New Legacy comics – curiouser and curiouser

Oh, to be a fly on the wall at Lucasfilm right now. I like to think it’s a case of life imitating art. In this instance, The Emperor has fallen, The Death Star has been destroyed, and a group of Moffs, Warlords and Admirals are scrambling to make some sort of claim over armaments, resources and territory. Because one thing’s for sure – that sense of cohesive, singular narrative that was the Star Wars EU has gone out the window.

In the latest baffling announcement, Dark Horse is set to publish a new Star Wars: Legacy comic, focusing on the Great-Granddaughter of Leia Organa-Solo. This, despite the fact the Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill have all-but-confirmed their return for Episode VII.

I can’t quite figure out why Lucasfilm Licensing would do this. Even if the Disney deal took them by surprise (it didn’t) you would think they might want to stop publishing something that’s so clearly going to contradict continuity by 2015. Dark Horse might be ready to just throw caution to the wind, but Lucasfilm Licensing has a duty to at least try and make the timeline work.

Looking at the release list, it’s not surprising that everything but Sword Of The Jedi and Crucible is set in time periods other than post-Return of the Jedi. Licensing has wisely been avoiding the Legacy era of late. So why now?

It makes me think that Marvel continues to be an interesting model for comparison. In the same way that the timelines for Marvel comics and Marvel movies exist simultaneously, share commonalities, but have completely separate universes and timelines, the Star Wars EU and Star Wars movie universe (MU?) could co-exist. They could, er, form a Symbian circle, maybe.

That way, the Expanded Universe can continue, prosper and grow in all its absurd glory, with the movies continuing to cherry-pick it for the big screen.

This, I think, is the best case scenario. The new Legacy looks great. It would be a shame for something so promising to be thrown aside. So let’s keep our Expanded Universe, separate from the movies, but still thriving.

(Source: Comic Book Resources, via Club Jade)

By The Emperor’s Hand – The Movie

What a difference a day makes. So twenty-four hours ago I was typing a ill-thought out post about how spin-off Star Wars movies were a bad idea. Then I started thinking about my favourite characters in their own movies. And then I began to grin.

I still maintain that having actually spinning off characters from Episode VII is not going to work. I don’t want overnight sensation Bounty Hunter #2 to get her own movie, or for Darth Galavian’s back-story to only be told through a stand-alone film. But taking a Marvel approach to lifting the best characters out of the established universe made me a bit giddy. Especially when considering the potential of Mara Jade.

Firstly, let’s be pragmatic. By Episode VII, Mara, if she exists at all in the movies, is most likely dead. This is a given if Episode VII considers the Expanded Universe, but it’s also almost certainly true if it just cherry-picks it too. The role of Luke Skywalker’s wife is too much story to just simply be there in Episode VII. And I highly doubt Disney wants to tell the tale of two sixty year olds falling in love.

Mara Jade – By The Emperor’s Hand, however, is a far more commercially viable project. A beautiful and deadly assassin, set in the time of original trilogy, featuring both Darth Vader and The Emperor. I can see the marketing department lighting up already.

The Zahn / Stackpole comic By The Emperor’s Hand is also a fantastic introduction to the character. Or rather, an origin story. With a few tweaks, it could make a great movie:

• Act 1 – James Bond intro, mission to Tatooine, her investigation into Dequc and vision of the Emperor’s Death.
• Act 2 – Could modify the story slightly for the sake of character growth – she goes to Isard, but is rejected after her failing to kill Dequc and Skywalker – Isard thinks she’s complicit in the rebellion. Mara is then forced to investigate The Black Nebula whilst on the run from the crumbling Empire.
• Act 3 – She uncovers the truth about Dequc, Isard offers to take her back in, but she realises The Empire and The Emperor she served is gone. She deals with The Black Nebula and turns her back on The Empire for good. She runs.

There’s character growth, intrigue, and a new take on Return of the Jedi. It’s a perfect elevator pitch – “Mission Impossible in Space!” And using some very clever digital effects, you could even revisit scenes. Mara gets to feature in Jabba’s Palace after all.

Trouble occurs though if it proves popular. Specifically if they include The Emperor’s last command. See, as sequels come and go, people are going to expect Mara to catch up with Luke, especially if Mark Hamill’s appearance in Episode VII mentions his deceased wife by name.

But barring a massive advance in conquering the uncanny valley, this won’t happen, as Mark Hamill just can’t pass for thirty anymore.

Which kind of leads me full circle. There’s plenty of potential in the EU for spin-off movies. But make enough waves in the Star Wars universe and eventually the Skywalker clan will come a-knocking. And you can throw great writers and talented directors into the mix as much as you want, but this – having Luke meet his wife – is something a live action film will not be able to do.

Jedi Eclipse, Hero’s Trial & The Problem of Spin-off Movies

I’m about seventy pages into Jedi Eclipse. Now this is more like it.

