The YouTuber
The Art of Storytelling has a balanced and thoughtful examination of the ST filmmakers' bonkers decision to never have Luke, Leia and Han share a scene together, one which takes into account Ford's probable request to be a one-and-done, Fisher's passing, and the understandable impulses to foreground a new generation of heroes, along with the inherent narrative benefit of keeping Luke off-screen and mysterious for most of the first Episode.
This got me thinking... in an ideal world, a Sequel Trilogy would probably have been made in the early-to-mid-90s, when Hamill, Fisher, and Ford were still young enough to headline their own adventures, but sufficiently older than their last appearances to play new and interesting shades to their characters. The main trouble with this, however, would have been that Leia and Han's kid/kids would likely have been 5-10 years old, i.e., old enough to be noticeable, but too young to involve in adventures without being annoying.
The Disney purchase in the 2010s presented an opportunity to recast the classic trio to ~5 years after Endor, much like
Heir to the Empire, before Leia and Han have any kids, but of course the temptation to bring back the old actors was too tempting to resist, which, along with the desire to give the old actors redemption arcs to perform, resulted in the OT rehash we got. Disney presumably counted on the new heroes being popular enough to power on in the post-sequel time frame, as shown by their setting Galaxy's Edge in that period, but the behind-the-scenes debacle of
TRoS led to those characters being put on pause.
So, this gave me an idea: what if the Sequel Trilogy was able to give audiences new heroes, the classic trio actors,
and a recast Luke, Leia, and Han? Suppose our core trio has been keeping up the good fight against a new threat all these years, but they've suffered more defeats than victories, and Luke in particular has taken too much battle damage to be a front-line warrior, and has therefore taken a mentorship role to the few remaining Jedi pupils. In this context, Rey and Finn could have an adventure of their own in Ep. 7, before linking up with the Classic Trio, who, without redemption arcs to undertake, would largely be manning the fort throughout the new trilogy.
The second movie would end with a big defeat,
ESB-style, and in the third movie, the megalomaniac and quasi-insane Big Bad, not content with winning the present, would hatch an even more evil plan to harness the power of time travel to conquer all of galactic history. In the course of the climax, the Classic Trio and the remnants of the Rebellion go down fighting, and Rey and Finn manage to follow the villain into the mists of time... and somehow wind up on Endor, just as the post-Death Star victory celebration quiets down, where they meet a freshly recast Luke, Leia, Han, and Lando. "Who the Force are
you?" Young Luke asks. "We're the ones who're going to help you save the galaxy," Rey tells him. Roll credits!
That way, everyone could win: Disney could reap the windfall of bringing Hamill, Fisher, and Ford back for one last hurrah, they could introduce a new Force-wielding heroine who wouldn't have the baggage of being Luke's sister or an active romantic involvement,
and they could wrap up the ST in a satisfying way while also keeping the audience clamoring for more, as Rey joins forces with a Luke in his prime
(let the shipping begin!). Yes, this would have meant making time travel a major part of the mythos, and yes, it would be more than a little reminiscent of the
X-Men story arc
Days of Future Past, but, hey, this is a franchise inspired by silly movie serials, after all, so, why not, I figure?
So, what do you all think of this idea? Promising? Nausea-inducing? Somewhere in between?
