If I Ran Star Wars…

Now that I’ve fixed Star Trek, let’s fix Star Wars! What was once the largest cinematic franchise in the world has come crashing down to just another TV franchise, with a set of mostly underperforming, poorly-written shows. The Mandolorian is enjoyable and has had some great moments but let’s be honest with ourselves, it is not a great show. It is a good show.

The discarding of the expanded universe, the rewriting of characters, the deconstruction or outright negating of past events of the saga have all severely damaged the brand and produced forgettable content.

The situation is far worse than Star Trek. Here, we don’t have a Kelvin Timeline. This is canon and intended to inform all future stories. The movies alone are the most expensive set of failures in cinematic history.

So how do we fix it…

Restore George Lucas’s Vision

George Lucas’s vision is not as unique and complex as Gene Roddenberry’s. If anything, he mastered the most foundational structure in Western tradition: the hero’s journey. Star Wars is also a sci-fi action franchise from front to back. It doesn’t inhabit a unique niche, it is the best-in-class in one of the most popular lanes in genre cinema.

Sadly, Kathleen Kennedy’s writers, directors, and other creatives decided not to stand on the shoulders of geniuses. They climbed down to the ground, criticized the geniuses, then proceeded to make monuments of dirt.

Here are my rules for restoring George Lucas’s vision:

Go back to school on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, or the hero’s journey. Don’t tinker with a model that has been a proven winner over millennia.
Learn how The Force works! The Force is far more complex than mere space magic. There were far too many moments during the Kennedy era where fans yelled “that is not how the force works!”
Abandon Disney’s distorted morality and embrace the far simpler, and ethically consistent morality of the earlier movies.

This is really it. For Star Wars, it really comes down to storytelling and morality. Disney Star Wars is lacking in both areas, which is ironic given Disney’s history.

Clean Up the Canon

It is far more challenging to fix the canon of Star Wars compared to Star Trek. Simply de-canonizing movies or stories is highly traumatic and destroys the work of a lot of well intentioned people (not the writers or directors, mind you). Rather than de-canonize, I think it is better to simply work around the Disney trilogy. Ignore it. Perhaps in the future, you can reboot it in say 7 to 10 years…

Having said that, I think we can de-canonize Solo, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. These works add nothing to the canon. No one saw Solo so that one is easy. Boba Fett is unfortunate given the popularity of the character. One alternative there is to have a season two with an entirely new feel, new writers, and new directors. No more nice Boba. Then simply avoid using anything from season one.

Obi-Wan Kenobi’s audience reception was a little warmer compared to the other two. At the same time, it undermined the original trilogy and added nothing of value to canon other than a moment or two with Hayden Christensen. Although it isn’t as bashed as other new Star Wars, it is too problematic and must be de-canonized.

Focus on New Periods in the Timeline

Star Wars TV and movies have been obsessed with the Clone Wars up until A New Hope (between Episodes 2-4). Their second favorite period is post-Return of the Jedi. It is understandable given there are so many places to write into the gaps in these periods. The execution has largely been inadequate and reached a point where it has been mined of most stories of potential.

It is time to focus on new periods. The novels do this but it is time for the visual mediums to do this as well. First, there are two fascinating periods that predate The Phantom Menace. There is some potential left in the post-Return of the Jedi era and you could think about stories for post-Rise of Skywalker, although I think that period is something to explore a long time from now.

The point is, no more shows/movies based on the Clone Wars/Imperial Period. It’s been stripped clean. Move on.

The Model

Disney had the right idea in releasing TV and movies in parallel. It was executed so poorly that its easy to conclude the model was awful as well, but I truly do not think that is the case. I would propose the following model:

Winter/Spring TV show
Summer/Fall TV show that maybe leads into the movie
Theatrical release at Christmas

Two TV shows and one movie per year. Once the franchise regains it’s momentum, you could add a second movie, perhaps an early summer release like Memorial Day to put it in between the two show runs.

This doesn’t mean the TV shows must lead into the movies. That aspect of the model is a little problematic but we’ll do it for the first year and then let the movies progress on their own.

The Mandolorian and Ahsoka

There should only be two TV shows running at a time. All resources should go to these two and that’s it. Disney has clearly spread itself too thin, so the question is which shows should survive? To me, it is an easy choice: The Mandolorian and Ahsoka.

Din Djarin and Grogu have been a pleasant surprise. The next season is leading to events on Mandolore itself. Given the success of the show and the popularity of this era, I’d stick with this but the next season would run parallel to events in the next show: Ahsoka.

