Star Wars Rant: Change

Question: Is there a new direction Star Wars can be taken in, in order to keep fans interested?

Disney insists on shoving movie themed-rehashes of what we've already seen, down our throats. Rebels is a massive ode to the OT, and the new movies appear to be a continuation of the OT in terms of the Empire and it's military, the droid sidekicks, the planets, the heroes and the villains (Jedi and Sith).

Of course in terms of the movie there may be some new things to come (like that great new Crossguard saber......) but the point is, we're getting the same stuff thrown back at us for what I can only assume is an attempt at maximizing profit from people who grew up with the OT, and those casual movie-goers who only really have the most common knowledge about SW, i.e, what Stormtroopers look like and that they're meant to be portrayed as troops who experience a lot of misfortune, what a lightsaber is and what their colours mean, which side you're on if you're flying a TIE fighter, and that the new little droid ball is intended to be a quirky little companion and part-time plot device. There's also the fact that the only new comics we have at the moment, are from characters everyone knows. There is some EU being produced about slightly lesser known characters, such as Tarkin, Son of Dathomir to an extent, Ventress/Vos, and so on.

Which is fine. But when are we getting something new? What happens when continuity gets so full of movie-character material within a very compact time frame that they need another reboot/re-canonization of the timeline? And what happens after that? More Luke, Leia, Han and the droids?

We need something new. I have three suggestions for how this could be done.

1. Just freaking go somewhere else.

There are millions of star systems both existing and not-yet-existing that could be explored. Just start a story over there. Screw the Empire, the Rebels, the Republic, the Jedi, the Sith - start fresh. New civilizations, new species, new wars, new technology, new philosophies - new everything. I understand why this and the following two suggestions are difficult to implement from a business standpoint, due to the lack of ability to reference movie-material and themes, but, in terms of creative potential, it couldn't get much better. Bring a creative team of writers, game developers, artists, directors, ect, and just go wild with it.

2. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... or like, a thousand years later.

Either works. Stories set in the past, where the groundwork can be laid for what is to follow, is always a concept worth exploring. How were the Jedi founded? Who made the first lightsaber? How did people use the Force back then? Did Force Users fight with swords and revolvers back in the day? Was there always a big bad and an ever-present good when it came to Force Using organizations? All questions that should be answered, and there are far more where they came from. You could also go ahead of time- Future Star Wars. When the likes of the Skywalkers and the Sith Emperor's have become nothing more than myth and legend. Where technology has seen absolutely gargantuan leaps in progress. Enough lists - just new things in general, you get my point. Less restriction between timeline continuity and creative freedom = potential for better material.

3. Alternate universe.

Now, I don't mean take the current universe and do What If? scenarios for what could have happened if Anakin killed Obi-Wan or if Luke turned to the dark side and so on. I mean, take the Force, and stick it in a brand new universe. No old concepts. The Jedi never existed. No lightsabers. No Empire. No Vader. The only thing that still exists is the Force. Again - more creative freedom. Create Order's that are like the Jedi, but everything about them aside from their status as the good guy's is different. Their tech, their powers, their history, their rules - change up the dynamic. New stories, new characters, fresh concepts.

The potential is there. Star Wars has always been an extremely rich universe. But throwing the same themes, characters and cliches at us time and time again is inevitably going to get boring for those who have already experienced it many times through the movies, animations and EU, and it will kill the mythos eventually.

@i_like_swords: A lot of those things have been answered in different Star Wars media throughout the years already.

@pyrogram: Example?

@i_like_swords: The first one... How were the Jedi founded, they were originally formed as a philosophical study group situated on the planet Tython and weren't even peace keepers until later on. The first actual lightsaber was created by a man only named as "The Weapon Master" who lived on Tython, and he created the First Blade. And before that, was the Forcesaber, made by a humanoid species caleld Rakata. The force has always existed and there are humanoid manifestations of the force, a light side, and a dark side, that is explored in "The Clone Wars" TV show, and there are answers to most of your other things too but I am far too lazy.

@pyrogram:

The first one... How were the Jedi founded, they were originally formed as a philosophical study group situated on the planet Tython and weren't even peace keepers until later on. The first actual lightsaber was created by a man only named as "The Weapon Master" who lived on Tython, and he created the First Blade. And before that, was the Forcesaber, made by a humanoid species caleld Rakata.

Yep, Dawn of the Jedi comic series, one of my favourites. It's not recognized as being canon with the main universe. This thread has always been in relation to the main universe.

The force has always existed and there are humanoid manifestations of the force, a light side, and a dark side, that is explored in "The Clone Wars" TV show, and there are answers to most of your other things too but I am far too lazy.

Of course the Force has always existed, and of course there will be manifestations of it outside of the Jedi and Sith. All I'm saying is that changing the dynamic of what it can mean to be a Force wielder is something that can be explored within the main universe. In canon, at the moment, the main Force using peoples that aren't Jedi or Sith are rogues from those Order's, and the Dathomirians. Outside of that I can't remember any worthy of note.

The Legends EU has been thoroughly explored, but the main universe as it is now is heading in the same direction it always has - filling in the gaps of what happened between the movies, or in the case of the new films, giving us the same concepts back to us.

