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With Disney now owning Star Wars, the gates are open for the all sort of potential future adventures on top of the new trilogy. We’ve already had Star Wars: Rogue One and next up there’s the Han Solo movie, but what next? With Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017 kicking off today, we're hoping we'll get an announcement about what (or who) the third spin-off anthology movie will be about, but just in case Disney hasn't figured it out yet, we're here to help.
The Star Wars universe is rich with potential characters but not all of them are right for a spin-off movie. A Yoda movie might sound cool but, realistically, that’s never going to happen - in what universe is a film starring a three-foot green martial arts space wizard getting signed off (although we have a solution at number 9, if you’re interested?). It’s the same for characters like Princess Leia, Chewie, and the droids. They might be fan favourites but much of their story has already been told. No, there are better choices out there that would make amazing Star Wars movies. Let’s take a look.
12. Mara Jade
Mara is one of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe characters unfortunately no longer considered official canon. Instead she’s been sidelined off into the ‘Legends’ category of stories that are separate to the movie world BUT she’s too interesting a character to pass up here. She was once the Emperor's Hand, a top notch spy and assassin taking out Imperials and Rebels alike, according to his will. She later became a smuggler and finally a Jedi, rising up through the ranks to take a seat on the Council. She also married Luke Skywalker (after trying to kill him) and together they had several children. Obviously that bit won’t work any more, but a lightsaber-wielding female James Bond definitely has potential for a great movie.
11. Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus
There’s a great buddy movie here just waiting to be made with the contrast between Chirrut’s spiritual warrior monk, and Baze’s more straightforward aggression. It also feels like there’s a lot more the location of Jedha, where we first meet the pair, has to offer. There’s the Imperial occupation, for example, that could provide a rich narrative background. However, far more interesting would be to play around with Guardians of the Whills, the order Chirrut Îmwe served. This ancient Force-worshiping religious group have deep routes in Star Wars’ lore - in early versions of George Lucas’ script the Whills were immortal beings that eventually became the more conceptual Force. There’s also a lot of speculation that Disney is currently seeding the universe heavily with the idea of the ‘grey’ Force, neither Light or Dark, to tie in with Episodes 8 and 9. An Îmwe/Malbus movie would certainly allow it to dig deeper into that concept.
10. Captain Phasma
You could make an interesting war film using Stormtroopers - the Imperial military machine chewing through the meat of its troops in harrowing but grand scale clashes. And what better character to focus on than Gwendoline Christie’s so far criminally underused Captain. The Force Awakens establishes the First Order is no longer using clones for its Stormtroopers, so that’s a far more interesting palette in terms of casting to help things along as well. A movie showing Phasma’s rise to power through massive set piece battles and inter-barack rivalries between other ‘troopers could easily create an intense gritty, human World War 2 style epic that a weighty director could really make a real meal out of. It’s a two sentence pitch: The Normandy Beach Landings. But in space!
9. Count Dooku
If you want to do a Force heavy film but not be bound to either Jedi or Sith then get yourself a character that can do both. Hello Dooku. Before he was a Sith lord under Emperor Palpatine he was a Jedi master who left the order due to frustrations with government corruption. Maybe skip that past bit, no one wants another ‘trade disputes’ opening. However, he wasn’t any old Jedi turned rogue, he was originally Yoda’s padawan which would be a great way of giving the little green guy plenty more screen time - something the fans would love. This would be a perfect vehicle for A) a troubled and conflicted Jedi story, and B) a stealth Yoda movie.
8. Wedge Antilles/Red Squadron
Basically Top Gun with lasers. Imagine starting the movie with a team of green, rookie pilots competing to be the best, riding each others’ tails and playing zero-G volleyball on a moon somewhere. Just speedos and space helmets… Where was I? Okay, there are limits, but a big budget movie about acrobatic flight sequences in Star Wars land definitely has the chance to be something special. Those big dogfights are always the highlight of any movie so the chance to build a film around that is just too good an opportunity to pass up. Wedge’s placing in the original films also has some great cameo potential, or even a Rogue One style segway into established scenes.
7. Saw Gerrera
There’s already a rich storyline for Saw, culminating in his wheezy ‘I’m a bit like Darth Vader’ now appearance in Rogue One. His militancy and more unorthodox tactics would create a completely different tone to anything a Rebel themed movie could do - he’s prepared to go further, and push the cause harder, blurring the boundaries of what the ‘good guys’ will try to win. Imagine a more Vietnam flavoured war movie, where the lines are less well drawn and the characters more desperate than honourable. A dark and very grown up space war could be the perfect counterbalance in a universe full of laser swords and comedy robots. Rogue One has proved that Star Wars can do ‘harrowing loss’ well, now it just needs a character to embrace that fully.
