With the purchase of the Star Wars franchise and Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, there has been much speculation as to what will happen now with the franchise. Here are some ideas that I have as to what will happen and what should happen.

The Movies: The most obvious thing that will happen now is a new trilogy of films starting in 2015 (Episodes VII, VIII and IX). it will be a new story line created by George Lucas and written by Michael Arndt. Some fans wanted the Thrawn trilogy of books (written by Timothy Zahn) to be made into films but it seems the new Star Wars movies will be about the Skywalker clan taking place long after Return Of The Jedi. Lucas has said in the past that any sequels would be about this and it seems this will come to pass as it should. On a side note, the trio of stars from the original trilogy Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher have recently stated that they would be interested in appearing in the new films. If that will happen or if they will even reprise their famous roles remains to be seen. One interesting idea I heard about years ago after Revenge Of The Sith was released was a movie that takes place hundreds of years before A New Hope with a young Yoda at the center. It would be nice for Disney to make this happen after the new trilogy is done.

TV Shows: The popular Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series is in its fifth season. A sixth season is in the works, and will air on the Disney XD channel instead of the Cartoon Network. Hopefully the long-delayed, live-action show will get a green light with Disney’s backing and dollars. Something else I would like to see is another CGI animated series like The Clone Wars, but one that takes place during the original trilogy, perhaps between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. It could detail the Galactic Civil War and seems to be a ripe area for interesting Star Wars stories.

Video Games: The bounty hunter-themed game Star Wars 1313 will be released next year as planned for the PS3 and Xbox 360. As to what future games Lucasarts should tackle, many fans keep waiting for Star Wars: Battlefront 3 which has not been made yet. Maybe under new ownership this game will finally see the light of day. One series I would love to see revived is Rogue Squadron. The last game in that series was Rogue Squadron III for the Nintendo Gamecube in 2003. Flying Star Wars starfighters in scenes from the movies was thrilling and definitely should be revisited.

Disney Parks: Right now the recently updated Star Tours is in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando FL and Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. I would not be surprised to see more rides and experiences like this one expanding to more of Disney’s parks (aside from the updated Star Tours premiering next year in Tokyo Disneyland). Why not use the same ride system in Soarin’ where riders are elevated over a huge film and recreate the attack on the Death Star? Perhaps even a whole section of a park can be devoted to Star Wars. This is something I would like to see happen. Or even an entire Star Wars-themed park, with each section named after the different planets of the saga. Instead of Main Street USA, how about Coruscant Central? Having lunch at the Mos Eisley Cantina, or visiting the Jedi Temple all seem like really neat experiences and would absolutely be a big hit with tourists and fans.

Regardless of what happens, having Star Wars under the Disney umbrella does present  several new opportunities for the franchise. Hopefully whoever makes the decisions will do right by Star Wars and not dilute the brand or over saturate it. Either way, this is a very interesting and exciting time for Star Wars fans.

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