Film Feature: Five Things We Want From ‘Star Wars, Episode VII’

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4. Make “Episode VII” a Direct Sequel to “Return of the Jedi”

There’s an assumption that, since the newly announced “Star Wars” movie is being called “Episode VII,” that it will take place after “Return of the Jedi”. As far as I know, that hasn’t been confirmed yet. But, man oh man, I hope that’s confirmed soon. Can we all admit that we have “prequel fatigue”? That, even if we dig the Cartoon Network’s “Clone Wars” series, we really don’t want to know ANY more about the period between “Attack of the Clones” and the original trilogy? One of the most exhilarating things about the title “Episode VII” is that it promises things we’ve never seen before and I really hope the movie lives up to that promise.

Return of the Jedi
Photo credit: Lucasfilm

Because, with the prequels, there was this inevitability to so much of the plotting. OK, we KNOW we have to see Anakin turn to the Dark Side, we KNOW the Emperor will rise, we KNOW Luke and Leia will be born, we KNOW someone has to wipe the memory of the droids… the whole prequel trilogy was mapped out by these benchmarks that we knew the storytelling had to reach at some point and, frankly, it made the experience feel rote and predictable at times. What I love about the idea of “Episode VII” is that all bets are off. NO ONE KNOWS what happens next. And that feels fresher and more exciting than a prequel ever could. And, for that reason, even though this might be an unpopular sentiment among hardcore “Star Wars” fans, I hope that the new sequels DON’T follow Timothy Zahn’s acclaimed Thrawn Trilogy, a series of novels focused on Luke, Han, and Leia (and their children) fighting against an evil Admiral of the Empire and various Dark Jedi. I’m sure it’s a great story, but this is the first chance the “Star Wars” film universe has had in a very long time to create something NEW, to create a story that we know won’t eventually end with the Death Star detonation in “Return of the Jedi”. I want the new “Star Wars” movies to go boldly into that post-Jedi undiscovered country (apologies for the Trek references), and I hope that they opt to create something wholly original rather than retreading old tales or borrowed plots from other arms of the “Star Wars” universe.