In retrospect, one of the frustrating things about the sequel trilogy, and the new EU, is that they do contain some very interesting elements that weren’t better realised: the Knights of Ren, the Sith Eternal, the revelation of Luke’s and Leia’s parentage, a Stormtrooper rebellion, corrupt weapons manufacturers, Luke’s search for old Jedi temples, an attack on the Imperial shipyards/hijacking a star destroyer (from the screenplay of ‘Duel of the Fates’), the New Republic Starhawks, etc.
I can only imagine where we might be if Bob Iger had given Michael Arndt more time to work on the sequel story.
Servii said:
At the start of VII, the galaxy is in a state of cold war, with the two largest galactic factions, the Republic and the Empire (still just called the Empire), having maintained a ceasefire for about a decade or so.
Covert attacks begin to take place against both the Republic and Empire, with each faction being framed for the attacks on the other. Agents within both governments carry out subversion to weaken the ceasefire and push the factions back towards open war.
I always thought the Bond films could provide a useful formula for post-Endor Star Wars - have a Spectre-like enemy organisation trying to destroy the peace/provoke war between the New Republic & Imperial Remnant. The Sith Eternal could have taken such a role, with the Knights of Ren among their agents.
Perhaps the theft of ancient Sith and Jedi artefacts leads the new Jedi to launch a mission to investigate. You could have a resurgent Mandalore and rogue Imperial warlords in the mix too. Less focus on super-weapons, more on smart weapons or ancient Sith weapons (plagues, poisons, etc). If you still want a big space battle either build up to that by gradually establishing the threat of the Sith Eternal throughout the trilogy, or have a series of conflicts provoked by the Sith Eternal: an Imperial civil war, a Mandalorian attack on an Imperial warlord, a Corruscant uprising, etc.
A stormtrooper rebellion could be instigated by Sith agents as a means to make the Imperial remnant need their help. Perhaps have a second trilogy where the Sith Eternal emerges as a greater military power, having usurped the Sith-averse military leadership of the Imperial Remnant or reforged their ancient alliance with Mandalore.
If Rey exists I’d like her to be Rey nobody. Bar Ben, none of the new Jedi have connections to the legacy characters. Have Finn lead the Stormtrooper rebellion.
If Ben Solo was to turn, I’d like to see that happen in the context of his grandfather being revealed to be Darth Vader. Let’s see what impact that had on Luke’s Jedi academy & Leia’s standing in the senate. (Make her the chancellor.) The agents of the Sith eternal could be behind this. This would also sow the seeds of a crisis of confidence for Luke.
There was a storyline in the old Marvel comics I might have adapted for Ben’s downfall, where an imperial agent - Shira Brie, later Dark Lady Lumiya - infiltrates the rebellion. (The rebels use captured Tie fighters to attack a secret Imperial armada. Luke accidentally shoots her down in a space battle after using the force to identify who is an enemy, and becomes a pariah.)
Use the outline of that but with an agent of the Sith Eternal who infiltrates the new Jedi order. She either frames Ben or he seemingly kills her during a mission, leading the other Jedi students, and Luke, to fear he’s another Vader. Have this come after or as Ben’s lineage is revealed. This throws the Jedi Academy - & it’s relationship with the New Republic - into chaos. I’m not sure I’d have Ben eventually turn, be possessed by a Sith artefact or just be treated as an outcast though. Perhaps have this be the moment when the Knights of Ren attack and frame him for its destruction.
I agree with others, especially Servii (prefer your first outline), that they could have cherry picked elements from the EU, especially Dark Empire, the Thrawn Trilogy and even Legacy (but more for the Imperial framework that the story or characters). I’d be inclined to open the trilogy with a New Republic rescue mission on a war torn Corruscant, and have a main Imperial faction that has rejected the Sith, which the Sith Eternal wants to undermine. (Perhaps have Ben &/or Luke on that mission, encountering a mysterious figure plundering artefacts from the old Jedi temple/Imperial palace amid the civil war. This leads them to travel to other temples to investigate other thefts.)
I do think Adam Driver could have elevated a storyline similar to the Luke plot of the first Dark Empire comic series. Have him try to infiltrate the Sith Eternal, either falling to the Darkside or being manipulated by them. Perhaps he ends up as a Ronin-type figure (a bit like the character in Visions), travelling round the Unknown regions to continue resistance against the Sith Eternal - also a callback to Gary Kurtz’s plans for Luke at the end of Return of the Jedi.
But I also think the High Republic series has elements that might equally have worked in the sequel era, e.g. you could invert the Death Star storyline to have an attack - sabotage - on a New Republic space station akin to Starlight Beacon, which is thwarted but leads to a hyperspace disaster that makes maintaining the peace more difficult. Have an uneasy alliance between the new Jedi order and New Republic spies (or Imperial spies) which leads to the unknown regions, etc.
You might even have tied the storyline into an Old Republic trilogy. Have the Sith Eternal, who worship the ancient Dark Lords, kidnap force sensitive children in an attempt to resurrect an undead Sith. You explore that Sith Lord’s story in an Old Republic film or series.
Basically, there were - and still are - loads of possibilities. & I think it would be possible to adapt the above ideas to a post-sequel film series: an uneasy peace among different galactic factions; rebuilding the Jedi order; a Spectre-like Sith or other Dark Side group undermining the peace & carrying out covert/terrorist attacks.
