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Force Feature: Meet the Episode VII Cast: The Original Six
Exploring the many worlds of Star Wars, in the imagination and in real life!Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels. The scene, the image in my head, is of the six of them in the stolen Imperial shuttle Tydirium, trying to bluff their way past the Super Star Destroyer Executor and land on Endor to complete a do-or-die mission. But even worse than that, because let’s face it, if they succeed in blowing up the shield generator but the Death Star attack fails, then what are the chances they get off Endor alive? And if they don’t blow up the generator? Same thing. Dead meat for Ewoks to eat.
Speaking of which, do you think Ewoks hunted and killed and ate stormtroopers and biker scouts? If they were willing to kill and eat our heroes, you’d think they’d try to do the same thing to the Imperials, wouldn’t you? Let us know what you think at Facebook.com/sw7x7.
But I digress. I’m thinking of the six of them in that cockpit, the very same six from the Original Trilogy who have been confirmed to appear in the Sequel Trilogy. That’s a moment I love even more than I did back then, because back then, I didn’t realize how rare a thing it was, to get people together for an enterprise like Return of the Jedi. And how crazy life gets for us regular people, let alone for Hollywood movie stars, voice actors, and writers.
It never even occurred to me that I might never see them in a movie together again. The fab four of Seinfeld have barely all been in a room together to do something since the show went off the air, what, 1998? Just a Curb Your Enthusiasm faux reunion, which barely counted, and yet it’s still awesome that it happened, 11 years later. That’s the nearest equivalent I can think of.
As for you and I, we’ve been without the six of them since 1983. 30 years and counting! Had you given up hope of ever seeing them reprise their characters? I know I had. To be honest, I thought the Expanded Universe were the nails in that coffin. When Lucas started reneging on his whole “There were nine movies” thing and say it was only six, and then the Expanded Universe blew up like crazy, I felt sure that the EU put a lid on any possibility of new Star Wars movies set in a post-ROTJ galaxy.
I’m so, sooo glad to be wrong.
And by the way, just because we’ve only heard these six names, doesn’t mean that we won’t get more than that. I don’t want to get your hopes up, or mine for that matter, but Abrams and company tend to have a few surprises up their sleeves. Leonard Nimoy keeps showing up in the new Star Trek movies, for example.
Now, we’ve been told that these movies won’t following the Expanded Universe stories, in which Luke gets married and has a kid, and Han and Leia get married and have three kids. Of course, in the most recent Star Trek movie, Abrams rebooted a classic villain from the previous incarnation of Star Trek, so he has no problem bringing other, previously established characters or story elements into a given movie.
What does this mean for our heroes? Here’s one thing I know for sure – if Lucas developed the basic story for Episodes VII-IX, then because he’s a creature of habit, I think I can make a couple predictions. I’m not basing these on any spoiler reports or rumors, just on what patterns seem to appear in Lucas’ movies:
1. Luke Skywalker is going to die in Episode VII. He could be a Force ghost in VIII and IX like Obi-Wan was in Empire and Jedi, but when you consider that the Jedi mentor was killed in the first movie of both previous trilogies, this seems like it’s practically destined to happen.
2. One of Han and Leia’s kids will be Luke’s apprentice, and take up his mantle. The Jedi aren’t supposed to get married, so Lucas won’t have Luke be married with a kid. But Han and Leia? Totally fine, and when one comes out like grandpa Anakin-level Force sensitive, Uncle Luke does the training honors.
3. Artoo and Threepio, as the witnesses to everything under the sun, will survive all three movies. Han and Leia survive because more than one major death would be too tough to take. Chewie, because he was already killed in the Expanded Universe, could be the equivalent of the carbonite Han in Episode VIII.
What do you think? How will our heroes fare in the new trilogy? Have your say at Facebook.com/sw7x7!
Star Wars Fun Fact
Surprising and little known Star Wars tidbits, usually related to today’s Force Feature.Did you know? The last time a sizable chunk of the original trilogy cast were together was in a TV movie from 2008 called Bring Back…Star Wars, which had Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker. A couple of years prior, they posed for a Vanity Fair magazine shoot.
Life on “Tweet”-ooine
A featured dispatch from the Star Wars Twitterverse!#Starwars on the Death Star hanger set with the half of the full size Millennium Falcon pic.twitter.com/8NGrqYCShM
— Classic Star Wars (@ClassicStarWars) September 9, 2014
Star Wars Swag Bag
So many fun, quirky, and awesome ways to bring Star Wars into your daily life!Lightsaber polo shirt – click the pic for details!
Trivia Time!
Test your knowledge of the Star Wars universe!Yesterday’s answer: Anchorhead
Today’s question: What did the Ewoks do immediately after hearing the story of the Rebels’ adventures?