If Lucas authorized another 3, which Eu should it be based on?

[Thrall]

I couldn't have said it better myself. KOTOR is what the prequels should have been. It was grand , it was fresh, it was exciting, it had a believable love story/interest and Malak added that sense of foreboding evil/malevolance that was missing in the prequels. What an awesome game and awesome story. If bioware ever gets off its ass (unlikely), returns and finishes the trilogy you could almost do a trilogy based on the games, this time however instead of the trilogy focusing on the redemption of Vader it would on the redemption of another Dark Lord of the Sith.

That was actually done on purpose. The whole game is full of homages to The Original Trilogy right down to the opening scene. Malak was created specifically to remind people of Darth Vader.

Actually they are making a third one. It's a MORPG. More info on it here:
http://www.swtor.com/

Granted KOTOR II wasn't nearly as good but it still had redeemable qualities.

The main problem was that Lucas Arts wanted to cash in on the popularity of the first one so fast that they put it out before they were done with it. Bioware didn't work on it as they wanted to work on their own properties at the time(Jade Empire, Mass Effect). Which is why parts of the plot at the end are so out of sequence and confusing. There's was a fan project online dedicated to restoring most of the cut material called The KOTOR 2 Restoration Project. But I don't know how successful they were.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Count me in with the Thrawn trilogy being overrated. It was good, but not too spectacular. I think it's over-inflated because it was the first "serious" and genuine (as in canon) Star Wars fiction to have come out in a long time. In fact, I'm not too thrilled with any of the books I've read, to tell the truth.

 

[Praetor]

The Thrawn trilogy is extremely over-rated.

Seconded.

Dark Empire. It's a more basic story. The main bad guy is the emperor and it fits in nicely with his "ultimate power"/"cheating death" stuff from the prequels, plus its a character people already know. Blowing up planets always works well on the big screen. Instead of running it Dark Empire - DE 2 - Empire's End, you could have Dark Empire as the general outline for all three movies and then just pick and insert parts from the other two into the story. That way you get the best of the entire series rolled together (in theory) and Luke's fall is more meaningful if its lasts say from the end of the first movie to the end of the third.

This.

 

[Mr Light]

Ack! I forgot about Dark Empire. It is the most movie-esque of the EU stories and would translate great cinematically. Dark Empire II and Empire's End weren't as good though so I agree the spine should be DEI with the cool bits of the rest tossed in there. It would be wonderful to see Sidious as a proper villain with a proper ending and Luke turning to the dark side. Also... World Devestators!

 

[miraclefan]

How about a reboot of the entire STAR WARS trilogy? We all know it's going to happen sooner or later anyway!

 

[Thrall]

Eh, I'm not a fan of Luke going over to The Dark Side. It seemed out of character and really invalidated his arc in Return of The Jedi.

If they did it, they should do something that focuses on the new generation. To keep with the theme of the trilogies being about different generations. They could do The Vong, and have Jacen go to the Dark Side as a means of fighting them.

 

[Mr Light]

He did it to go undercover, though. And he came out alright at the end.

 

[Praetor]

^Yeah, he was being arrogant and thinking he could play the Emperor, thus actually driftng into dark territory. That's what I like about it.

 

[Jono]

How about a reboot of the entire STAR WARS trilogy? We all know it's going to happen sooner or later anyway!

I can see it now: Someone Luke and a dark jedi get into a fight and Luke tricks both of them into flow-walking to the past from whence they cannot return. THE Dark Jedi kills Anakin and Palpatine before the Jedi Purge.

Luke on Tatooine as his mum gave him up for adoption is a cantina bum and meets Obi Wan Kenobi.

Obi Wan convinces him to join the Jedi.

Obi Wan: "I couldn't believe it when the barman told me who you are."
Luke: "Why are you talking to me, man."
Obi Wan: "Your father flew a Naboo starfighter for 12 minutes and blew up a Droid control ship and saved at least 800 lives, including yours...by saving your mum years before you were conceived. I dare you to do better. Enlist in the Jedi Order."

It basically writes itself from here on...

 

[Praetor]

^

 

[Lindley]

Because "Shadows" has Lucas' approval as being offically part of his Star Wars universe, the others as far as I know aren't. His offical approval came by showing Dash Rendar's ship in the special edition of New Hope.

It's a bit more complicated than that. They're all fully authorized---the name Coruscant originated in the Thrawn trilogy. (Although it was usually pronounced with the second c hard prior to The Phantom Menace.) Lucas just picks and chooses which ones he wants to incorporate more fully.

