Guest Blog by Nathan Warby
As you, the wonderful and knowledgeable SUPERflix Movies audience, probably already know; a new live-action Star-Wars series is in development. Jon Favreau is at the helm.
We’re now receiving news that the spin-off will take place a few years after Return of the Jedi, meaning the show will give us insight into a previously undocumented period in the between the last of the original trilogy, and 2015’s sequel The Force Awakens.
Favreau has stated that story will focus on a cast of new characters, but that doesn’t mean that a handful of familiar faces won’t make an appearance further down the line. Here’s our picks for characters we hope get an outing on the small-screen:
Lando Calrissian
Little is known about what happened to our (second) favourite smuggler following the battle of Endor. What does a heroic general of the rebel alliance/legendary criminal do when the fight is over? Likelihood is he returned to Cloud City to do a little maintenance and fight off any remaining imperial presence. Perhaps he stayed on to fight the remnants of the Empire as they struggled to fill the power vacuum left in the galaxy. This would have been a good fight to enroll in for Lando, a fight in the shadows across the galaxy. His gambler’s network would be perfect to explore on the show and a connection to the galaxies underworld is always highly entertaining. Donald Glover has done really well on TV and perhaps Solo: A Star Wars Story is going to leave us wanting much more Lando. More likely, he could also be replaced with a new actor aged to after The Return of the Jedi. Perhaps Lando met his end in the seedy underworld gray area of SW canon that this series could cover. Maz could feature prominently, with her now legendary tavern as a great backdrop. Another intriguing connection however, is he gets reintroduced alongside the next character on the list.
Supreme Leader Snoke
I think I’m right in saying that when Snoke met his apparent end in The Last Jedi, we were all a little underwhelmed. I mean, who was he? How did he build the First Order from the ashes of the Galactic Empire? So many questions; yet all we know is that he is incredibly powerful in the dark side of the force, without being a Sith lord. Given the timeframe the series will take place, it could be a great opportunity for the writers to fill in the some of the backstory for an extremely interesting and intimating character. As the show goes on, presumably the First Order will start to have an increasingly dominant present throughout the galaxy as their strength grows, possible leading to an appearance of Snoke in future seasons. Even if it is only for a couple of episodes as they cross-paths with the dark-side’s dodgy dealings.
Maz Kanata
As stated in Force Awakens, Maz has run the interstellar watering hole on Takodana for over a century. But other than that, and little snippet from J.J. Abrahams implying she spent some considerable time as a space pirate; or in this case, pirate. As one of the more likeably side-character in the sequel movies, she could provide a friendly face to help tie the spin-off into the wider Star-Wars universe. Once again, she probably wouldn’t need to have a full arc, it’d be more than enough for her too just pop-up from time-to-time with a witty one liner. If she was to have an extended stay, the new cast could (and most definitely will) run into trouble, Maz’s tavern could be an interesting place for them to take refuge. This would create some slower paced scenes to make time for character development, something Maz can be the catalyst for.
Captain Phasma
In a similar vein to Snoke, The Last Jedi saw another painfully underdeveloped character killed off before we found out anything about her. Other than her clearly less than ideal relationship with Finn, she remains a cool looking soldier made to sell merchandise. But with the chance of seeing glimpses of the First Order, comes the possibility of finally getting more screen time with Phasma, perhaps in the build-up to seeing the dark-sides ruler. Being a slightly more minor character in the films, she could have the potential to be something of a villain in later seasons of Favreau’s show. This would give her a great deal more insight into her personality and make her come across as a more menacing fighter; opposed to the (lets face it) pushover she wound up being in the films. Poor Phasma.
Mon Mothma
Once the empire had been defeated, the leader of the rebel alliance should probably have taken well-earned step back from the political scene. However according to some extended universe content, she takes up an equally stressful role as chancellor of the New Republic, hoping it will turn out better than the old one; which, you know, got taken over by an evil Sith-lord. Whether this remains canon, or they go another route where she has take that vacation, she’s a prime candidate to feature again. Someone who selflessly dedicated so many years of her life to bringing peace to the galaxy would surely be the first to appear once it is threatened again, as we’re assuming it will be. If she did go into hiding once her job was done, she could assume the Obi-Wan Kenobi role, offering wisdom and guidance to the new heroes.
Mara Jade
Jon Favreau has the perfect opportunity to fully canonise one the most beloved extended universe characters out there. Following the collapse of her beloved empire, Mara Jade goes rogue and joins the smugglers alliance; where she meets the aforementioned Lando and begins interacting with a certain Luke Skywalker – who you may have heard of. Whilst she goes on to elope with the powerful Jedi, she does have a brief relationship with Calrissian, which could be where we meet up with her. You can probably assume the new characters won’t always be on the right side of the law, meaning that a slip into the galaxy’s criminal underworld seems inevitable. Perhaps the new heroes need themselves smuggling into a stronghold occupied by the fledgling First Order, causing them to recruit the help of Luke’s bride-to-be, finally giving us a live-action adaptation of such a prominent EU character.
The series could also go in a completely different area with Mara Jade and re-canonize her in her own right apart from Luke’s story. This would be a great place to re-invent the character for new fans in a new canon.
That’s our suggestions for who we might see, but Favreau’s series is unlikely to reach our TV’s for quite some time – plenty of time to debate and discuss, because we just hate that don’t we?
Who is the top character you want to see in this new series? Tell us in the comments.