Star Wars fans are desperate to know everything they can about the recently announce new trilogy. Who will be the one to direct Episode VII, which is due on in 2015? Who is going to write the script? How much creative influence is George Lucas going to have? While those are all very big questions, there is an even bigger one floating out in the universe: do the new movies mean that Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo will be coming back for new adventures?
Following the news of the Lucasfilm buyout yesterday, our own Sean O'Connell sat down with a fellow Star Wars geek and discussed the plot possibilities for the new films, and one topic discussed was the potential of what's called The Thrawn Trilogy, a series of books written by author Timothy Zahn that are actually considered by fans to be canon with the movie universe (unlike a lot of other published material). Because the books cover the events following Return of the Jedi, as Luke, Leia and Han continue their lives in a universe without the Empire, one could easily imagine Disney picking up the books and using them as a map for the new trilogy. As logical as that sounds, apparently it won't be the case.
E! has apparently been in contact with a source over at Lucasfilm who has informed them that the next trilogy won't be based on any pre-established material, but will instead be "an original story." This means that not only is The Thrawn Trilogy out, but so are any other books, graphic novels, videogames or the like that has come out since the franchise's birth in 1977.
But if you're looking for specifics, the person you might want to turn to is Dale Pollock, author of the George Lucas biography "Skywalking: The Life And Films Of George Lucas." The writer recently spoke with The Wrap and claimed that Luke will be back for the new movies, but that you shouldn't expect Mark Hamill to reprise the role. Apparently the character will only be in his 30s and 40s, and at age 61 Hamill doesn't really fit the bill.
All of that said, until we get official word from Disney all of this information should just be treated as rumor. So what would you like to see happen in the new movies?
