towne32 said:

So. What does everyone think of the possibility of OT characters dying in VII? (I'd rather discuss it now, as opposed to down the road when the spoilers may or may not be floating around).

I think there's a pretty good chance of Luke or Han biting the dust. Harrison has said that he thought Solo should die in V or VI. And I've read that Lucas only kept him alive at the end of Jedi for marketing purposes? (true?). Plus they might be concerned about getting him back for VIII and IX, if nothing is signed yet.

The more I see of Mark Hamill this year, the more convinced I am that he's going to pull off this role and won't just be shown in a scene for fandom to check off a box. But they might want to have him struck down to pass the torch to the next star. A bit too predictable to do it exactly like that, though.

The only one I'm pretty certain will die in the sequel trilogy is Luke. Going the Obi-Wan route and becoming a Force ghost to appear in a few scenes in each film.

On many sites I've read about Ford disliking Han and desiring him to die in Return of the Jedi. He may well get his wish in these sequels. I'm unsure about him at this point. If Han dies Chewie will too. Going out with the Millennium Falcon.

I don't see Leia dying. Right now I'm guessing they'll be taking a Mon Mothma approach to her character and she'll offer intelligence from various spies throughout the sequel series or she may become somewhat of a female Yoda training younger Jedi. Hopefully eschewing the prequel habit of favoring lightsaber brawn over Force might.

C3PO and R2-D2 are assuredly going to survive the entire sequel trilogy trip.