In Early 2001, the
Star Wars: Infinities series was released. They contain some notable differences, such as Luke Skywalker encountering Mara Jade on Coruscant in the alternate
A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back carrying on to show the defeat of the Empire and death of the Emperor, and
Revenge of the Jedi featuring the Wookies rather than the Ewoks. while the MMORPGs like
Knights of the Old Republic continued to maintain popularity.
Following the impressive visual effects in
Jurassic Park, George Lucas, who still had creative clout at the company that bore his name, had practically demanded Lucasfilm begin working on a
Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Head of Lucasfilm Gary Kurtz finally (reluctantly) agreed so long as he had full creative control. Steven Spielberg agreed to direct. Liam Neeson was cast as Qui Gonn Jinn, Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala, Benicio Del Toro as Darth Maul(though with Ray Park as Stunt Double), Ian McDiarmid reprising his role as the Emperor, and John Connor himself, Edward Furlong as Anakin Skywalker(who fans pointed out was born the year Star Wars premiered, 1977). Tupac Shakur played Jed Master Windu(At the time Shakur was rising as an actor, known for stealing every film he was in, though he was mostly known for playing Gangster characters with troubled pasts. His version of Windu has a trouble past and struggles with slipping to the Dark Side).
The Phantom Menace
Released in 2007 to correspond wit
Star Wars's 30th Anniversary.
The Phantom Menace begins with the Jedi Qui Gonn Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi investigating a disturbance, which they find is being caused by creatures called Ysalamiri, who naturally nullify the force(introduced in
Heir to the Empire and used by Thrawn to protect himself from force wielders like the Emperor's clone. The Jedi discover a facility creating a clone army that poses a threat to the entire galaxy. Qui Gonn is wise. Obi-Wan is a bit more brash, and it is mentioned he trained for some time with Yoda due to his stubbornness. They fled to the planet of Alderaan and contact the Jedi Council but are forced to flee with Princess Padme Amidala of the Royal Family when Alderaan is attacked by the Clone Army. The Clones are shown to be using bullets(referred to as "Slug throwers" which are also used by the Tusken Raiders). That is until the Cloaked figure discoves a set of crystals kept within the palace on Aderaan, which is inserted into one of the weapons, causing it to fire energy, becoming the first Blaster. Obi-Wan, Qui-Gonn and Padme are able to escape the planet. There are hints of an attraction between Obi-Wan and Padme akin to the banter between Han and Leia in the Original Trilogy. Their retreating ship is shot down and crashes on Tatooine. The group is captured by Jabba the Hutt, who is polite to his guests out of a desire to not earn the ire of the Republic, but will not simply let them go without it profiting him. The captured group meet the teenage Anakin and his mother, who are slaves. Anakin podraces but out of fear of his mother's life, always intentionally loses to Sebulba. In private, Sebulba reveals himself to be an informant(possibly a Jedi) and that Jabba has been funding the creation of an army. Sebulba encourages the group bet on him to pay for their freedom. Qui Gonn meanwhile meets Anakin and senses great power within him, expressing a desire to train him and begins training him, demonstrating the Jedi ability to transfer the force to other Jedi to increase their power and meditates in front of Anakin, explaining his belief that the Force may be used to allow one to survive Death. Obi-Wan feels betrayed and leaves, wandering to a Cantina and getting into a fight in which Padme helps him despite Obi-Wan claiming he had it handled and the two arguing. At Jabba's Palace, Sebulba is murdered by a cloaked figure in black with a red lightsaber, his last breath is used to pull down his attacker's hood, revealing a closeup of the horrifying visage of Darth Maul(some theatres reported children screaming at this reveal).
