The Future of Star Wars

I have been a fan of Star Wars all my life, I still remember how my stepfather put "Episode Six: Return of the Jedi" in our VHS player for us to watch while my mother was out. It is one of the earliest movies I can remember watching and it sparked my deep love of movies which remains with me to this day.

I fatefully went to the theater and eagerly waited in line to watch each episode as they were released, but did not feel the same magic as the saga progressed. The prequel trilogy had moments that I loved but felt not as polished or as refined as the original trilogy. The sequel trilogy started off strong with "Episode Seven: The Force Awakens" but had too many hands pushing it in too many different directions leaving the trilogy a muddled mess.

After much thought and reflection on this, I feel the franchise does need to step away from the main saga and focus on smaller stories within the Star Wars mythos. Before you light your torches and reach for your pitchforks I do need to clarify that we need spinoffs that actually can stand on their own.

Currently, there are three "spinoffs" which aren't numbered episodes but do take place within the Saga. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (movie), "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", and "Solo: A Star Wars Story". I separate these three into two groups, Group 1 is the group anyone even people who never watched Star Wars can watch and should be able to follow the plot with little outside explanation. Group 2 is canon-heavy and need more context than what the movies give for outsiders to the franchise to understand.

Group 1 is solely comprised of "Rogue One" and is an excellent example of how the spinoffs should be handled. It gives the audience all the information they need to be able to follow the plot while not throwing so many in-franchise references at the audience as to confuse the newcomers. This is exactly how the spinoffs should be handled, as doorways that will lead people who have never watched the saga or only seen a few of the Episodes to delve deeper into the plot.

In the past, I suggested that the franchise should delve into some of its darker storylines and wrote three suggested spinoff movies. Each of these could be a true spinoff, with no connection to the main saga or they could segway into the different trilogies.

Abeloth: A Star Wars Dark Side Story

"Abeloth: A Star Wars Dark Side Story" (link above) is a self-contained story set before the events of "The Force Awakens" and would end with Luke entering Ben (Kylo Ren)'s chambers as we saw in the flashback sequences throughout "The Last Jedi". It would answer the question of how Snoke and Kylo first met and how Luke first sensed the evil in Kylo.

Project Blackwing: A Star Wars Dark Side Story

"Project Blackwing: A Star Wars Dark Side Story" (link above) is a self-contained story set between "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back". It would explore the idea of The Empire developing a new weapon to replace the recently destroyed Death Star. The only connection to the main saga is the story taking place in the Star Wars universe and involving Rebels and Imperials.

The Sith Triumvirate: A Star Wars Dark Side Story

"The Sith Triumvirate: A Star Wars Dark Side Story" (link above) is a self-contained story set long before the events of the main saga. It would follow three powerful Sith lords and not involve any characters or direct connections to the main saga.

While these may not be the perfect examples of Star Wars spinoffs, they are suggestions that could progress the franchise and appeal to a more general audience.

Please be sure to read the Dark Side Stories by clicking on their names above and let me know what you think.