I went into Jedi Eclipse with some trepidation, as I really didn’t get along with Hero’s Trial. Fortunately everything I didn’t like about the first book in this dualogy seems to have been addressed in the second. Characters are believable. It feels like a war is going on. The story is engaging. Han isn’t such an douche-bag. Fandom’s praise for Luceno is well deserved.

The contrast in my reactions to the books though are especially interesting, given the news that Lawrence Kasdan may be working on a spin-off movie and not Episode VIII. Hero’s Trial is about as close to a spin-off as you can get in Star Wars. Everyone except Han is reduced to cameo roles. Not even his wife gets more than a handful of scenes. Hero’s Trial is primarily a book about Han, as he grieves over the death of Chewbacca.

Yet, without The Force, the Republic, the Jedi, the Imperial fleet and all the other aspects that add up to a Star Wars adventure, it’s lacking. A large part of my issue with Hero‘s Trial is the terrible characterisation, but even if Han was written perfectly I wonder if I’d still be more interested in the war taking place that the fate of the galaxy rested upon?

Put another way, imagine what would have ensured if George Lucas had suddenly decided after The Empire Strikes back that Episode VI would have to wait a while, because he was going to make a spin-off adventure about Boba Fett. Star Wars is epic and grandiose. Spin-off movies doesn’t feel right.

Star Wars to me is about mystical Jedi, great space battles, thrilling lightsaber fights, good versus evil, morality, dashing rogues and feisty princesses. As I’ve said previously, characterisation is important. But I’m not sure that the parts of Star Wars are worth more than its sum.

That said, if this leads to a Mara Jade movie, then colour me convinced.

Samurai Films For The Star Wars Fan : The Samurai Trilogy

Forward – Star Wars owes a lot to samurai movies. It’s a well known fact that the initial drafts for A New Hope were largely based on The Hidden Fortress, and a moderately known one that Lucas considered casting samurai star Toshiro Mifune as Ben Kenobi. From noble warriors to princesses, wise cracking rogues to epic sword battles, many films in the samurai genre can be seen as Star Wars not set in space.

Consequently fans looking for a fix could do worse than take a look. Over the coming months, I’ll be highlighting the best and how they relate to Star Wars.

In an ideal world, The Samurai Trilogy would have been to The Prequels what The Hidden Fortress was to Star Wars. This trilogy follows the character of Miyamoto Musashi, beginning with him as a brash young soldier and chronicling his path towards a thoughtful and introspective samurai. Along the way, he learns what it means to be a samurai whilst grappling with his love for a young woman, torn between his passion and the duty he learns.

Word-for-word, it doesn’t match the fall of the Republic. Thematically, however, it addresses every contradiction that’s interesting about the Jedi. The sense of duty versus personal happiness. How to maintain a warrior’s code whilst being a peace-keeper. Escalation and its inevitable conflict.

The journey of Musashi’s character is also the path of a Jedi that I wanted from The Prequels. When we meet Mushashi he is brash and cocky, but over time is taught by his mentor and through his mistakes about sacrifice and selflessness. He slowly grows into an accomplished samurai, who treads a dangerous line between assured and arrogant. By the end, he has come to wary of conflict, seeking peace and introspection. Unfortunately the life of a guardian rarely grants this luxury, as the Jedi in Star Wars learn.

Other characters feel like they could slot into a Star Wars story too. His love interest Otsu maybe too subservant to be a template for Padme (much like the actual Padme), but the relationship between her and Musashi is far more compelling than the romance we settled for in Attack of the Clones. The constant tug between duty and desire is paramount here, setting up some heart-wrenching scenes that would have given The Prequels some much needed fire.

Buddhist priest Takuan Soho also serves as Musashi’s Jedi Master, taking him from a common soldier and training him up in the ways of a samurai. He is harsh and spiteful, yet ultimately a compassionate mentor. It’s a nice take on the old wise sage figure that would have brought cookie-cutter Prequel-era Jedi Knights to life.

Not to imply it’s a 1:1 replication, though. Those looking for The Prequels But Better won’t find it here. What you do get is a get three samurai movies that feature the themes and ideas that some may have been looking for.

Clarity in A Necessary Bond

There’s many things that Star Wars: The Clone Wars gets right where the Prequel Trilogy went wrong. In the episode Just in A Necessary Bond we see Younglings that aren’t annoying, characters like Hondo actually engaging, and genuine, true suspense – was it just me who thought the climatic duel with Grevious was leading to the shock-death of Ahsoka Tano?

But could the improvements be explained by George Lucas taking a supervisory position and letting more talented writers and directors go to work? Lately it’s seemed like Dave Filoni has taken over as the day-to-day producer of the show, only consulting Lucas on the overall vision and the big stuff.

