They killed two people and destroyed a secret weapon. How would that make a Galactic Empire crumble when we learned in the first film that governors throughout the galaxy were given broader rights to rule their own territories? It's illogical.

Nod, all it would do was fracture the Empire and provide a host of petty despots that would have to be cleaned up later.

Should take around 30-50 years....:P

I know it's "logical" to assume the Empire could be around 30 years after ROTJ, but the celebration that took place in Jedi - the symbolic destruction of the Emperor statue on Coruscant and the burning of Darth Vader - signaled the end of the Empire and Sith rule. It's a fairy tale ending and fairy tales are never followed by logical explanations. When the Wicked Witch of the West is defeated, the story doesn't all of a sudden look to "logical next steps" and assume that her minions would all of sudden see a power gap and try to take her place. The bad guys usually throw down their arms and surrender or become good guys. That's how fairy tales end.

If there isn't a good story reason for the imperial presence to remain, it will have defeated the sacrifice of the saga's main character (Vader) and made Luke's victory feel hollow. Remember that all these Imperial officers were kept in line by fear as much as the people they ruled over. Was Needa an "evil" person? Was Piet? These guys were either former Republic or recruited into the Imperial Academy by order of the Empire. If the leadership crumbled, most of these guys would probably be folded back into New Republic.

The entire ST hinges on the writers' ability to make me believe that:

a. the last 6 movies didn't happen for nothing
b. the threat the heroes face is somehow related to the events of the previous movies

Wow! The info's really starting to come in now.

Badass Digest on the mechanical hand:



Badass Digest on Han Solo's new ride and the MF:



Latino Review on the Villains of EpVII:

I have to admit, I've missed Spoiler Season ™

Nice to see them rolling in now.

Interesting note on the prominence of the flashback sequence referenced above, since someone affiliated with LFL (I think...) said flashbacks were not a part of the Star Wars storytelling style. Regardless who/if someone from LFL said it, flashbacks would break new ground in the Star Wars film fabric. If it's done effectively, and not just a "patch job" to try and artificially link the ST with the PT/OT, I'm all for it.

This isn't about real world logic, it's about storytelling. When good conquers evil and the heroes ride off into the sunset, the story's over.

Apparently it wasnt...

Well, there's always a future for these fictional universes when the story we experience ends. You just gotta hope they don't fuck it up if someone decides to tell more stories.

Which is why we're getting a Sequel Trilogy.
Oh wait...

How can you mess it up when all you're doing is pilfering the treasure trove of McQuarrie art from the first trilogy?




McQuarrie lives (apparently).

Bang. Exactly.

We managed just fine for 22 years without needing a Jedi Messiah in the story, or a prophesy about "restoring balance".

When Vader rescues his son, that's just it. It's a redemption for the character and needn't be anything more.
We knew the Sequel Trilogy was being considered for decades before the Prequel Trilogy came along and introduced an, imho, unnecessary addition to the central conflict.

Not that it mattered, since the second half of the story never brings it up and you don't need to see TPM, AOTC or ROTS to understand Vader saving his son and killing the Emperor was a good thing.

I don't think anyone is saying there should be no sequels. Or that if there is, they are destined to be awful regardless. Or denying that sequels to what we now know as Episodes IV, V & VI were something that was considered pretty much from day one.

Maybe this is where opinions differ, but as far as I am concerned, there is a real mountain to climb, narrative-wise, for these movies to work.
Whether that involves explaining to what extent the Empire is still around and is a threat following the "liberation of the capital planet" finale to Episode VI; establishing a whole new enemy outside of anything we have experienced in a Star Wars movie, ie Sith; or establishing the return of a familiar enemy, ie non-Sith.
For me, some of the available options are preferable to others. But ALL will require some smart writing to be effective, given what has come before.
That's all.

Exactly. Ret-conning Episodes I-VI with flashbacks or some other exposition device would be new to Star Wars storytelling. It would be a great unknown. I hope they pull it off, whatever they do.

I just know I have faith in JJ's judgment and Kasdan's experience with Star Wars. Maybe more than both of those things, I trust Mark Hamill. If he legitimately believes they've done something good then they must have impressed him. I know he has high standards when it comes to Star Wars.

Although I distinctly remember Lucas talking about going back and doing Episodes 1, 2 and 3 back in 1983 when ROTJ came out.

I'm not a big Harry Potter fan, but my favorite part of the Deathly Hallows part 1 was that freaky animated flashback / story / thingy in that movie. It was beautiful. Perhaps something expressionistic like that would fit into Star Wars somehow.

I was a big fan of that sequence too. Harry Potter also had plenty of good flashback sequences. Snape's in particular in Deathly Hollows was very well done.

