Should Jacen, Jaina, and Mara be in the newer films? — Page 2

Darth Lars said:

When I say "fan", I am talking about people who are real fans, not just people who like Star Wars. Practically everyone likes Star Wars, but not everyone is a fan. The fan community is so much larger than the OT-diehards on this forum who see Star Wars as being only the three original movies.

Every person that I know personally who I would classify as being a Star Wars fan has read at least one book in the post-ROTJ EU continuity. People know and like these characters. For example, in my local 501st Garrison alone, there is soon to be a third Mara Jade costumer.

Star Wars fans tend to buy not only books but a whole lot of other merchandise, and that has provided for a a significant portion of Lucasfilm's revenue in-between the movies.

Ah, yes -- the groupthink mentality. How keen.

Back around 2009 when they decided to jump ahead a hundred years in the continuity for the Legacy comics, I figured part of why they were doing it was to provide a huge empty space should a sequel trilogy happen someday. Meanwhile, they continued to write the ongoing adventures of Han, Luke and Leia in the novels.

They could've set Episode VII within the existing continuity if they'd wanted to. They didn't need to address much of what'd happened in the intervening 40 years, just that Chewie had died at some point, Luke was a widower with a son, Han and Leia had a daughter and granddaughter, etc.

I honestly believe they could've gotten away with picking up Episode VII at wherever the books were up to and still told a fresh, engaging and original story that would please the movie-only fans.

The simple answer to all of this is that Lucas never should've adopted the stance of "there is no Episode VII" because c'mon, how they hell else was this franchise ever gonna continue in any meaningful way? Yeah, there was the live-action tv series they dragged their feet on, but they were never gonna settle just for that.

What George could've (and probably should've) done is take a more supervisory role in the post-RotJ EU, saying "Maybe I'll make Episode VII someday, but in the meantime here's the history of what happened to our heroes after Endor."

Hell, I always assumed that keeping Han, Luke and Leia alive in the books was the contingency plan should Lucasfilm suddenly decide to make Episode VII.

Fang Zei said:

Back around 2009 when they decided to jump ahead a hundred years in the continuity for the Legacy comics, I figured part of why they were doing it was to provide a huge empty space should a sequel trilogy happen someday. Meanwhile, they continued to write the ongoing adventures of Han, Luke and Leia in the novels.

They could've set Episode VII within the existing continuity if they'd wanted to. They didn't need to address much of what'd happened in the intervening 40 years, just that Chewie had died at some point, Luke was a widower with a son, Han and Leia had a daughter and granddaughter, etc.

I honestly believe they could've gotten away with picking up Episode VII at wherever the books were up to and still told a fresh, engaging and original story that would please the movie-only fans.

There's no way in hell I'd have been able to enjoy an ST set in the Legacy era -- just knowing the movies were set in that timeframe alone would have ruined it for me.

"Oh, Luke, Han, and Leia are going on another adventure! Well, shucks, I already know it won't amount to anything 'cause in a hundred years the Empire will be back and the Sith will control the galaxy once again!"

Yeah, count me in among the many who are glad the post-ROTJ EU was jettisoned from the canon. It isn't worth keeping the Thrawn Trilogy, the Corellian Trilogy, and all the other various post-ROTJ EU stories I like in continuity if the Legacy era is also included.

DuracellEnergizer said: There's no way in hell I'd have been able to enjoy an ST set in the Legacy era -- just knowing the movies were set in that timeframe alone would have ruined it for me.

Seconded.

"Should Jacen, Jaina, and Mara be in the newer films?"

God, no.  They are the reason I quit the EU.  It sounds like they are going in a totally new direction, and I think that's just peachy. 

KilroyMcFadden said:

"Should Jacen, Jaina, and Mara be in the newer films?"

God, no.  They are the reason I quit the EU.

They themselves or the crap that was done with (or to) them down the line? 

The newer films can never replace the Thrawn trilogy.  Those will always be the true episodes 7, 8, and 9, the way I see it.

Maybe the movies will be good, maybe they won't.  I lean towards the second possibility . . . but regardless of their potential quality, just the fact that they exist pisses me off.

Nothing that Jar Jar Abrams and his cohorts do will ever be worth a damn, because these movies are not sequels to the real original trilogy.  They are sequels to the special editions and the prequels, and since I've already negated the existence of those, the new movies are relagated to the same apocryphal status.

The real story of what happened after the original trilogy was already told by Timothy Zahn over 20 years ago.  The fact that most of the rest of the EU sucks dog balls does not in any way diminish that.  This is my final word on the matter and opinions to the contrary leave me entirely unmoved.

Nah, that would ruin the whole point why they made the post-ROTJ stuff non-canon in the first place.

hairy_hen said:

The newer films can never replace the Thrawn trilogy.  Those will always be the true episodes 7, 8, and 9, the way I see it.

Maybe the movies will be good, maybe they won't.  I lean towards the second possibility . . . but regardless of their potential quality, just the fact that they exist pisses me off.

Nothing that Jar Jar Abrams and his cohorts do will ever be worth a damn, because these movies are not sequels to the real original trilogy.  They are sequels to the special editions and the prequels, and since I've already negated the existence of those, the new movies are relagated to the same apocryphal status.

The real story of what happened after the original trilogy was already told by Timothy Zahn over 20 years ago.  The fact that most of the rest of the EU sucks dog balls does not in any way diminish that.  This is my final word on the matter and opinions to the contrary leave me entirely unmoved.