The next day Sebulba is found dead and the Jedi are blamed. Qui Gonn still bets for his freedom, this time choosing Anakin, Qui Gonn convinces Anakin to race and trust in the force that they will keep his mother safe. Anakin races and wins. As they are leaving, the Sith Darth Maul attacks and they take off without Anakin's mother. Upon arriving in Coruscant, the Senate debate the need for an army, lacking one to counter the invasion. A Volunteer army is formed, with Jedi Master Count Draku publicly speaking in support of the idea. Qui Gonn attempts to convince the Jedi to promote Obi-Wan to Master and allow Qui Gonn to train Anakin. Obi-Wan confesses to Palpatine( a former Jedi turned Senator),that he is feeling jealousy towards Anakin as he feels Qui Gonn now care more for him. Anakin is put under intense training under Mace Windu, but is dismissed. However, he still joins the Volunteer army as a pilot. The attack commences, first in a space battle where Anakin proves himself, and the fight is taken down to the atmosphere. Anakin is shot down but destroys one of the larger fleet ships, which Ventress was on. Maul, seeing this, orders one of his ships to destroy the Alderaan City and all its hostages. Anakin finds Obi-Wan unconscious and takes his Jedi comlink. Palpatine suggests the Jedi strategy of transferring power and the Jedi reluctantly agree. With Obi-Wan knocked out, they choose to grant their force abilities to the barely trained Anakin. Anakin becomes extremely powerful and brings down the ship with the Forces but collapses as his body is completely shattered. Obi-Wan awakens and quickly realizes what has happened just as Ventress emerges from the crash. The two fight with Obi-Wan defeating her. Maul then communicates through Ventress's comlink and negotiations a trading of hostages(Ventress for the people of Alderaan).
An army of Jedi reinforcements stand facing an army of Clones as the trade is made, with Ventress being returned to Maul. Maul's clones then open fire, catching the Jedi offguard and many are killed. Enraged, Obi-Wan hijacks a ship and brings himself, Qui-Gonn, Padme and a group of Soldiers towards where Maul is, both ships crash and Jedi chase Maul into the Palace while Padme searches for the orchestrater and Maul's General Nute Gunray. Padme's group surrounds Gunray after defeating his men but the fight with the Jedi and Maul spills into the same room Padme and Gunray are in. Gunray pulls out a hidden weapon and shoots Gunray. Obi-Wan panics and leaves to check on Padme, leading to an opening in which Darth Maul kills Qui-Gonn. While Padme's soldiers are able to force Maul to retreat in a barrage of fires, the group is forced to retreat along with the other forces, failing to retake Alderaan. In the Epilogue, Anakin is recovering while being overlooked by Yoda, Mace and Palpatine. Yoda and Mace realize they now have to train him as he may now maintain the intense force power. After they leaves, Palpatine asks the Doctor if Anakin can recover. The Doctor says there may be a way, but doing so would requiring building him an artificial suit(which is shown in hologram and resembles the Vader armor). Palpatine tells the Doctor to Do it.
Twilight of the Republic
Twilight of the Republic was released in 2010 . The film begins 3 years after
The Phantom Menace and the Clone Wars in full swing with a battle on the planet Naboo. The Republic is somewhat similar in appearance to the Empire, including the use of Prototype Stormtrooper armor on the Soldiers, who are unmasked and revealed to be Volunteers in the Republic Army. Anakin is shown to be a cyborg. After the battle, Obi-Wan and his group discover and activate a hologram of the Death Star. They decide to keep it a secret. Anakin learns of the Death Star from Chancellor Palpatine, who is helping Anakin recover with both chemicals and his suit. Anakin is also told that a member of the warring faction known as the Confederacy named Tarkin wants to negotiate peace with the Republic. A peaceful negotiation is planned on Alderaan between both sides. On the way there with Obi-Wan to serve as Padme's Bodyguards, Anakin meets another pilot who acts like a fanboy when meeting him, excitedly shouting about Anakin's heroism on Alderaan. He nervously holds his hand out to shake and introduces himself as Owen Lars(played by John C.Reilly, who does not appear in
The Perfect Storm as a result). The peace meeting is interrupted by an attack from Darth Maul. Anakin, Obi-Wan and Mace Windu, all Jedi present in the meeting, chase Maul down below but Kenobi is separated by an attack from Maul's sister and apprentice Asajj Ventress. Windu and Anakin battle Maul. Maul kills Windu and Anakin fights back in anger. Anakin believes he has won only for Maul to suddenly cut his hand off. Anakin gives in to his anger and despite lacking a hand, begins choking Darth Maul. With Maul at his mercy, Anakin raises his Lightsaber to finish him, first to his head, and then brings it down on his wait. Asajj Ventress and Obi-Wan both sense this. Obi-Wan attempts to use this to convince Ventress to give up, saying there's good in her. Ventress flees.