I don't think it would work for a flashback in Star Wars to be initiated by a simple "let me tell you about something that happened a long time ago..."

For me, a flashback just doesn't seem/feel right for Star Wars. For others, it may seem like a good idea - something new.
I suppose we kind of had flashforwards, of a sort, in the Prequels, and that didn't seem as weird as it might have come across on paper.

I'm a big fan of David Mamet's views on exposition - you know, if you find yourself writing dialogue explaining what's going on, you're basically doing something wrong as a screenwriter... but despite that, I'd still rather these rumoured Episode VII plot points were just revealed or explained by a character than actually shown in a flashback, if they really have to be there.

I don't think it's that strange to suppose they may use a Sith/Jedi Holocron for their flashback scene. Or maybe even something akin to the visions of the past/future with the Nightsisters seen in Clone Wars.

With the CW, Ventress' origin flashback was handled really well. The sequence is fluid, because the "in" is the same one used with Anakin's in ROTS. In both cases, the audience is simply seeing what an on-screen character is envisioning.

Apparently, a kick-ass soundtrack helps the flashback. With the scenes below, Kiner's score adds immediacy and emotional depth to the images.

The traditional "pan down" after a Star Wars opening scroll is of a spaceship or two, right? And the first episode of a trilogy is a Call to Adventure. Nowhere in Star Wars is there a flashback. Obi-Wan didn't have a flashback sequence when he answered Luke's question about his dad. And Lucas didn't even include one in the Darth Plagueis scene. Do the security holograms count? I thought JJ was a traditionalist/SW purist?

I'm still cautiously optimistic for the next episode(s) but I still see no reason--aside from the $1 billion Disney stands to make--to continue the Star Wars saga.

i think the closest to a flashback or a "vision" is anakins wet dream for his mum
but.. this is j.j. and did you not watch lost i wounder if we will get the lost whooshing sound as it cuts the flashbacks

we need to make up some juicy rumor to get people to come here. Something like, "we talked to an insider that has come through for us in the past and swears to us he has seen production art of the ghost of Anakin walking with Luke on Tatooine. Anakin looked just like Hayden Christensen too!"

could-recent-star-wars-episode-7-rumors-come-from-star-wars-legacy-volume-2.html

Complete unraveling of recent Episode VII plot leaks?

I kind of hope JJ's people are feeding out bullshit to the masses. CoGro, I know you started a spoiler free section but I don't think I have the self control to stay there. I went into Super 8 without any knowledge other than the trailer and enjoyed that immensely. It would be a great experience to go in fresh, but actually, once John Williams' score leaks I know I will be playing it on repeat for subsequent weeks.

The real spoilery stuff will come out during post. When I see the floodgates start to open that's when I'm going to make the switch. I don't mind knowing names of characters and things like that. I'm definitely going to try and avoid listening to ANY music prior to seeing the movie. That ruined some of the SW experience for me with the prequels. Particularly when the score was bastardized.

I seem to remember Natalie's casting announced as 'the young queen.'

I could definitely accept Palpatine as the villain, perhaps he finally found his way to cheat death. He is the ultimate evil and it would be really tough for anyone to top that. It would undermine the 'Chosen One' prophecy of course, but maybe Vader was never the One.

I also remember an early Insider that referred to Liam Neeson as a "venerable Jedi Knight." I think the first officially confirmed character name was Mace Windu.

It was only created for TPM and has no real impact beyond ROTS, because the original trilogy never needed a prophecy to drive the character's motivation back then.

For sure, it was all created after the fact. But it would impact the prequels. I guess I was wondering how they will tie the new story into everything that has come before. I doubt JJ and Disney will give a giant middle finger to Lucas over this point, even though we may want that.

It simply wasn't the story of the OT, it's not about characters needing a prophecy or not. Still, this would undermine the whole climax of RotJ and both Luke and Anakin's feats.

So, a plot element that has no bearing on the latter half of the so-far six film story, should show up somehow with characters even further removed from it?

No one thought of the sequels undermining anything between the 1970s and 1999, when there were always articles about the upcoming prequels and sequels. It's not like after 1983 people were suddenly not expecting the sequels, just because Vader and Palpatine were dead.

this seems to be where the majority of the new speculation is coming from "Mizzlewump" (someone who claims to have read the 2nd abrams draft) this was posted on 4chan's /tv/ back in march!

