Welcome back to The Cantina where we definitely serve your kind. I’m your bartender Kyle Malone and I’m serving up tall glasses of nothing but Star Wars. By now you know I am the dedicated, well versed in the EU, experienced gamer, and open-minded fan this world needs. I see the flaws in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, but also the great moments too. I know the importance of The Empire Strikes Back but see how strong Return of the Jedi is. I see that the prequels… well… we’ll get there… maybe. There’s nothing more satisfying than a great Star Wars story, and I want more!
Recent News And Rumors
Another week has come and gone and with it came more news and rumors… Thankfully, otherwise I’d be out of a job! So what made the list today? Well George Lucas may be back, Kylo gets a not so fancy nickname, and flashbacks galore! Of course there are potential spoilers ahead, but if you’re staying let’s get into it…
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The first rumor is a leak reported by The Express and it states that Disney brought on no other than George Lucas himself to assist Abrams with the legacy (Han, Luke, Leia, and Lando) characters. I can already hear some of you saying “Thank the Maker”, but I’ll remind you that many of you saying that hated Lucas and what he did with the prequels. It’s like someone who said Zack Snyder sucked at the DCEU films but all of a sudden think his vision of Justice League would be brilliant.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Lucas stepped foot on set. He famously “directed” a scene in Solo involving Han and the female lead Qi’ra. However, that doesn’t give me warm and fuzzies as I thought Solo was a terrible movie and that Disney does not get the Han Solo character. They have made him a bumbling idiot and made him a good guy from the get go, instead of it being Luke and Leai, mostly Leia, that softened his heart. Anyways… What could Lucas bring to the table? Well he gets the legacy characters better than anyone, I guess. He created them! However, he doesn’t get the path the characters took in the Expanded Universe, and whether you liked the EU or not, Disney has been borrowing from it heavily. In The Last Jedi Luke is very much the guy we see in the Legacy of the Force and The Fate of The Jedi books. In those series’ he ordered his niece to kill his nephew (he would have done it himself but the story/situation didn’t allow it), went into exile, and used Force projection to fight. So… Yeah, TLJ wasn’t that far off from the once “real” Luke Skywalker.
So what will/has Lucas offered? Not too much considering Han is dead and they can’t film anything new with Leia. That leaves Luke in flashbacks and Force ghost mode, unless they play with time travel… Please don’t play with time travel. Bringing on George Lucas would seem like a waste to me. I get that Disney wants to “fix” The Last Jedi, and I hate that idea, but Lucas lost Star Wars fans when he decided it should be for 10yo kids and not everybody. If Lucas was brought on set hopefully it was to point out minor things that deal with tone or shots. We know he isn’t a great dialogue writer.
In other news, Kylo Ren will apparently be called “The Jedi Killer” in the next movie. Apparently Abrams had intended this to be a mane used in his original vision for the Sequel Trilogy. A recent leak describes the following:
“Kylo Ren will have many scenes where he is looked up to by The First Order as the Supreme Leader but he will also be called The Jedi Killer by some of the new characters. One of the new descriptions goes over Kylo in front of all six Knights (of Ren) surrounded by dead bodies with huts on fire. The sequence is described as The Jedi Killer and his followers draw a path of darkness. It is said Kylo developed this name by telling everyone what he did to Skywalker and his Jedi Temple.”
This rumor doesn’t really affect the story but may lead some more credence to the rumors that the Knights of Ren will be featured heavily in this movie. I personally think we needed them in Episode VIII in order for them to have weight, and I think they may eat up too much time in an already likely crowded Episode IX. I think the name is a little goofy, but we’ll see how it plays on the ears with images for context.
Look, it’s not like I don’t want the Knights in this trilogy, I very much did. However, with each week bringing more leaks and rumors that Episode IX will “fix” or “course correct” The Last Jedi I get more scared of a clunky movie with no identity of its own. The Knights can play a part, but it can’t be too big. Unless they don’t plan on any explanation of where they’ve been or why they exist. We’re going to be so busy finding out who Snoke was, who Rey’s parents are, and fixing Luke…
Flashbacks are fun right? You get to fill in gaps from the past by having present characters remember stuff on screen. Well if recent rumors from Making Star Wars, and covered by our own Cam Clark HERE are any indication we will get plenty in the upcoming Episode IX. From Luke’s X-Wing to the Lars Farm and even training Leia, yes it seems we may spend a lot of the present in the past. I guess that’s fitting for the tag line of “A long time ago.”
This again plays too much into not completing this trilogy with a third movie. They’re going back in time to fill in gaps that should have been filled in earlier. They’re covering stuff that could have been covered in TLJ, but noooo…. We had to have Canto Bight. We had to have the slow space chase with arcing laser blasts. We had to do things that made no sense! Okay. I’m Fine. Let’s just hope this movie is at least three hours long. That’s the only way we’re going to get a satisfying end to the Skywalker saga.
If you missed out on the Last Call Podcast here it is again.
We’re going to be doing this once a month and the next episode (yeah I said it) will hit March 26th!
What do you think of this weeks news and rumors? What do you want to see happen in Episode IX? Let me know in the comments below! May the Force be with you.
SOURCES: The Express (2) (3), Making Star Wars
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