With Bob Iger confirming on Feb.5 what we’d already known for months, that plans were in motion to develop standalone Star Wars films beyond Episodes VII, VIII, and IX focusing on other characters of George Lucas‘ saga, the respective geek lobes of our brains got fired up faster than a Dug high on Death Sticks.
Now EW.com is saying that two of those projects are going to be a Young Han Solo movie and a Boba Fett movie. We already told you what we’d like to see in a spin-off movie based around Yoda, but what other denizens of that Galaxy Far, Far away are ready for the spotlight?
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We’d say a Darth Maul movie could be interesting, but the Clone Wars television series has already gotten there first. Maybe a blistering corporate satire about Nute Gunray’s career titled The Trade Federation: Credits Never Sleep? For those of us who want to delve deeper into the taxation of interstellar trade routes. Maybe a podrace movie about the early years of Ben Quadinaros. The Fast & the Furious: Tatooine Drift? Or a torture-porn gorefest about how Dr. Evazan earned every one of the death sentences on 12 systems? It could be from Hostel director Eli Roth and simply called Cantina. Okay, we kid. But here are 5 characters we really do think need more attention:
Boba Fett — Disney is on our wavelength: Fett is a no-brainer for a spin-off movie. Character creator Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Captain America: The First Avenger) has even said he wants to do a standalone Fett flick. And if you wanted to set it after Return of the Jedi, to avoid the stigma of a prequel, there would be an Expanded Universe basis for doing so. The fact is, Fett survived being swallowed by the sarlacc and lived to menace Han Solo another day. Just as long as a movie about the bounty hunter doesn’t become a geriatric hitman flick about an elderly Fett targeting an elderly Harrison Ford as Solo, in which he’ll need a jetpack…and a walker. I keep fearing a Stand-Up Guys scenario. But if you set it during Fett’s prime, just imagine the possibilities. It could be about some particularly daunting bounty he has to claim and the motley rogues he has to beat out to nab the prize. We could have cameos from Dengar (Simon Pegg‘s already voicing him on The Clone Wars, now he can do so in the flesh!), Bossk, Aurra Sing, and, best of all, IG-88, the assassin droid who really would be ripe for a spinoff of his own.
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Lando Calrissian — Imagine an Ocean’s 11-style heist thriller based around Lando Calrissian. Admittedly, Timothy Zahn already kind of did that with his recent novel Scoundrels. But I think we could go even further, add kind of a David Mamet, House of Games storyline about the former Cloud City administrator entering into a high-stakes sabacc tournament, in which he has to beat out all manner of scum and villainy, sometimes via shady means, to walk away with the prize. It could go really heavy on the fake Star Wars galaxy profanity. Every sentence should be peppered with expletives like “kriff” and “kark.” By default it’s gotta be better than the way Lando’s depicted most of the time in the Expanded Universe. God, there was even once an arc in a series of novels about him trying desperately to find a wife. Lando doesn’t do anything out of desperation…except betray his best friend when confronted by Imperial troops. But other than that? Nothing.
The Emperor — I’d like to see a standalone story about Palpatine at his prime, how he consolidated his power after declaring himself Emperor and destroying the Jedi Order. Maybe it could be about his epic campaign to enslave the Wookiees so he could use their labor to build the Death Star. So much of the prequels, Old Palpy is hiding his true malice, that it’d be fun to just see him let it rip. And, as was rumored way back in the heady days before Revenge of the Sith, Hugh Jackman could finally play Grand Moff Tarkin. Imagine Mark Strong as Thrawn! Maybe we could even get a glimpse of Darth Vader doing something cooler than just screaming “Nooooo!”
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Jabba — Okay, bear with me here. A hard-edged gangster thriller about Jabba’s pre-strangulation climb to the top of the Outer Rim criminal heap, his battles with the Black Sun criminal syndicate, his torrid romance with a Twi’lek showgirl. The Clone Wars TV series already shown how his lounge singer Sy Snootles is really that Galaxy Far, Far Away’s ultimate femme fatale, so she would be a must.
Salacious Crumb — Then the Jabba movie would get its own spinoff focused entirely on the cackling Kowakian monkey lizard who serves as the Hutt’s jester. Totally non-verbal it could be written by the prankmeister who wrote that complete Mr. Peepers script on spec last year.
What Star Wars characters do you think should get the big-screen spotlight?
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt
[Photo Credit: Lucasfilm]
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