>Leia is made leader of the Republic after her predecessor's death
>Han is a retired veteran of the Republic fleet
>Luke hasn't been seen in nearly 30 years
>the lead character is Han and Leia's daughter
>the other lead is the child of Lando, and either a male or female depending on who is cast
>the other lead is a Stormtrooper, also either a male or female depending on who is cast
>dialogue for these two characters is very rough in the second draft
>Luke has no known offspring
>The Empire still exists in the form of a number of loyal galaxies and are in a state of cold war with the Republic

>The Empire is simply referred to as the "Empire," and the Republic is referred to formally only once, as the "Galactic Republic;" no "New" anywhere

>There are no Jedi whatsoever, and people still speak as if they are extinct, with Luke being "the last of his kind"
>The main antagonists are an older student of the Emperor, and his apprentice
>The apprentice takes control of the power dynamic between the two pretty quickly...

>The Republic are excavating ruins on a neutral world for a weapon; the world factors into tense negotiations the Empire have had with the Republic, and is referred to as the "Sith Homeworld"

>Loredump: In the script, the Sith are a couple thousand years old, founded by an ancestor of Palpatine called Ruin; the apprentice in this film also goes by that name

>the ruins within the Sith Homeworld are a control station; the planet itself is the weapon
>Luke saves the day at the end, but in a bad way; he has changed

there you go... lukes the bad guy until the end and redeems himself ala vader... second movie is hunting him down to do the unthinkable, third is luke laying waste to everyone, including han and such, with the children talking him down in the end.

You SHUT your whore MOUTH! Luke is forever the hero..... FOREVER!!

Making Luke the villain completely goes against his character arc.

Maybe the big plot twist of Episode VII will be that in the time between the trilogies, Leia left Han for Luke and their children became powerful mutant Force-wielders. They are the Jedi Hunters.

True.

Or maybe certain characters just think he's a bad guy...

Hint? is-tatooines-primary-moon-important-in-star-wars-episode-7.html

Holding out hope that we get a tidbit of official news sometime in October.

We are closing in on the 1 year mark. It's been nearly two years since the sequels were announced. Time flies.

I reckon something in the way of an image or a teaser trailer come December.

Certainly by the middle of next year we'll see something.

I predict February or March, with some official stills starting around that time period.

I do believe at this point a silhouette of Luke Skywalker with his face suddenly
illuminated green by the activation of his lightsabre could be a good teaser.

if there is anything it will be attatched to a disney release def something with avengers next year!
oh and i can't see your name without this popping in my head!
vimeo

This should have a hell of an opening crawl.

Luke being gone 30 years really kills the EU. I was still holding out hope it could be or would be partially salvaged. Hopefully he still met a Mara like character or will and have ben. He will be pretty old to hook a hot young redhead at this point.

I thought they made it clear two years ago that the EU was not going to influence the new movies.

Luke being out of the picture for that long would do more harm to ROTJ, methinks.

That's what I thought. That makes ROTJ kinda pointless aside from "killing" Palpatine and redeeming Vader. The Jedi did not return? The Republic was not reformed?

I'm trying my best best a proper Analogy so if someone can provide a better one than please do. However, imagine Shakespeare decides to stop writing, but under his direction and discretion others are allowed to expand on his works. Then years or decades later someone buys the rights to hi works and changes how they are expanded. Generations later does one look at the expanded works the original creator over saw or the ones later that a new entity took on?

I recently took time off from work and while doing projects around the house I listened to the yuuszhong vong stories and then the swarm war stories and had such a strange sense of loss realizing that this bad ass luke and jacen and other masters become will be lost. I'm obviously beyond thrilled the movies will continue but very sad the stories I've invest in will not. Including the old republic, is that dead as well? Revan was a supreme bad arse, I hate losing him and his crew.

I just wish there was a way they could just expand further or use but slightly change what already exists, and maybe they will. I mean my friends brother was bar mitzvah' with JJ and has the script. Palpatine is a clone


Well for me it would definitely ruin both. The foreshadowing that Leia would learn jedi skills would certainly be ruined. I just don't like that plot and I hope it is not accurate. It's fine if he recently went missing after building a new order, or beginning to at least.

ok so....

kira lives on a desert planet where lots of rebel and imperial paraphernalia has been dumped/crashed/abandoned she has turned a fallen AT-AT into her home using the body as a garage for her junk retrieving ship, along with john boyega, a tall alien and a new style R2 unit

they have also got themselves an x-wing and a lighstsaber, john picks it up and ignites it, they are all in shock, possibly because they have no idea what it is or because they know what it is and know it could be their ticket off this rock

they take it to max von sydow the old guy in their local cantina who knows everything, he is more machine than man and knows all about the dark times, he tells them about the lightsaber and tales of the jedi and sith and with that they go off on a journey to find it's rightful owner

oh and luke is the bad cyborg villain that turns kira "evil" by the end of the movie

Called it a month ago...