logo Sign In

How would you handle a hard reboot of all nine episodes of Star Wars?

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Inspired by this article. Relevant but far more radical video.

So here’s the situation: Lucasfilm has reached to you after being thoroughly impressed by the career film directing you definitely had. Their request? Remake all nine episodes of Star Wars.

Now of course that sounds insane. Blasphemy, surely! And yeah, to an extent, remakes would be redundant. The films have problems, but remaking them might be overkill…or would it be? You decide.

Anyway, you have to chance to take films made by three vastly different teams with different levels of technology where the only consistent part of the story is how much they’re making up as they go along. Thus, a version that’s all planned from the start could look very different.

I’m sure Palpatine wouldn’t appear to be killed in RotJ, and we’d probably only have one Death Star. The OT as a whole would obviously look much more modern. The aesthetic of the Galaxy would probably more consistent, with each trilogy seeming equally different as opposed to the ST being a spitshined OT while the PT does its own thing. Of course, I’d cut Leia being Luke’s sister, but I realize that’s a hot take. Cutting Rey being Palpatine, though, is not.

Author
Time

I wouldn’t make a reboot. Instead, I’d pitch to them my original idea for a story set hundreds of years after the sequel trilogy, and they’d be so impressed by it that they’d give me full creative control for a 6 movie saga.

Boom, problem solved. 😉

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

Author
Time

Padme openly forms the rebellion with Mon Mothma
Padme tries to kill Anakin
Padme and Obi-Wan are a thing
Palpatine’s ascension is less “machiavellian 4-D chess” and more “Fascist strongman preys on the weak”
Boba Fett has nothing to do with the clones.
Luke and Leia aren’t related
Rey Nobody
Finn and Rey are both openly force sensitive
Finn and Poe are soulmates

Author
Time

Padme and Obi-Wan are a thing

As the characters exist currently this would feel totally out of character.

Palpatine’s ascension is less “machiavellian 4-D chess” and more “Fascist strongman preys on the weak”

Aww, but Machiavellian 4D chess is so much fun!

Luke and Leia aren’t related

Thank you!

Author
Time

Anakin Starkiller said:

Oh I’d love to see a new saga set 100 years after the current one.

It wouldn’t just be 100 years, it would be full centuries, maybe even millennia. By that point, the events of the main saga would be all but forgotten, and no one would have any clue that the Jedi and Sith existed. But eventually, the Force becomes unbalanced again, leading to people once again being able to feel the Force. When they don’t even know what these strange powers are, how do they deal with them?

It’s the story I wanted to see in the sequel trilogy, but didn’t end up getting.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

Author
Time

It wouldn’t suit the Sequels cuz they’re supposed to be Episodes VII-IX.

Author
Time

Anakin Starkiller said:

It wouldn’t suit the Sequels cuz they’re supposed to be Episodes VII-IX.

What does that have to do with anything? I’ve always considered episodes 1-6 to be the main saga, so episodes 7-9 can be whatever the creators want. It doesn’t have to be directly connected to the main saga.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

Author
Time

If one had the entire saga to reboot, surely the story would be quite different. You could seriously iron out the kinks and apparent retcons.
Would one be obliged to stick to certain key points?

Only one Death Star. ROTJ’s battle centers around a fleet or an attack on the Emperor’s person on Coruscant. No Starkiller Base, either.

Anakin’s origins are shrouded, with no virgin birth stuff. Prophecy is fine, but it would later be subtly implied to be a sort of ongoing thing, like anyone can be anointed as a chosen one by their actions.

Rey Nobody, to go along with the above.

We get to know the Sith with exposition and seeing them scheme, perhaps with Plagueis being the shadowy villain for TPM. We should have some sense of their history.

The third trilogy would delve into mystical aspects of the Force and balance, perhaps letting us know the Whills. Something to elevate them thematically over what we already saw in the second trilogy.

Really, though, if I had 9 guaranteed films to sketch out, I’d let 1-5 be similar to what we know of the existing saga at their basic plots, and then replace 6 with a 6-9 worth of stuff as Luke finds his lost twin and faces Palpatine in an Ep9 showdown.

