Tag Archives: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Feb 25 2017

Top Ten Star Wars Spinoffs We Want To See

han-solo-cast

Thanks to the success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the promise of next year’s Han Solo film, all Star Wars fans are speculating over what other Star Wars spinoffs will see the light of day. Due to the fact that the Star Wars universe is so rich and layered with fantastic characters and captivating stories, there are many possibilities. Here are the best ideas and characters for future Star Wars spinoff films.

the-knights-of-ren10. Rise of the Knights of Ren—An exploration of the time period in between the Original Trilogy (OT) and the new one would largely depend on the next two films coming out. They will probably provide some more details of how the new Jedi Order fell and how Snoke and Kylo Ren rose to power. From there, Lucasfilm can use the new information to build a film dealing with that time period.

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9. Knights of the Old Republic—The popular RPG video game and comic book is ripe for a Star Wars spinoff film or three. Taking place thousands of years before the films, the story explores the early conflicts between the Jedi and the Sith, which would give filmmakers a fresh slate of characters and situations or adapt the characters from the game and comics.

bail organa

8. House Organa—While we’ve seen much about the Skywalkers and will learn Han Solo’s back story, we still don’t know a lot about Princess Leia and her adopted noble family. Actor Jimmy Smits is certainly game to reprise his role of Leia’s stepfather, Bail Organa, as seen in Rogue One. The character also appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, so a Star Wars spinoff film could easily focus on the ruling family of Alderaan and the role they played in the Galactic Republic and the Empire.

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7. Seeds of the Rebellion—This could be expanded from the current animated series Star Wars Rebels, actually such a film could simply be a live-action adaptation of the series. In that show we’ve seen how the Rebellion started to gain traction against the Empire before the OT. A live-action film could either use the characters and situations seen in Star Wars Rebels or go back to an earlier period and show how the Rebellion began right after the Prequel Trilogy (PT).

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6. Boba Fett and the Bounty Hunters— Originally Josh Trank was supposed to direct a Boba Fett film and it was close to being produced. But Trank’s career meltdown following his ill-fated Fantastic Four reboot placed the Fett film on hold. Boba Fett is a favorite among fans and a showcase for the galactic bounty hunter is a film too good to pass up. Throw in other galactic bounty hunters like Bossk, Cad Bane, Aurra Sing and IG-88 and you’ve got a classic Star Wars film.

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5. Shadows of the Empire—The popular multimedia project from the ‘90s would do for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi what Rogue One did for Star Wars Episode III and A New Hope. That is to be a companion piece that sets up and bridges those two films. It may be tricky to pull off since convincing CG will be needed to recreate young versions of the original Star Wars cast, but the storyline could largely focus on the smuggler Dash Rendar, the evil Prince Xizor, Boba Fett and, of course, Darth Vader.

clone-army

4. Clone Troopers—Thanks to Star Wars: The Clone Wars the nameless and countless clone soldiers have been given distinct identities like Captain Rex, Cody, Fives, and Echo. Many great episodes of that animated series were devoted to the clone troopers and a film could cover their point of view in the Clone Wars or their part in the infamous Order 66. As long as Temeura Morrison is willing to revisit the role(s) then a film focusing on the grunt soldiers of the Republic is an idea worth exploring.

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3. Yoda—The wise and surprisingly mighty Jedi Master has a way of throwing people off guard as to his true nature. This was best demonstrated in The Empire Strikes Back when he first appeared as a harmless and daffy creature that later showed a jaw-dropping mastery of the Force.  Another instance came in Star Wars Episode II when he displayed his fighting prowess to the shock of audiences. His small stature and Zen-like demeanor hide much about Yoda, which is why a Star Wars spinoff film is a perfect vehicle to explore his centuries-long history.

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2. Ahsoka Tano—As the most popular original character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the young Padawan of Anakin Skywalker won over many fans with her plucky attitude and bravery. Throughout the series Ahsoka grew from an immature warrior into a more seasoned and moral-centered Jedi who surprised everyone when she left the Jedi Order in disillusionment. Later, she turned up in Star Wars Rebels as an adult fighting for the Rebel cause and even confronted her former teacher, Anakin, now turned into Darth Vader. She is one of the best developed female characters in all of Star Wars and a live-action film devoted to Ahsoka Tano is just begging to be made.

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1. Obi-Wan Kenobi—The noble Jedi Knight, as portrayed by Ewan MacGregor, was one of the best characters in the PT films. The actor has expressed an eagerness to return to the role and rumors are swirling that one or two films are being planned featuring Kenobi. We’ve made the case before as to why Obi-Wan Kenobi deserves a Star Wars spinoff film and it could explore his history as a Padawan and his time in between the PT and OT when he watched over the one who would truly bring balance to the Force, Luke Skywalker.

So, would any of these characters and stories make your own list of future Star Wars spinoffs? Or are there others missing from this list? Let us know!

José Soto

Oct 4 2014

Star Wars Returns With New Rebels

Star Wars is back with the long awaited premiere of the pilot for the animated show Star Wars: Rebels on Disney Channel.