Ahsoka Tano is by far the most popular character not from Lucas’s movies. She got a rough start in The Clone Wars but grew to be a favorite in later animated shows as well as her cameo in The Mandolorian, with Rosario Dawson taking the role.

It isn’t clear if they hit on the casting choice so let’s see what Dawson does as a protagonist. Her story is the search for Ezra Bridger and taking on the rising threat of Thrawn. To push up the female representation, add Sabine Wren and Hera Syndulla.

Quick Sidebar on Strong Female Characters

The incredible missed opportunity by Kathleen Kennedy must be noted. She wanted more female characters in the franchise and in particular having them as the protagonists. “The Force is female,” was one of her favorite catch phrases. Many Star Wars fans did not like the intentional shift in casting but others were open to it thanks to the large number of popular female characters in the expanded universe.

Unfortunately, Kennedy discarded the expanded universe and decided to create new characters: Rey, Jyn Erso, Qi’ra, Fennec Shand, and Cara Dune.

Rey and Jyn Erso failed to connect with audiences. Rey, in particular, was highly divisive thanks to being one of the biggest Mary Sue’s in cinematic history. Jyn Erso was okay at best but obviously can’t feature much going foward. Qi’ra was a forgettable character in a bad movie. Fennec Shand is a good character largely misused in a terrible show.

The actress who played Cara Dune, Gina Carano, was fired for a trivial offense (bad tweet), one that other Star Wars cast members are guilty of to much greater magnitudes. Yet they all kept their jobs. The unfairness of her termination infuriates fans to this day.

For years, Kennedy and the people at Disney Star Wars writing rooms decided to not use the most popular female characters in Star Wars: Ahsoka FUCKING Tano, Mara Jade, Darth Talon, Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, and Mon Mothma.

We are only now getting Ahsoka and Sabine Wren in 2023. Mon Mothma features in Andor, which only premiered last year. Not launching Ahsoka in her own show or movie until 2023 is baffling and can only be attributed to ego and Kennedy’s obsession with brunettes.

Kennedy was and still is, literally, sitting on a gold mine of great female characters…

Thrawn

The Thrawn Trilogy are among the best novels from the expanded universe. Star Wars Rebels was, in part, a prequel to this trilogy that takes place after the Emperor is destroyed. Thrawn was the Emperor’s most formidable servant other than Darth Vader. He is a military genius, originating from a mysterious part of the galaxy, and has a Hannibal Lecter like personality that truly stands out in this universe.

It is tempting to make this a movie trilogy but the books aren’t strong enough for three movies. They do provide more than enough for one great film focusing on this remnant of the Empire threatening to undo the victor over Endor.

The Mandolorian and Ahsoka can both lead into this movie, without being required viewing to enjoy the film. This would include a younger Luke Skywalker (Sabastian Stan?), Princess Leia, Han Solo, and other legacy characters. I would recast all the roles and avoid using the original cast on account of their age and the fact that we no longer have Carrie Fisher with us.

For Thrawn, my top choice is Jonathan Rhys Meyers

In my mind, this is Thrawn. This is the new big baddie.

At the end of this film you can continue the other shows if you want but I would move away from this era and go to the Old Republic era.

The Revan Trilogy

The next trilogy is a no-brainer: Revan. The Knights of the Old Republic has a rich story, tons of great characters, and gives the writers freedom to work in a space with no canonical restrictions. I would recommend sticking to the big story points of the game though but I’d give plenty of leeway otherwise.

Revan and his friend Malak provides the basis for a fantastic tragedy of two heroes turned rivals. Bastila Shan is the redeeming heroine or brings Revan back. There are so many others from the games that could be incorporated as well in this grand trilogy including Darth Nihilus and Kreia

You could launch one or two spinoff shows from these movies as well. There is so much to work with, so much creative freedom, and near endless possibilities. It takes Star Wars away from its current controversial era into a new one.

I strongly believe Star Wars fans from the movies to the games would absolutely love this. I won’t go into casting choices here. Maybe that is something for a another blog. This one has gone on long enough.

Conclusion

This is my 3-4 year plan to rebuild Star Wars. Stick to only two shows and pivot back to theatrical releases. Star Wars is a movie franchise and should be restored back to being the top franchise in the world. It has always had the potential. All you need to do is fire Kennedy and find someone who actually loves Star Wars and wants to restore George Lucas’s brilliant vision.