My stance on revising fan edits.

Author
Time

The Prequel Trilogy would be an easy remake.

Age up Anakin in TPM, give the movie some attitude with his hot rod racing and contrast this against the doctrinal Jedi Order. Cut Qui-gon and give Obi-wan the agency to take him under his wing and train him.

For AOTC, make Anakin more sympathetic with an express goal of freeing his mother and the rest of the slaves in the galaxy, which gives him justification for wanting more power for the galactic government to fight injustice.

ROTS stays with Anakin as he more gradually loses his humanity to wounds suffered as he fights battles to ostensibly bring the lawless planets of the Outer Rim under Republic security, but he gets word that his mother has died before he reaches Tatooine. The Jedi oppose him in believing that he has gone too far, and Anakin genuinely believes that Obi-wan and the Jedi would let the galaxy burn to uphold the status quo.

The Original Trilogy should not be remade. Therefore, the best way to go about that is to make an alternate Episode 4 and 5 which could exist alongside the originals instead of supplanting them, with the end of Episode 5 beginning a new branch of continuity which will overwrite the Sequels.

The story of Episode 4 would follow Vader as he searches for the Rebels in protecting the Empire he helped create. We see him maskless several times, a figure who has sacrificed everything to safeguard the galaxy from injustice. He recognizes that the Empire does evil, but he always has a justification ready at hand. After the destruction of Alderaan he has a crisis of faith in his Empire. He contacts the Emperor, who assures him that when he takes command of the station he will punish Tarkin severely for his rash actions. The battle with Obi-wan on the Death Star is presented without cuts, with new lines and slightly enhanced choreography where Obi-wan berates him for the destruction of a peaceful world, but Anakin eschews responsibility and blames Tarkin. In his final battle with Luke, Anakin realizes that the boy could actually destroy the Death Star and so intentionally misses Luke’s X-wing, allowing him to take the fatal shot. After his narrow escape, he believes that the Force left him alive so that he could overthrow the evil Emperor and set the Empire to rights.

Episode 5 shows the moment when Anakin realizes that Skywalker is his son, and the film documents his quest to capture him. He is plagued by visions where Luke rejects his offer and throws himself into the bottomless pit, and knows that the future is always in motion. When the pivotal moment is reached, Luke accepts Anakin’s offer and goes with him to the Emperor, and there the Emperor is defeated. However, at that moment Luke turns on Anakin and tries to destroy him. The attempt fails but Luke escapes back to the Rebellion and the Empire devolves into chaos and infighting.

Episode 6 chronicles Anakin’s attempt to win back his son, a son who views his father as evil incarnate. The Alliance has grown in a year so much that it now rivals the weakened Empire. The film contains the final battle between father and son, one trying to bring order to the galaxy through Imperial rule and the other attempting to revert the galaxy to a state of weakened democracy. Anakin finally convinces Luke that to dissolve the Empire would bring decades of chaos and unrest, so in the final battle Luke kills his father and takes Anakin’s place on the throne, ending the war and reconciling the Empire and Rebel Alliance. In the final scene Luke declares this union to be a theocratic First Order, ruled by an order of Jedi Knights and backed up by the power of the Imperial machine.

Episodes 7-9 detail the ruin of this theocratic republic, which takes the worst aspects of the Republic and the Empire and merges them into one. Ben Skywalker, son of Luke Skywalker, must discover in the netherworld of the Force a way in which to transform the government into something which upholds the original philosophy of the Jedi.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

Author
Time

I guess since so many people are coming up with reboot ideas for the saga, I should try to come up with my own rather than copping out. So, imagine that I initially pitched my “hundreds of years later” idea, but they didn’t like it, so I caved to studio pressure and made a series of remakes for the entire saga. Here’s what it would look like:

Episode 1 would start with teenager Anakin Lars and his brother Owen on Tatooine. Suddenly, they see troop ships descending from the sky, and realize that the evil Separatists have begun invading the planet with their battle droid army. They frantically rush to a nearby spaceport to escape, and on the way bump into two Jedi named Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, who were part of a failed attempt to negotiate with the Separatists. With the help of Anakin’s piloting skills, they escape the Separatist blockade. However, they don’t have enough hyperfuel to warn the Republic capital of the attack, and so they decide to make a pit stop on the beautiful planet of Naboo. There, they meet Padme, the senator of the planet. Padme agrees to help them negotiate once they get to Coruscant, and she joins their crew. However, they end up being attacked by the mysterious Sith warrior Darth Maul, making them realize that the Sith have returned. Once they get to Coruscant, the plot is mostly the same, except with Naboo replaced with Tatooine, and Anakin being more mature since he’s older. The story ends with Anakin destroying the Separatist droid control ship, Qui-Gon being killed by Darth Maul, Obi-Wan seemingly killing Darth Maul, and Obi-Wan reluctantly agreeing to train Anakin.

I’ll post plot summaries for the rest of the saga later.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Some generalities:

  • The setting would be our own Milky Way, in “the 33rd century A.E.”, some 25,000 years into the future.
  • The Galactic Republic/Empire would span a million worlds, with the entire known galaxy in toto spanning 25% of the Milky Way.
  • Though not particularly speciesist, the Galactic Republic would be an almost entirely human/near-human domain. There’d be very few member worlds with significant non-human populations, and human/non-human admixture would be almost unheard of outside the Outer Rim territories.
  • Strong AI wouldn’t exist. Droids such as Artoo & Threepio would be cyborgs — robot bodies controlled by cultured organic brains.
  • There wouldn’t be manned fightercraft, but remote-controlled/robot fighters. Remote-controlled fighters would have some advantage over robots, as organic pilots can outwit the weak AI of robot fighters. However, in the event of remote-controlled fighters receiving heavy damage, feedback through the neural interface would kill/brain-damage organic controllers.
  • Lightsabers would be entirely mystical, non-technological weapons which could only be constructed/ignited by trained Force adepts. At the heart of every lightsaber would be a kyber crystal, its colour shaped by the psyche/preferences of the adept who meditated over it. The lightsaber blade would be paper-thin with monomolecular edges, capable of cutting through almost any material by severing covalent bonds.
  • Force-sensitivity wouldn’t be genetic; it wouldn’t be inherited patrilineally, and clones of Force-sensitives wouldn’t inherit their template’s Force-sensitivity. However, Force-sensitivity would often pass on matrilineally, and if one child in a set of twins is Force-sensitive, their sibling(s) would invariably be Force-sensitive as well.
  • All space flight/space combat would be three-dimensional.
  • Single-biome worlds capable of supporting complex life would be rare/marginally habitable. Life on Hoth would be limited to the equator, life on Tatooine to the poles, etc.
  • Hyperspace travel would be relatively slow. Travel between Tatooine and Alderaan (both Outer Rim planets) would take five days along a good hyperlane.

I’ll go into more plot/character-specific details later.

Author
Time

Sounds interesting, Duracell. A hard sci-fi version of Star Wars would be a neat experience.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Episode 5 shows the moment when Anakin realizes that Skywalker is his son, and the film documents his quest to capture him. He is plagued by visions where Luke rejects his offer and throws himself into the bottomless pit, and knows that the future is always in motion. When the pivotal moment is reached, Luke accepts Anakin’s offer and goes with him to the Emperor, and there the Emperor is defeated. However, at that moment Luke turns on Anakin and tries to destroy him. The attempt fails but Luke escapes back to the Rebellion and the Empire devolves into chaos and infighting.

Isn’t that basically TLJ?