One thing that can’t be explained by Lucas’ new positon in the back seat though is the clarity of the action in The Clone Wars. One of the complaints I have over the Prequel Trilogy is how badly some sequences are put together. This problem lies chiefly at the feet of the computer animators, who throughout the Prequels took basic frames and overloaded them with so much CG rubbish that you could barely keep your eye on one thing.

The Obi-wan Kenobi / General Grevious chase in Revenge of the Sith is a great example. According to interviews, it was supposed to be rival the speeder bike chase in Return of the Jedi. What we ended up with was two confusing, unclear and messy scenes where basic information like where the characters actually were was impossible to make out.

Contrast this against the many chases in A Necessary Bond. At no point did I frown with incomprehension. It showed similar and silly superhero Jedi feats that pushed plausibility. But for the most part it was grounded in realistic physics, comprehensible movement and simple editing. Even though it was set on an alien world and involved kids leaping thirty foot whilst killing Bad Guys, I still bought it.

I imagine that The Clone Wars avoids pushing the scope of the CGI camera due to its budget. It’s far easier to do shot-reverse-shot than have a camera sweep around and upside down for five minutes like a Robert Altman movie. But for a series set in a highly fantastical world where you spend a lot of time just trying to figure out what the heck you are looking at, it sometimes pays to keep things simple.

Don’t Make ‘Episode VII’

I have a lot on my mind that I want to write about presently. I want to look at Samurai movies and which ones disfranchised Star Wars fans should look to for their mystical Jedi fix. I want to write about Crimson Empire and what is going wrong in Council of Blood. I want to throw down my ideas of areas the Expanded Universe could explore to remain fresh, and debate my personal theories on the fundamental flaws of the Jedi.

But I don’t have time to do any of that tonight. So in order to keep up my goal of regular posts, I’ll state one of my quick ideas. That being a plea to Disney. It’s simply this – please don’t make Episode VII.

Clarification: I’m not begging you to not make more Star Wars movies. Obviously. What I am asking is don’t give any of them specific numbers.

For good or bad, The Star Wars Saga is the primary work of George Lucas. His prints are all over it. Even though the quality varies, there is a consistency across the films. You can put imagery from The Phantom Menace alongside A New Hope and see it all fits. Yes, the vision may have changed over the years, but the final result is one story that – for all its faults – does work.

When looking back decades from now, I’d like those initial six movies to stand out from the countless sequels Disney is going to produce. They should be recognised as different, as a work from largely one individual.

So instead, I would politely request that Disney dispenses with the episodes and just makes Star Wars movies instead. If, for example, it were called Resurrection Of The Sith (ugh) the crawling text should simply have that in capitals before the first paragraph. Similar to how A New Hope first worked. Similar to every Star Wars video game released by Lucasarts.

I want to see more Star Wars movies. I really want to see more Star Wars movies with Luke Skywalker in. But I think it should be acknowledged the original six movies are something separate. Something different. And – though perhaps not good or great – something special and unique in cinema.

Larry Kasdan’s Back?

Lawrence Kasdan to pen another Star Wars movie? So the rumours say. And when it’s Deadline reporting, those rumours hold some weight. Still, worth holding off celebrations until the official word confirms it.

I have to say though, Disney is really showing a solid understanding of the franchise. Whilst I’m not convinced the return of Han and Leia would be a good thing, the rumoured involvement of Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford has gone down well in fandom circles. Doubly so for Empire’s writer. Short of tapping Gary Kurtz to act as the line producer, I don’t see how Disney be playing this better.

Like Ford and Fisher’s rumoured appearance though, the nostalgia and kudos for bringing in Kasdan maybe diminished by what he can actually bring to the movie. His recent record hasn’t exactly shone with the same polish as his earlier work.

That said, Kasdan did an uncredited consultancy job on the Indy / Marion love dialogue for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And despite the strained chemistry between Ford and Allen, the writing – the tank scene comes to mind – had the same inflection and tone as Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Kasdan’s strength of characterisation is also a blessing in big special effects movies like Star Wars. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun back in 2002 (incidentally, the same one where he revealed Lucas asked him to take a shot at a last minute rewrite for The Phantom Menace), Kasdan compared his and Lucas’ styles:

“I’m not interested in plot, I’m interested in characters surprising you – scenes when you discover something new about them or they change their relationships to each other. I like fast-moving narrative too, so it was easy for me to get on George’s train. I just wanted to mix it up. That’s not to say he isn’t interested in larger matters. He’s always filling out some large scheme, and the people are there in his movies to represent different philosophical [constructs].“

I think it’s a good assessment of the weaknesses inherent in the Prequel trilogy. Lucas is clearly more interested in the big picture than the characters. Unfortunately, the Prequel trilogy is fairly character driven, as it’s set in a boring peaceful Republic where war doesn’t kick off until the last act.

Kasdan at least wouldn’t commit the same mistakes. Of course, with his lack of interest in larger issues and conflict, we might get new ones. A one-room character drama set in a motel room on Nar Shaddaa, maybe? At this point, all bets are off.