With Rebels a huge success for Lucasfilm Animation, just like The Clone Wars before it, it makes sense that a new animated Star Wars show is on the horizon. Here are four of my ideas on what the new show could be:
Now this is incredibly unlikely but I have to mention it right off the bat: Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. Considering we know very little about the time period including what Luke did between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, Ben’s life before turning to the Dark Side and Rey’s connection to Luke and The Force we probably won’t see an animated show about Luke’s Jedi Academy until we have more information given from Episode 8 or even Episode 9. It would be great to see Luke as the Jedi Master we have not yet seen him be, teaching younglings and bringing light back into a galaxy that was kept in the dark for so long under the Empire’s rule. The show could also depict Ben’s fall to the dark side under Snoke’s manipulation with the series ending with the Knights of Ren and Ben destroying the academy and may even feature a young Rey but this hinges on what exactly her connection to Luke and The Force is. And for anyone worried that the show will be a bit dull set in one place then fear not, in the canon novel Bloodline it is revealed that Luke and Ben moved around the galaxy a lot during this time hinting there may not have been a permanent base for Luke’s academy. Also, considering Mark Hamill’s past with voice acting (The Joker primarily), it could be possible that he would portray Luke again in the show.
I would love to see the time period just before The Phantom Menace explored in the new canon, and I’m not talking Old Republic (although I did in my previous article) I’m talking just before The Phantom Menace. At this point in time the Jedi Order had become an almost political entity instead of a spiritual one, having close ties with the senate and leaving the spiritual side of The Force behind instead looking at it scientifically with the focus on Midi-chlorians. I would love to see a show focusing on a Jedi Knight who opposes the Jedi Council on these issues and wants to get back to the Jedi as a spiritual group and because of this is cast out, the Jedi could even be presented as the ‘bad guys’ of the show, causing the protagonist to start flirting with the Dark Side. A myriad of prequel characters could appear such as Count Dooku when he was still a Jedi (maybe he identifies with the protagonist’s experiences and that is why he eventually falls to the Dark Side), Master Yoda, Mace Windu, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and even Palpatine, both as a politician and as the Sith Lord who is currently training Darth Maul.
With Han Solo and Chewbacca set be the stars of their own spin-off feature film what better way to follow it up but with an animated show which continues their adventures before we first meet the characters in Episode 4. For the majority of the films we see Solo as an active member of the Rebellion and see little of the much talked about smuggler so an animated show would give us a chance to get to know the scruffy looking Nerf herder before his conscience got the better of him. The show could explore, and therefore feature, Han and Chewie’s relationships with characters such as Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt and – because of the time period – characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels like Hondo and Azmorigan. Lando could also be a recurring character considering he has already made the leap into animation in Rebels.
You may think this as a cop out and hypocritical but my last suggestion if for something completely new. A show set in a completely new time period, with completely new characters and a completely new plot. I want to be surprised and amazed by the talents at Lucasfilm Animation with them giving me a show which is completely unexpected. The Star Wars galaxy is one of the most dense and interesting fictional universes ever created and continuing to make spin-offs featuring characters that we already know does that universe a disservice. Will I rush to the cinema and see the Han Solo movie several times? Yes, I will. But do I really want a Han Solo movie? No, I don’t. In my mind animation is almost magical just as the Star Wars galaxy is, both of them capable of wondrous things but both thrive on originality which is something that shouldn’t be lost just because other options may seem more commercially viable.
What do you want the new animated Star Wars show to be about? Let me know in the comments and geek out with me about Star Wars on Twitter @kylebrrtt.