As for the games, other EU elements which have made it into them:

1) Admiral Thrawn plays a central role in TIE Fighter.
2) The Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 appears in both Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy.
3) In Knights of the Old Republic, Canderus describes an encounter with something that sounds suspiciously like a Vong Coralskipper. It's unclear what a Vong scouting party would have been doing near "our" galaxy that long ago, however.

 

[milo bloom]

I also want to throw in the idea of doing animated adaptations of Splinter of the Mind's Eye and Shadows of the Empire. I'd also love to see a story about the Rebel's finding and moving to Hoth (not sure if it exists in printed form or not, I've been out of SW fiction for several years now).

 

[FordSVT]

The correct answer is:

Which EU story can produce the most action figures & merchendise.
That's the one that will be made into a movie.

Well, the correct answer would be "whatever story Lucas feels like because he has said time and again that the EU really doesn't mean anything to him creatively". If he decides to make three more, they're just as likely to contain elements from the novels as not. He certainly has no creative obligation to use any of them for stories. The Wars EU is no more "canon" to Lucas than the Trek novels are to TPTB at Paramount. Some Star Wars fans have simply talked themselves into believing otherwise.

 

[Blamo]

I'd prefer the Thrawn trilogy, simply because I've started reading it (I've listened to the abridged first volume and am reading the third). That and it introduces Mara Jade, who I keep on hearing about (and of whom I've only heard 10-20 lines of dialogue from thanks to the abridged volume).

Whichever it's based on, lucas should have a little to do with it as possible.

 

[Unicron]

While I can see the argument in favor of Dark Empire, I'm not a fan of that idea. Dark Empire is the original master of the over-the-top abilities and superweapons. It's the root of the reason the EU is considered "fanwank" by some.

Given all the factors, I think a trilogy which tells the Yuuzhan Vong story---possibly incorperating elements of The Hand of Thrawn at the start, such as the Imperial Remnant/Republic detente---would make the most sense:

1) It would allow the films to go nuts with CGI on the Vong ships and characters.
2) Seeing the Remnant and the Republic working together is, let's face it, pretty cool.
3) Even casual Star Wars fans may have some familiarity with the Jedi Academy due to its inclusion in some of the games, so the fall of Yavin IV would have meaning, and the view of the Jedi as primary targets in the war gives the story a thematic link to the prequels.
4) The fall of Coruscant has to be at the end of Episode VIII. You know it.
5) The ages of the characters would be about right.

I'd rather have Dark Empire, personally. I think the Vong are one of the worst EU additions.

 

[Mr Light]

While I enjoyed the Vong War to some degree, they definitely shouldn't be used in movies/TV. They're too dark, too depressing, and they're not Dark Siders. No lightsaber on lightsaber action. It's all about crossing swords Amphistaffs don't count, they're silly!

 

[Corran Horn]

Thrawn Trilogy MINUS Joruuuuuuuus C'boath and Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuke. They were just silly in an otherwise perfect story. Maybe they could hybridize stories. Instead of C'boath as the Dark Side baddie have Jacen going evil and joining Thrawn? Or even just a Kyp Durron type story, just one of the students who gets power hungry. Though personally I'd rather see what Lucas came up with on his own (as long he gets someone else to write the dialogue!).

I dunno...crazed clone Jedi might be kinda kewl.

 

[Praetor]

While I can see the argument in favor of Dark Empire, I'm not a fan of that idea. Dark Empire is the original master of the over-the-top abilities and superweapons. It's the root of the reason the EU is considered "fanwank" by some.

Given all the factors, I think a trilogy which tells the Yuuzhan Vong story---possibly incorperating elements of The Hand of Thrawn at the start, such as the Imperial Remnant/Republic detente---would make the most sense:

1) It would allow the films to go nuts with CGI on the Vong ships and characters.
2) Seeing the Remnant and the Republic working together is, let's face it, pretty cool.
3) Even casual Star Wars fans may have some familiarity with the Jedi Academy due to its inclusion in some of the games, so the fall of Yavin IV would have meaning, and the view of the Jedi as primary targets in the war gives the story a thematic link to the prequels.
4) The fall of Coruscant has to be at the end of Episode VIII. You know it.
5) The ages of the characters would be about right.

I'd rather have Dark Empire, personally. I think the Vong are one of the worst EU additions.

I agree. Ugh.

 

[SalvorHardin]

I have never read any Star Wars novels.

I've played the KOTOR games though and I would love to see a movie trilogy based on those.
But Lucas should take a back seat and bring some fresh blood to write and direct.

 

[God Magnus]

KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

A better Star Wars story than anything the prequels came out with.

That's what I was going to say. I only got into this series about a year ago but it's such a fun comic. It has the sense of adventure, fun and humor I remember from the original trilogy while still managing to throw some drama in as well.