Episode 1 would start with teenager Anakin Lars and his brother Owen on Tatooine. Suddenly, they see troop ships descending from the sky, and realize that the evil Separatists have begun invading the planet with their battle droid army. They frantically rush to a nearby spaceport to escape, and on the way bump into two Jedi named Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, who were part of a failed attempt to negotiate with the Separatists. With the help of Anakin’s piloting skills, they escape the Separatist blockade. However, they don’t have enough hyperfuel to warn the Republic capital of the attack, and so they decide to make a pit stop on the beautiful planet of Naboo. There, they meet Padme, the senator of the planet. Padme agrees to help them negotiate once they get to Coruscant, and she joins their crew. However, they end up being attacked by the mysterious Sith warrior Darth Maul, making them realize that the Sith have returned. Once they get to Coruscant, the plot is mostly the same, except with Naboo replaced with Tatooine, and Anakin being more mature since he’s older. The story ends with Anakin destroying the Separatist droid control ship, Qui-Gon being killed by Darth Maul, Obi-Wan seemingly killing Darth Maul, and Obi-Wan reluctantly agreeing to train Anakin.

What does swapping Tatooine and Naboo accomplish, really? I think it was better the other way around.

Hyperspace travel would be relatively slow. Travel between Tatooine and Alderaan (both Outer Rim planets) would take five days along a good hyperlane.

I like that.

Author
Time

Anakin Starkiller said:

Episode 5 shows the moment when Anakin realizes that Skywalker is his son, and the film documents his quest to capture him. He is plagued by visions where Luke rejects his offer and throws himself into the bottomless pit, and knows that the future is always in motion. When the pivotal moment is reached, Luke accepts Anakin’s offer and goes with him to the Emperor, and there the Emperor is defeated. However, at that moment Luke turns on Anakin and tries to destroy him. The attempt fails but Luke escapes back to the Rebellion and the Empire devolves into chaos and infighting.

Isn’t that basically TLJ?

So you noticed 😉

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

Author
Time

Anakin Starkiller said:

What does swapping Tatooine and Naboo accomplish, really? I think it was better the other way around.

It gives Anakin more of a personal stake in the story, allows for us to have one POV character for the entire trilogy, and explains the hatred of droids in ANH. I’ve seen the idea of a Separatist occupation of Tatooine floated before, and I really like it.

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Some more generalities I neglected to list last time:

  • My reboot would be R-rated. There’d be heavier gore; lightsabers wouldn’t cauterize wounds, and blasterfire would have a literally explosive effect on unshielded flesh. There’d also be nudity and sex.
  • Stormtroopers would be formidable cyborg clone soldiers outfitted with advanced reactive armour.
Author
Time

I’d follow the same story exactly, but as an animated series.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

It’s taken me a little while to get my thoughts on a PT reboot in order. Here’s my vision of a remade Episode I:

A thousand years have passed since the Great Sith War. The Galactic Republic has fallen under the dominion of megacorporations and crime syndicates, which wage countless proxy wars with one another. The Jedi Knights — once decentralized, anarchist warrior-monks who served the peoples of the Republic irrespective of the state — have become a hierarchical police force answerable to the Senate and its corporate masters.

The Galactic Republic chancery election is underway. The two primary nominees are Finis Valorum, the incumbent supreme chancellor, and Ethril Palpatine, Senator of Alderaan. Palpatine is a youthful, androgynous man of stunning physical beauty, with platinum blond hair and intense yellow eyes. He is a populist candidate, quite vocal about his goal to reform the Senate and place sanctions on the megacorporations.

Alderaan is one of the few planets which has managed to remain autonomous from corporate control. It is inhabited by two races: Human colonists and the native Gunga. Though the Alderaanians and Gunga have managed to avoid armed conflict for centuries, they share a mutual contempt and distrust.

Sido-Dyas, the Dark Lord of the Sith, enlists the aid of Nute Gunray, viceroy of the Trade Federation, to obtain control of Alderaan. Sido-Dyas, garbed in white raiment, face hidden beneath a hooded cloak, voice mechanically distorted, is the last of the Sith; he has no apprentices. Gunray, along with his aide, Rune Haako, are tall, gaunt near-Humans.

Hiring the Mandalorian Death Watch, Gunray establishes a blockade around Alderaan, demanding the Royal House cede control of the system to the Trade Federation. When the Royal House fails to acquiesce, Gunray orders the Mandalorians to invade, intent on deposing the Royal House and installing their own puppet government.

