George Lucas FINALLY Reveals His ‘Star Wars’ Sequel Plan
Flashback to the day Disney purchased Lucasfilm for $4 billion; following that, the announcement that a new trilogy would soon grace our movie screens once again. The excitement! The adventure! A Jedi craves not these things, but we sure did. What new stories will we get? How will the Empire continue? The speculation rivaled the anticipation for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Two years removed from the end of the sequel trilogy, clues to what The Maker had planned are revealed.
In the recently released Taschen's The Star Wars Archives 1999-2005, George Lucas revealed his plans for the sequel trilogy post-Return of the Jedi. No doubt handwritten on a yellow notepad, Lucas' sequel trilogy focused on Leia, who would lead the light side against an old enemy of The Clone Wars, Darth Maul. Standing at Maul's side was his apprentice, a Sith Twi'lek named Darth Talon.
RELATED: George Lucas' Sequel Trilogy We Never Got
Lucas is never one for conceding to popularity. Despite the harsh criticism of the prequel trilogy, he marched forward and told the story he wanted, for which he should be commended. The guy sticks to his beliefs and doesn't cower, nor should he. In the end, Lucas retired to enjoy spending more time with his family and sold his baby, Lucasfilm, to Disney. The rest is legend, and we all know there are some truth in legends.
But how interesting would it have been to have Leia meet an elderly Maul? The entire concept brings so many questions to mind. The last fingerprint Lucas had on the character Maul was in The Clone Wars Season 5, Episode 16: The Lawless, when Sidious learned of his former apprentices return and put the kibosh on that noise. Sidious had his own plans for the former Sith.
If Lucas' plan had played out, it would've had a ripple effect across several generations of Star Wars stories. There would've been no Maul in Rebels or Solo. Lucas would want that reveal to be told on the big screen. However, Maul's return in Star Wars: The Clone Wars wasn't on the big screen. What's the difference? The difference is the timeline. The Clone Wars happen relatively soon after Kenobi dissects the Sith Lord. The sequel trilogy is more than six decades after The Phantom Menace. One can only imagine the effect Maul's return after 60+ years would have on Star Wars fandom. Star Wars twitter fandom probably would've imploded, the discourse after The Last Jedi would've paled in comparison.
So why Maul? Lucas knew he killed off a popular new character and wanted to correct that mistake. Lucas has a habit of writing himself into corners and has no qualms with getting out of it regardless of how much sense it makes. This is why we love the guy so much. Such a punk rocker! But it’s not just a Lucas thing, it’s a Star Wars thing. Boba Fett returned after seemingly getting swallowed by the Sarlacc. Palpatine returned even though his body exploded. There’s no dying in Star Wars. Star Wars is the dark side. It cheats death.
In the sequel trilogy, a confrontation between Leia Organa and Maul would have ties to Marvel comic's Star Wars Shattered Empire #3 (Oct. 2015). In the issue, Leia travels to Naboo, the home planet of her mother, Queen Amidala. While walking through the hanger bay filled with Naboo fighters, Leia feels the cold presence from the past—Darth Maul.
As for Darth Talon, long-time fans of the Star Wars comics published by Dark Horse will recognize her from the Star Wars Legacy series (2006), written by John Ostrander. Coincidentally enough Legacy also took place further down the Star Wars timeline.
Regardless of how one might feel about the sequel trilogy as it stands, there's no doubt Lucas' story ideas would also cause strife between very passionate and opinionated Star Wars fans. Either way, you can’t please everyone. Star Wars Archives 1999-2005 is available now wherever books are sold.
READ NEXT: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Darth Maul
Source(s): MovieWeb