestablishing) diplomatic relations with worlds, restoring peace, and pursing and eliminating the remnants of the Empire. It’s the latter that provides a lot of scope.

Return of the Jedi suggests the Empire has been toppled, which is not the case, but it was also not some pyrrhic victory where the Emperor was easily replaced. Obviously, the Empire would still have forces – ships, armies, and weapons, but in disarray – rudderless without the Emperor’s overarching leadership.

The captain and their ship could also explore rumors suggesting somebody’s taking Palpatine’s place. Most of the time, it would just be some ambitious fleet commander. But there could be an ongoing arc that ultimately reveals a Sith is stirring. Like Star Trek, the ship would have an ensemble crew. I’d even include a Jedi apprentice who Luke Skywalker has sent to be his liaison. Then you could also have guest appearances from legacy characters, or references to them as being part of the New Republic’s hierarchy.

4. Mace Windu

I can picture this already: an elderly Mace Windu (played by Samuel L. Jackson) talking to somebody off-screen, and explaining his origin. This would also resurrect Mace and prove that he didn’t die in Revenge of the Sith. Mace could have humble beginnings, discover he’s Force-sensitive, and apprentice to a Jedi Master (a new character).

Of course, you then need a grand story to work as the framework. At the time Mace is a Padawan, you’d imagine that Palpatine is apprentice to Darth Plagueis. Of course, we can’t have Mace becoming aware of Palpatine, because that would conflict with the events of the prequel trilogy. But it’s interesting to extrapolate from Darth Plagueis’s existence. Does he have another apprentice? Or are there other Sith?

The Sith have this Master and Apprentice dichotomy, but it’s something that can be flexed creatively to generate more Sith apprentices. If I was a Sith Lord, I’d have five apprentices stationed in different locations so that they never interacted.

Something like this could give Mace and his Jedi Master an arc to investigate the Sith’s possible resurrection. This could subtly introduce antagonists to be used in future properties. The explanation of Snoke, for example, was trite. Imagine he was some Sith apprentice who stayed on the Outer Rim because he was afraid to tangle with Palpatine, but could move once Palpatine was gone? (Palpatine might've been responsible for his disfigurement.)

As far as this series goes, it could end with the death of Darth Plagueis and one of his apprentices, but leave audiences with the fear that another might still be out there, alive and well.

3. Empire

The prequels and original trilogy detail the rise and fall of the Empire, but we know so little about it other than it’s meant to be the embodiment of evil tyranny. But how does it work? Where do the crews and officers come from? Are they conscripted? If not, why would you get involved in the Empire when failure results in Darth Vader choking you to death? Are the stormtroopers exclusively clones? If not, when and why does the Empire fall away from that practice?

Something else I’d like to see is the Empire’s tyranny at work. Outside of the Empire using the Death Star to blow up Alderaan in A New Hope, we don’t see much of their villainy (outside of how they treat the Rebels). Why must the Empire be overthrown? What are they doing that’s so evil? Let us see it. Let us see their tyranny across the galaxy. Let’s see them terrify people. Let’s see a galaxy brought to its knees. Let us see them be so cruel and fascist that you’re just begging for them to be destroyed.

It would be nice to see the series from two perspectives, such as siblings: one would enter the Empire and be given the task of eradicating resistance and the other forsakes the Empire after the slaughter of innocents and helps formulate the Rebellion. Then there’d be these parallel pathways, as well as conflicts of interest, that could drive the story leading to a final confrontation between the two.

2. Leia

We know Luke grew up on Tattooine, there’s probably not much more to it than he was a whiny bumpkin who knew little else until Uncle Owen bought C3PO and R2D2. Solo: A Star Wars Story scratched the surface of a Han Solo story but didn’t do it the justice Han Solo deserves. Its biggest problem? It gave us a ready-made Han Solo. When we meet him, he’s already a great soldier, a brilliant pilot, an adept gambler, and can speak Wookie. It would’ve been nice to see him come into these skills, I would’ve thought that was the purpose of a prequel.

This is where you could do so much based on Princess Leia Organa. What we know from Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is that Leia was placed in the care of Senator Bail Organa. Bail must’ve been part of forming the Rebels given he entrusts Leia with the mission of soliciting Obi-Wan Kenobi’s help. But what happened in-between?

A series could follow Leia as she grows, is introduced to political life, and then becomes an active part of the Rebels – if not one of the architects. You have a whole cadre of Rebel characters from the original trilogy you could recruit into the narrative, such as Mon Mothma and Ackbar.

At this time, the Senate is still functioning – how democratically, we have no idea. The Emperor dissolves it in A New Hope. Perhaps outspoken politicians, like Bail Organa, could represent opposition. You could even have scenes of Emperor Palpatine addressing the senate and Force-choking opposition or coming to Alderaan for visits of state.

Let's not forget the end of Revenge of the Sith had the Senate applauding Palpatine's denouement. How awesome would it be to see the Senate's realization that something insidious has been born and is spreading its tendrils across the galaxy?

We’d get to see the Empire’s oppression and the growing terror of the danger that the Death Star – still under construction – will represent. We'd see the systematic loss of democracy and the galaxy's breakdown into something feudal. There is so much to play with here that could act as a bridge between the prequels and the original trilogy.

1. Palpatine

Palpatine is this absolute figure in the original trilogy. While the prequels follow his rise to power, they don’t explore much of who he is. About the most we get is that he was apprenticed to Darth Plagueis. But that means little because we have no idea who he is either. So how about a series on Palpatine?

The story could follow Palpatine as he discovers he is Force-sensitive and explore why he decides to brook the Jedi as an option and go on a quest to discover the ways of the Sith. Here, we’d eventually be introduced to Darth Plagueis and follow Palpatine’s apprenticeship.

That’s one thing that the prequels lacked: what was Palpatine’s motivation? What did becoming Emperor give him that he felt he so desperately needed? Riches? They seem unimportant for a Sith. Worship? I don’t think he cares. Power? Well, again, that goes back to asking why he wanted it. Pursuing power for the sake of having power seems redundant – especially when you’re a Sith.

I’d always hoped one of these Trilogies would delve deeper into Sith motivations. Did they want to turn the whole galaxy Sith? If so, what did that mean? Did they derive more power? That’s all just speculation. But, overall, it would’ve been nice to be given a bit more context.

Written by LeKoupa

Syndicated from Culture Slate

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