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Post #1216327

Author
NeverarGreat
Parent topic
Ranking the Star Wars films
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1216327/action/topic#1216327
Date created
12-Jun-2018, 9:11 PM

When writing my alternate prequel trilogy, it took a long time (several years) to stop writing imitations of the OT in the prequel era. The thing is, I had to get my mind into a ‘Star Wars’ place in order to write something that feels like the OT, and it was only on re-reading it that the imitation of the plot and theme became obvious. TFA and TLJ suffer from this problem a lot. TFA is the more obvious since it’s a love letter to the trilogy, but even TLJ’s deconstruction requires the situations of the originals.

Creating a good Star Wars sequel requires understanding the essence of the originals and not just their surface trappings - what the films are really about - and then taking the next thematically resonant step in the story. When I was thinking about a theoretical sequel trilogy before TFA came out, the story in my mind was to be about how to teach, and how to lead. This was the obvious next step after our heroes overthrew the Empire and became leaders and teachers in the New Republic. The reason that these sequels feel superfluous in my opinion is that TFA avoids this almost entirely, and TLJ approaches it sideways with Luke’s failure. However, if JJ recognizes the opportunity of Episode 9 to deal head on with this issue, especially through Rey and Kylo, then it could be the first really essential Star Wars sequel after ROTJ.