Yesterday I wrote about Disney’s plan to expand the Star Wars universe. Its plans includes releasing Episodes 7, 8 and 9 over the course of six years as well as standalone movies for some existing characters. On the heels of that news, rumors have already surfaced that Disney is planning on giving Boba Fett and Han Solo their own movies. While I’ll be more than happy to watch Boba Fett and Han Solo movies, I’d be more excited if one of the following characters got their own movie.
Land Calrissian
If Disney makes a Han Solo movie then there’s a good chance Lando will show up anyway. Han and Lando’s friendship goes back for years so it’s possible that a Han movie would actually end up being a buddy movie with Lando as well. I would love to see a Lando movie even without Han, though. Lando was an interesting character, going from scoundrel and smuggler to the administrator of an entire city. It would be awesome to see some of his exploits as a scoundrel as well as the choices that led him to a more legitimate lifestyle. Also, Lando was a really cool cat and nerds everywhere might pick up some pointers on how to spit some game at the ladies. No nerds, though, are as smooth as Billy Dee Williams and they definitely wouldn’t have as much luck as Lando.
Wedge Antilles
Wedge is one of the few ancillary characters to make it into all three of the original trilogy movies. Wedge went from Red 2 to the leader of Rogue Squadron, a team of hotshot X-Wing pilots. My mind can hardly comprehend the epicness of a potential movie about Rogue Squadron. Wedge is an amazing pilot and the death-defying missions of his team would make for an incredibly exciting Star Wars movie. I love the space battles in each of the Star Wars movies and would love to see a movie focused on starship combat. Also, Wedge and Rogue Squadron wouldn’t need to be limited to a single movie; their adventures could be the basis for an entire trilogy.
Admiral Piett
How does someone become an admiral in the Imperial Navy? What course would someone need to take to go from a young recruit to the commander of a Super Star Destroyer? A movie about Admiral Piett would answer both those questions and so many more. In Episode IV the Galactic Empire is already at the height of its power. In the prequels we learn a little bit about how the Republic became the Empire, but there are still so many unanswered questions. Are all the stormtroopers clones? Did the Empire draft people into its military? Did Piett go to the Galactic Naval Academy and simply move up the ladder until Darth Vader killed the man ahead of him? I’m sure there might be answers to these questions in the extended universe material, but that is a rabbit hole I don’t want to start down. I literally spent the last 30 minutes going through article after article on Wookiepedia. I don’t want to do that again. I just want to sit in a theater for two hours and have all of my questions answered by Star Wars: Admiral Piett.
I know that Boba Fett and Han Solo are the safe choices to have their own movies. Super fans like me want Disney to delve deep into the galaxy far, far away, but more casual fans want to watch a movie about a character they already know. Hopefully Disney will be able to keep making as many Star Wars movies as it wants, though, eventually getting to faceless fighter pilots and stuffy, old admirals.
What Star Wars character would you like to see in his or her own spin-off?
Anyone but Yoda. We need to preserve mystery somewhere.
I like the idea of a Lando spin-off. Would it be a prequel, I wonder? Who could play a young Lando? I would have said Will Smith, but he's not exactly a spring chicken anymore.
Frankly, at this point I am more excited for new characters than for revisiting old ones.
I'm sure there will be new characters in Episode 7 but for the standalone movies it makes sense for Disney to use established, well known and well liked characters. Which is a bummer for us more fanatical fans.