Stationed on Alderaan when the Mandalorians invade are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Amidala Skywalker, the Jedi watchmen of the system. Obi-Wan, in a polyamorous relationship with Siri’s biological parents Anakin Skywalker and Siri Tachi, is the 14-year-old Amidala’s second father and instructor. As with most Jedi, they wear militaristic black uniforms and carry blue lightsabers.

Living on Alderaan is 13-year-old Darth Vader. He is the only child of the widowed Shmi Vader.

As the Mandalorians invade Theed, the Jedi flee with 9-year-old Prince Bail Organa and his bodyguards. The spaceport is captured before they can steal a ship, forcing them to make the long detour to Otoh Gunga to obtain help from the Gunga. Along the way they meet Darth, whose mother was murdered by the Mandalorians, and take him under their wing. Travelling together, Obi-Wan and Amidala grow aware of Darth’s strong connection to the Force. A friendship is kindled between Obi-Wan and Darth, and the seeds of something more between Darth and Amidala.

The Alderaanians and Jedi arrive in Otoh Gunga. Supplicating himself before Governor Nass, Bail earns the generosity of the Gunga; they give the Humans access to their fastest, most heavily shielded starship. Obi-Wan commands Amidala to take Bail and Darth and escape to the nearest friendly world, while he will remain behind to aid the Gunga when the Mandalorians finally attack their city. Darth adamantly refuses to leave; he will stay with Obi-Wan on Alderaan to do what he can. Amidala takes the ship into space, meeting the heavily armed Mandalorian warships orbiting. The small ship takes heavy damage, but Amidala’s unmatched skill enables her to evade annihilation and break the blockade.

Back on Coruscant, the counting of votes is finalized. Ethril Palpatine is sworn in as the new Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.

The Mandalorian forces come upon the vast lake containing Otoh Gunga. In wait for them is the Gungan army. The two sides meet in battle. Though formidable, the Gunga are outnumbered and outgunned; they fall before the Mandalorians, leaving Otoh Gunga open to invasion.

Amidala makes it to Chandrila, where she meets with the Chandrillan leaders; they agree to dispatch their fleet to drive the Trade Federation from Alderaan.

The Mandalorians invade Otoh Gunga. Thousands of Gungan citizens are slain. The battle ends in a pyrrhic victory for the Gunga.

Engaged in battle with Death Watchmen, Obi-Wan is very nearly slain by the Mandalorians. This, in combination with anger over Shmi’s death, drives Darth into a berserker rage; empowered by the dark side, he slaughters each and every one of the Mandalorians, using undreamt-of telekinetic abilities to literally tear them limb from limb. Witness to this massacre, Obi-Wan is astonished and frightened by the boy’s raw power.

The fleet from Chandrila arrives. The Trade Federation is beaten back and driven off. Alderaan is free once again.

Several weeks later, Obi-Wan, Amidala, and Darth arrive on Coruscant. There they are greeted warmly by Anakin and Siri.

Obi-Wan takes Darth before the Jedi Council, seeking permission to train the boy as a Jedi. They test the boy, but decide further deliberation is in order before a final verdict can be given.

Later, Obi-Wan meets with the Jedi master Yoda in his private chambers. Obi-Wan tells the wizened master of Darth’s incredible feat with the Force and the deep rage which fueled it, of his fear at what may happen if the boy is left to his own devices. Yoda, sharing Obi-Wan’s trepidation, grants him his permission to train Darth.

After his induction into the Jedi Order, Darth is taken to meet Chancellor Palpatine. Quite friendly, Palpatine remarks he will watch Darth’s career with great interest.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Having given it more thought, I’d expand the saga to twelve films — three main trilogies & three standalone films preceeding/bridging the trilogies.

  • Episode I: Prologue (Obi-Wan/Anakin origin)
  • Episode II: Clone Wars I
  • Episode III: Clone Wars II
  • Episode IV: Clone Wars III
  • Episode V: Interlude I (Purge)
  • Episode VI: Star Wars I
  • Episode VII: Star Wars II
  • Episode VIII: Star Wars III
  • Episode IX: Interlude II (Thrawn)
  • Episode X: Sequel I
  • Episode XI: Sequel II
  • Episode XII: Sequel III