Pretty much my opinion on the matter as well. It doesn't matter if the ST turns out good or bad, I already have my own personal vision of the post-ROTJ era of the SW Galaxy mapped out and the sequels with never mesh with it. 

hairy_hen said:

The newer films can never replace the Thrawn trilogy.  Those will always be the true episodes 7, 8, and 9, the way I see it.

Maybe the movies will be good, maybe they won't.  I lean towards the second possibility . . . but regardless of their potential quality, just the fact that they exist pisses me off.

Nothing that Jar Jar Abrams and his cohorts do will ever be worth a damn, because these movies are not sequels to the real original trilogy.  They are sequels to the special editions and the prequels, and since I've already negated the existence of those, the new movies are relagated to the same apocryphal status.

The real story of what happened after the original trilogy was already told by Timothy Zahn over 20 years ago.  The fact that most of the rest of the EU sucks dog balls does not in any way diminish that.  This is my final word on the matter and opinions to the contrary leave me entirely unmoved.

 Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of my Mom's bed.

Darth Lars said:

For example, in my local 501st Garrison alone, there is soon to be a third Mara Jade costumer.

NeverarGreat said:

So I take it that Jacen, Jaina, and Mara should not be in the newer films.

Not if they're placed there just to appease the fanboys, at any rate. 

Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of my Mom's bed.

She said she was hoping that Jar Jar Abrams was going to start paying her with laserdisc audio, and I'm afraid I didn't take the news well.  My apologies.  ;)

Darth Lars said:

When I say "fan", I am talking about people who are real fans, not just people who like Star Wars. Practically everyone likes Star Wars, but not everyone is a fan. The fan community is so much larger than the OT-diehards on this forum who see Star Wars as being only the three original movies.

Every person that I know personally who I would classify as being a Star Wars fan has read at least one book in the post-ROTJ EU continuity. People know and like these characters. For example, in my local 501st Garrison alone, there is soon to be a third Mara Jade costumer.

Star Wars fans tend to buy not only books but a whole lot of other merchandise, and that has provided for a a significant portion of Lucasfilm's revenue in-between the movies.
That is why I say that I think that Lucasfilm would be disrespectful to the fans if they just ditched the post-ROTJ EU continuity outright.

 

 Could you give us a clearer rubric of what makes people a real fan? I'd hate to think I'm associating with fake fans. Perhaps a questionnaire, or a quiz. Is it a binary REAL/FAKE or can their be a sliding scale, perhaps 1-5? Does the thickness of the books they read matter? The Battle-Star Medic books were kind of thin. Do they count as much as "I, Jedi?" 

Please let us know. Your categorizing of Star Wars enthusiasts is vital to the ongoing health of the fandom.

You can distinguish true fans from the fakes ones with a simple pH test. If there's lots of acid in their system, they're true born-and-bred SW fans. If they're mostly alkaline, however, you know you have poseurs in your midst.

Not only I'm pleased the EU will not be used in the new movies (they can keep some planets, even some secondary characters if they want to, I would not mind. After all they also bought the rights of the EU...) but I think it would have been a big middle to the fans to USE the EU. (like if they did not even bother to find something new to tell... ya know.)

And once again I find myself saying it in a thread: Lucas always said that if new movies would be done he kept the right to tell something completly different. I'm not a EU expert but I guess that is exactly what happened when the PT where made. There are surely some aspects of the the prequels in contradiction with the "post PT" EU. No? Why would Lucas should have been worried about the EU when he wrote the basic stories for the sequels when he obviously did not give a shit about it when he made the prequels (well, maybe he should have gave a shit about one or two things, but that another story..)

Plus: it would have been a real letdown, as an audience, to know more or less what to expect in the sequels.

Not taking care of the EU in order to make the new movies was the right thing to do. Of course this does not mean the new movies will be good or bad. Just that it was the most logical approach.

Best story to me would be if Leia is married to another man at the beginning of episode 7 but still have to ask Han Solo's help somehow. Maybe they even did not see each other for a long time. That way you can still keep a certain romantic/nostalgic tension between the two characters and write some entertaining dialogue.

Maybe Han Solo could even have to deal with Leia's kids (with that other man). You know: he does not like them at first, but they learn to know each others during the movie, etc... (I know it sounds a bit like Indy 4...even if in that movie Mutt really was Indy's son) Could be a bit tongue in cheek, but could work, if done well. And would be more interesting than if they were his own kids, with children/parents usual problems, blah blah.

TMBTM said:

Not only I'm pleased the EU will not be used in the new movies (they can keep some planets, even some secondary characters if they want to, I would not mind. After all they also bought the rights of the EU...)

 I don't know.  A clean break is better. Using some would leave people wondering what counts and what doesn't.

DC Comics just did that, with a huge REBOOT only lots of things were still the same, but somethings weren't and lots didn't fit and no one knew what counted and what didn't. For example, there have no only been two Robins, but Batman has at least five Ex-Robins running around. 

TMBTM said:

Best story to me would be if Leia is married to another man at the beginning of episode 7 but still have to ask Han Solo's help somehow. Maybe they even did not see each other for a long time. That way you can still keep a certain romantic/nostalgic tension between the two characters and write some entertaining dialogue.

Maybe Han Solo could even have to deal with Leia's kids (with that other man). You know: he does not like them at first, but they learn to know each others during the movie, etc... (I know it sounds a bit like Indy 4...even if in that movie Mutt really was Indy's son) Could be a bit tongue in cheek, but could work, if done well. And would be more interesting than if they were his own kids, with children/parents usual problems, blah blah.

 That is the worst idea ever.