The Lucas idea that crime bosses fill the power vacuum left by the empire is a really good one. I could take or leave everything else, but that would at least be a unique enemy that isn’t just more of the empire (though some stories with the imperial remnant are cool too,) and it makes a lot of logical sense.
I think some of that bled into The Mandalorian, at least in season 1. It starts with all frontier bounty hunting stuff because this is the aftermath of the empire’s defeat, though fragments of it are still there.
I agree. A new enemy and one which sets up a different kind of confrontation is a good idea. In one of the myriad other ‘how would you change the sequels’ threads, I suggested that they should’ve gone down a kind of James Bond route, with the galaxy in an uneasy Cold War situation, with a Spectre-like third party trying to aggravate conflict between the New Republic and the Imperial remnant. Crime bosses or a resurgent Mandalore (before season three of the Mandalorian ruined it) would have been good options for that third party.
I’d also like to have seen the Imperial Remnant reject the Sith ideology and adopt a more pragmatic militaristic outlook. Whatever darkside adepts or faction remain after RotJ might work for/with the crime syndicate but would be doing so to further their own plans that might pay off in future films.
I now think they should have done a Jedi academy-style trilogy either first or as well as a new galactic conflict trilogy. Have Luke’s Jedi searching for old Jedi temples, etc, and be confronted by darksiders trying to pillage their treasures. You could throw a revelation about Luke & Leia’s parentage into this which threatens to undermine plans to re-establish the Jedi Order & sows dissent in the ranks of his pupils.
I think the sequel trilogy that we got was both too much of a rehash of the OT & tried to cram too many things into it - like throwing mud at a wall to see what sticks. I don’t think we should’ve had any galaxy threatening super weapons in the first new trilogy. Build up to that in future films, if you do it at all.