Right off the bat the action kicks off with the introduction of the main character, a Jedi in hiding called Kanan Jarrus (voiced by Freddie Prinze, Jr.), who leads a crew of rebels on a ship called the Ghost in stealing weapons on a remote outer rim world Lothal. On the planet the crew encounters a young thief named Ezra (voiced by Taylor Gray), who is also strong in the Force.  This sets off a chain of events that lead them on a rescue mission to free wookie slaves on the spice world of Kessel. The show displays classic Star Wars action with a speeder chase right out of Return Of The Jedi, gun battles with imperial stormtroopers, who still have lousy aim, and dog fights in outer space with the iconic TIE fighters echoing scenes from A New Hope.

speederAll of this sets up the series nicely as a return to the Original Trilogy era, as this show is set between events in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the original film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.  The tyranny of the Empire is on display as well, the episode starts with an agent from the Imperial Security Bureau harassing citizens of the planet Lothal, and later wookies are being shipped to certain death as forced slave labor. As much as I liked the prequel era and Star Wars: The Clone Wars series, it is great to see a return to this time in the Star Wars universe.  But I hada few nitpicks with the pilot episode. Take the way Kanan reveals himself as a Jedi to the imperial forces in the end of the episode. It did seem somewhat sudden, as was the quickness that Ezra accepts Kanan’s offer to be trained as a Jedi. ezra lightsaberI thought that their identity as Force sensitive people would have been kept under wraps for a while and be gradually brought up as the series went on, but by the conclusion of the pilot, they basically lay their cards out on the table. This brings them to the attention of the next big Star Wars villain, the Inquisitor, who seems like a sinister character even though his screen time is only a few seconds. Having said that, it was nice to see some exciting lightsaber action, as was seeing our heroes help their fellow man. Whether it was feeding starving outcasts on Lothar or helping Wookie slaves escape from Imperial clutches.

ghost battleThis series is being executive produced by Dave Filoni, who oversaw the excellent Clone Wars  show and it will be interesting to see how Rebels develops in comparison. Star Wars: The Clone Wars had familiar characters and settings while Star Wars: Rebels is kind of in new territory with new characters (and a cameo by one of the beloved Star Wars characters) and a setting that has to bridge the gap between the trilogies.   Overall, this pilot gets the series off to a good start. The characters seem to have a good rapport with each other and have a history as a crew that will hopefully be explored in the coming episodes. It will be fun to see how they will fit into the overall story of the rebellion and hopefully we will see classic Star Wars characters interacting with the crew of the Ghost.

C.S. Link

 

Mar 12 2014

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Unveils Its Final Episodes

yoda anakin mace

The sixth and last season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, entitled “The Lost Missions”, just premiered on Netflix. As the final season of the excellent series it’s a shortened one with 13 episodes as opposed to the usual 22. The purchase by Disney brought about the cancellation of the series and the creative team led by Dave Filoni has moved onto the upcoming series called Star Wars Rebels.

This sixth season has four story arcs which begin with a very interesting storyline about a clone trooper named Tup that suddenly attacks and kills his commanding Jedi general. His fellow clone trooper named Fives (Dee Bradley Baker) investigates anakinwhat caused this violent behavior and uncovers a conspiracy going back to the creation of the clone army in their birthplace planet Kamino and the Sith Lord Darth Sidious (Tim Curry). This story, as well as others in this season, lead directly to events in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of the Sith, which makes this season a very good send off for the show.

The next story arc involves Senator Padme Amidala (Catherine Taber) and an old flame named Clovis who gets involved with political intrigue involving the Banking Clan as well as Sith Lords Sidious and Count Dooku (Corey Burton). While this may not sound very exciting, these episodes actually show how Palpatine further consolidated his control over the Republic and also have both Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and Padme questioning the nature of their secret marriage.

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The third story arc features everyone’s favorite Gungan Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) and Jedi Knight Mace Windu (Terence ‘T.C.’ Carson) trying to solve a mystery involving a planet where its spiritual leaders are disappearing and dealing with a prophecy about darkness taking over the galaxy. These two episodes were good although not quite as significant to the overall story of the Clone Wars as compared to the other arcs.

The last batch of episodes deals with the Jedi trying to find out about the murdered Jedi Sifo-Dyas and Yoda (Tom Kane) being contacted from beyond the grave by Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), who shows him how he can continue to exist after death. Qui-Gon has him travel to a world that is the origin of the Force itself and face his worst fears. This references a scene in Revenge of the Sith where Yoda tells Obi-Wan Kenobi that he has discovered the secret of existing in the Force after death. It is a great way for Star Wars: The Clone Wars to end, with Yoda knowing that while the Clone Wars may end badly, there will be a way for the Jedi to continue on.

destroyerStar Wars: The Clone Wars was in the middle of production when it was cancelled, but the last season is one of the strongest in the series. The quality of these episodes shows that even at the end the writers still came up with very interesting ideas and perhaps the shortened run prevented any weaker episodes from coming up. Overall, Star Wars: The Clone Wars will go down as first rate Star Wars action and drama that did justice to its cinematic counterparts. Hopefully the upcoming Star Wars Rebels series will continue this trend.

C.S. Link