Pyro talking about Star Wars lol, I think he's out of his league here

Yes, what the hell happened to Wut and Cadencev2 eisen ? Are they dead ?

@vortex14: Wut is on a hiatus for some reason. Cadence trolled too long so they got rid of him, he shows up now and again with alts before these get booted.

So Wut is busy with something ?

It's just begun, it will grow, to start they'll want to go with more recognisable faces and plotlines, give it 5 years and there'll be a lot more material less connected to the main film series. I'd just like to state that I don't have as much knowledge as a lot of people on Star Wars because I only really dipped my toe into the EU with a few comics and books here and there over the years, I was actually just about to start properly reading the EU stuff when they announced it was all non-canon, which sort of disheartened me.

@rogueshadow: These are just my suggestions for the methods they could use to grow the mythos. As it is now, even in five years, we very well could still be reading movie-based EU material. Episode 7 takes place thirty years after RotJ - in my mind, this is just another 30 years of high-profit movie-related EU Disney is planning on hopping on. People will inevitably want more after the movies, so where do they go? To that new novel or comic telling us what happens leading into Episode 7, and so on. Nothing wrong with this at all... But I feel like eventually they need to stop only giving us movie-filler and try something unique.

I wouldn't be too disheartened about some stuff being non-canon. There's likely some stuff you could still read and enjoy.

@i_like_swords: It's a little early to say what could happen, I think we should wait and see, though I get what you're saying, everything so far pivots around or in between the films. But it's good business sense and functionally logical to start at the core of the story to bring in new readers and begin the universe at its central junction, it makes sense that the kernel would be the main series. As you said in the OP, if this theme is maintained and it's only main film series stuff by... let's say the end of 2016, with no expansion, then that will be a time to start worrying. But right now, I wouldn't worry about it.

LOL Fck you dude. I'm a massive Star Wars fan, get your head checked before attacking a random person.

@i_like_swords: I get where you're coming from, and I would like to see expansion past the norm, it would be interesting.

@pyrogram: 10/10 would troll again. Way too easy son.

@eisenfauste: I remember when you used to beg for my attention.

@pyrogram: Pffft nah, the only time we chatted was in that old "merc, assassin, bounty hunter" thread I made :P

You seemed pretty legit from old posts but you were never around to talk to

@eisenfauste: Nope, I remember you running around begging for my attention, don't even try and hide it LOL We both remember how I blanked you.

Very off topic question, but I'm curious. Was it ever revealed or stated that people from the star wars galaxy could travel to neighboring galaxies? Was the extent of their technology? Was it ever talked about?

I mean they had death stars and hyper speed, so it doesn't seem unlikely.

@silkyballfro94: I don't think they've ever done that from memory?

@pyrogram: @silkyballfro94: I think the Vong are from another galaxy/universe, which probably has something to do with them not existing within the Force as the Jedi know it. They exist, but the Force isn't with them. I think.

@i_like_swords: I think they were once force-sensitive and lost it, I don't think it's because they are outside of the galaxy. I remember it mentioned in TOR.

@pyrogram: You make it sound like I was oliver twist :P, I recall mentioning that you were pretty cool. Fact of the matter is you're easy to troll :D.

Do you feel that shift in the balance of power Pyro? Do you?

@eisenfauste: I'm messing with you. I don't even think we've spoken once save for the time you mentioned.

@pyrogram: Yeah you haven't been around a lot. You still do rpg?

@eisenfauste: Not much. Kinda quit the site.

@pyrogram: Ah I see, well you're not missing much.

@eisenfauste: Of course not, anyone who mattered to me I added on Facebook.

@pyrogram: Well I wasn't talking people wise :P. I meant community wise, debates, topics etc. I don't know how much longer I'll be on here....

@eisenfauste: I disengaged with the community here about 2 years ago xP

@pyrogram: Really? I thought it was more recent why so long ago?

@eisenfauste: When I started RPGing I only focused on the RPG section, I rarely visited anywhere else.

@pyrogram: That's some serious commitment haha. Ever thought about writing your own story.

@eisenfauste: I am :P

And RPGing is all your own story anyways. It's not using DC or Marvel characters.

@pyrogram: That's pretty sweet, what's it about? Are you not supposed to use named characters like superman, Doomsday etc. in the rpg section?

@pyrogram: That's actually pretty interesting lol, did you get in interested in rpg or was she already into it

@eisenfauste: She was RPGing for 6 years, and I've only bee doing it for like 2 years.

@pyrogram: Ha noob ;)

@eisenfauste: Well, I was voted into the RPG hall of fame and she wasn't.... Soooo. xP

It's like the Battle Hall of Fame but the RPG version.

@pyrogram: Oh snap lol, did you buy her flowers the next day ;P

@eisenfauste: No xD

@pyrogram: Well she sounds pretty legit haha, nice talking pyro imma get some work done I've been unproductive all day :/

@eisenfauste: Laters :P

@i_like_swords: Continuing the stories and lives of lesser known characters in the EU is all I could ask for. Lol