Cue that John Williams score!
It’s no secret that the debate over Star Wars has reached a fever pitch with the release of the sequel trilogy and the upcoming Rogue One. Ever since Disney bought the franchise back in 2012, there has been concerned debate about everything from a loss in quality because of a yearly assembly line to the destruction of the Expanded Universe. In this article, I’d like to take a look at the failed opportunities that came along with the rise of the new canon.
What did Disney miss out on? How can they improve the staying power of the saga? Let’s find out!
1 & 2. Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors.
g_saberRealisticCombat 3 is the best cheat code ever!
Let’s face facts. These two are undeniably the inspiration for Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso from Rogue One right down to their style of dress. The only difference is that Kyle moved from a standalone hero in 1994’s Dark Forces to one of the greatest Jedi ever captured in the video games or books to this day. While he is the more central character, Jan is no pushover either. Her journey from a rogue spy to a sarcastic Rebel operative is one of the biggest reasons why fans would love to see these two on screen.
Oh, and there’s the fact that their romance brought more to the table than anything that the prequels could even remotely hope to muster. We can’t forget about that.
Recommended Titles: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy.
3. Mara Jade Skywalker.
Wait. You mean to tell me that a lovable and tough-as-nails heroine existed twenty-five years before Rey?!
What more could be said about an incredible heroine that has lived a long life? For all her troubles, Mara Jade Skywalker is easily the finest example of a villainess-turned-heroine in this storied franchise and the medium of science fiction at large. Twenty-five years before Kathleen Kennedy imagined that heroines weren’t a thing until Ma-Rey Sue came along, Mara Jade became the epitome of writing excellence with her appearance in the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn.
From then on, we got the chance to fall in love with her as she moved from an absolutely bitchin’ Imperial agent to a great smuggler before ultimately becoming a Jedi Knight. And for all that time, we saw an intriguing emotional conflict as her urge to kill Luke Skywalker in the name of the Emperor soon gave way to friendship and love. And when the Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy, she is enough of a hardened badass to hold off a fatal disease, fight on the battlefield, and give birth to the next generation of Skywalkers in the form of her son, Ben (Hey, that sounds awfully familiar!).
Long story short, she is one of my greatest inspirations as a writer and beats the everloving hell out of whatever Rey is at this point.
Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
Recommended Titles: The Thrawn Trilogy and The New Jedi Order.
4. Revan.
Dark Side is best side… or is it?
2003’s Knights of the Old Republic is an undeniable classic of the franchise on par with The Empire Strikes Back. Although it may seem a bit dated in comparison to later marvels like Oblivion and Skyrim, this RPG by a little company called Bioware debuted a bad boy (or girl) by the name of Revan to the masses. This fearsome Sith Lord hung over the game like a specter as we trudged through multiple planets on our path to Jedi-dom. Who was this unknown foe? How did Malak depose of him? What was his true mission?
We learned all of these things and more on our journey, leading up the one of the finest twists ever crafted in gaming. And no, I will not spoil it for the new kids out there even though the game has been out for 13 years. If you want a game where story is king, you’d better believe that Knights of the Old Republic has got it and then some.
Recommended Titles: Knights of the Old Republic I and II.
5. The Yuuzhan Vong.
Yeah, let’s go with our version of Space Nazis again. That hasn’t been done before.
The fanbase was bitterly divided about these technology-hating aliens, but allow me to make a declaration that should settle the matter once and for all.
The Yuuzhan Vong beats the First Order as antagonists by a country mile… and you know it.
As I expressed in my disappointment over The Force Awakens, these Force-immune antagonists would have been refreshingly original and far more threatening than anything that J.J. Abrams could serve up. They are complete unknowns that our heroes have to figure out how to defeat instead of a retread of the long vanquished Empire that could have been defeated if not for the dopey behavior of the New Republic. Even if the team at Lucasfilm only used the Vong as a template, it would still go a long way towards keeping the franchise as fresh as it was when we first saw it.
Recommended Titles: The New Jedi Order series.
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