More Star Wars films announced

[RoJoHen]

I was never that big of a Star Wars nerd, nor did I pay a whole lot of attention to movie details when I was a kid. I guess I just never got an ominous feel from Palpatine at the time. Obviously, now that I'm an adult, it makes a lot more sense.

[cooleddie74]

I was actually surprised that Lucas and the producers were being so secretive about Darth Sidious and his true identity in the first prequel. As early as 1997 action figures of the Emperor from Return of the Jedi were marketed as "Emperor Palpatine, Galactic Ruler and Dark Lord of the Sith."

Sidious was a Sith Lord. He sounded just like Senator/Chancellor Palpatine. They had the same nose, mouth and chin. Palpatine had actually been the actual name of the Emperor as far back as a comic book or strip around the beginning of the '80s although his name never made it on-screen until the prequels came along. The book or strip spoke of a girl or Imperial palace subject "who grew up at the feet of the Emperor Palpatine" on the capital planet of the Empire.

[RoJoHen]

What can I say? I was not an observant movie-goer at the time.

I even remember having a conversation with my mom after the movie, where she insisted that Palpatine was the evil Emperor, and I argued that that didn't make any sense.

[cooleddie74]

Oh, no, no, it's not about you, man. I'm not going all nerd on you about not realizing. I don't want it to sound like that. I just wonder why Lucas and McCallum were so bloody secret in the press when the more geeky and nerdy fans who were familiar with the books and toys already knew that a corrupt and evil Sith named Palpatine was the guy who would go on to become the dreaded Emperor.

They weren't protecting any kind of state secret. It wasn't until Episode III was being readied for release six years later that George told Ian McDiarmid to go ahead and reveal to reporters that he was indeed both Palpatine and Darth Sidious in the movies. Ian would later go on to say "it'd be a very strange thing indeed if you hadn't known I played both characters and they were the same person, but there you go."

George had a lot of strange requests.

[davejames]

King Daniel wrote:

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Having just read this: http://www.geektyrant.com/news/2013/...ars-films.html
It would seem Disney are going to be spamming us with Star Wars movies.

I think a young Han Solo movie could actually be pretty cool, as long as they don't try to make him TOO young. Hopefully they're thinking more of an edgy mid-20s type and not some Twilight-style teen hearthrob...

[Dantheman]

I just hope they give the director's chair for the Boba Fett movie to Joe Johnston, who expressed an desire for such when Captain America came out.

C'mon man, the guy worked on the OT films, for crying out loud!

[Hound of UIster]

cooleddie74 wrote:

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I was actually surprised that Lucas and the producers were being so secretive about Darth Sidious and his true identity in the first prequel.

Lucas gave away the secret in the DVD Commentaries for TPM before AOTC or ROTS was even released.

[cooleddie74]

From last Saturday.

Warning: Spoilers await if you like the show and haven't seen the entire episode yet.

[RoJoHen]

Hmm...now I kinda want to watch that show.

[cooleddie74]

Hound of UIster wrote:

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Lucas gave away the secret in the DVD Commentaries for TPM before AOTC or ROTS was even released.

I guess it must have been a commentary section I've forgotten hearing over the years. Thanks.

[Hound of UIster]

Dantheman wrote:

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I just hope they give the director's chair for the Boba Fett movie to Joe Johnston, who expressed an desire for such when Captain America came out.

C'mon man, the guy worked on the OT films, for crying out loud!

I think Tarantino also has expressed an interest in Boba Fett.

[tighr]

cooleddie74 wrote:

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Sidious was a Sith Lord. He sounded just like Senator/Chancellor Palpatine. They had the same nose, mouth and chin. Palpatine had actually been the actual name of the Emperor as far back as a comic book or strip around the beginning of the '80s although his name never made it on-screen until the prequels came along. The book or strip spoke of a girl or Imperial palace subject "who grew up at the feet of the Emperor Palpatine" on the capital planet of the Empire.

Scratch all that, man. Ian McDiarmid played the "Emperor" in Return of the Jedi back in 1983. If you were paying any attention (people who were children in 1999 obviously excluded) it was painfully obvious who he was supposed to be in The Phantom Menace.

My only question at the time was who was the actual Phantom? The secret Darth Sideous guy (who was obviously McDiarmid), or the secret Darth Maul guy who had five lines? Lucas did a shitty job of making that clear. (And now I remember the Yoda line at the end of the movie, so yeah. But still.)

[CorporalClegg]

Skywalker wrote:

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The only catch, for me, is what to do with the scene early in ROTS, when Anakin killed Tyranus at Palpatine's behest. Honestly, I felt that that scene was handled very awkwardly, and didn't show Anakin's vulnerability to the dark side as much as it did his vulnerability to suggestion from Palpatine. Maybe it could be excised completely, or something.

See the way I envisioned it was something like you have Maul show off is uber ninja lightsaber skills in TPM. Then he matches Force wits with Yoda in Clones giving the impression he's one serious BAMF.

Then in the opening sequence he once again bests Anakin, but of course R2 saves the day and Maul retreats to the other seps on Mustafar. The movies progresses (mostly) as is, Palps christens Vader and sends him off to kill Maul as an initiation thing. So, ultimately we're left with this scenario:

Anakin Skywalker cannot defeat Maul, only Darth Fucking Vader can.

[cooleddie74]

Fun fact: Count Dooku / Tyranus is the only one of the four Sith Lords depicted in the six films of the Saga that was never depicted with yellow, glowing "Dark Side" eyes, even at the peak of heated battle with the Jedi. I wonder if Lucas wanted it that way so as to indicate to the audience that Dooku retained a small fragment of good in him and hadn't completely converted or that Christopher Lee didn't want to be depicted with Sith eyes or have to don contacts.

Of course, knowing Lucas it could have been nothing more than a continuity error and oversight.

[Set Harth]

cooleddie74 wrote:

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Palpatine had actually been the actual name of the Emperor as far back as a comic book or strip around the beginning of the '80s although his name never made it on-screen until the prequels came along.

Even earlier than that; the first reference to Palpatine as the name of the Emperor was in the first printing of the Star Wars novelization which was released in late 1976.

( However, the book also has an obscure reference to "later corrupt Emperors" plural, so technically it might not have indicated Palpatine as the name of the current Emperor. But this was corrected by the time of the ROTJ novelization. )