Maul is taken into custody, having been cut in half. He names Count Draku as a Sith Lord but seems unaware of who Darth Sidious actually is, though he was training Ventress in secret in the hopes both would kill Sidious. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme and Owen lars fly to confront Dooku before the Armies of the Republic reach him. Kenobi wants to talk to him as he knew Qui Gonn Jinn and Kenobi, having known Dooku personally does not believe he is a Sith, and if so wants to ask him why he betrayed the Order. When they find him, Draku explains that he knows the Sith is someone in the Senate but not who and feigned joining him to gain information. Draku instructs the group to flee as Republic forces arrive and heavily destroy the structure Draku was in. The level of destruction is such that Draku's survival seems impossible.
With Maul captured(though Ventress later in the film frees him, though Maul weakly mentions that he senses something different about Ventress) and the supposed Sith Lord dead, it is now believed the Sith pulling the strings to keep the war going has now been removed. Peace talks resume between the Republic and the Confederacy. The Jedi sense that such an action would strengthen the Sith or fall into his plan and refuse. Anakin becomes enraged at the Jedi seemingly being the only ones standing in the way of peace and keeping a war going, leading to more lives lost. Palpatine meets with him and reveals the Jedi were the only ones who cancelled the decision to make peace each time the two groups met. Palpatine reveals his plan to orchestrate a terrorist attack that would cripple the Jedi. He presents a bomb disguised as Anakin's Lightsaber. At Mace Windu's funeral, the Jedi are to put their Lightsabers down. Anakin would put the bomb instead. Anakin is horrified but Palpatine is able to have him doubt himself by pointing out the Jedi are standing in the war of peace. Anakin walks home in the rain and sees a massive memorial to those who died in the Clone Wars. A large wall with names on it that seems to stretch on endlessly. He makes his choice.
At Mace Windu's funeral the Jedi are to place their lightsaber's down on his grave. Palpatine gives Anakin the bomb disguised as his Lightsaber. Anakin claims he'll only do it if Obi-Wan is spared. Palpatine reluctantly obliges and states he'll get someone to call him and Kenobi away so that they are not present when the bomb goes off. An advisor arrives but asks for Anakin only, when Anakin pressures him he insists Palpatine stated only Anakin come with him. Anakin uses the Jedi Mind trick to convince him to pick up Obi-Wan as well. Unknown to Anakin, his mother, rescued by the Jedi at the end of
The Phantom Menace, is present at the Funeral to pay her respects when the blast goes off. The Jedi temple is destroyed and many Jedi are killed. Anakin's mother also perishes as he watches in horror.
The aftermath, sees Anakin quitting being a Jedi and going to work with Owen Lars on a Spice Freighter(What Luke believed and what Lars told him in
A New Hope). The Jedi scatter while also trying to determine the one responsible for the attack. Tarkin is seen speaking to the leaders of the Confederacy and proposes a toast to his promotion. Suddenly men enter and gun down the Separatists, including Nute Gunray, who falls to the ground wounded, shouting that Tarkin can't do this. Tarkin responds this is not a democracy. Gunray asks what it is then. Tarkin raises a blaster to Gunray. He finishes with "An Empire" before firing.
Anakin meets with Palpatine at a celebration on Alderaan. While sitting next to Palpatine, Palpatine speaks with him and recites the tragedy of Darth Plageuis the wise. Anakin slowly reveals the clues that tipped him off that Palpatine was the Sith Lord. Rather than stating it, he asks Palpatine if he would teach him. Palpatine comments on the old saying that if a student is ready a master appears and that he shall indeed and that he shall indeed train him. Episode II ends with the two ominously looking over the celebration, playing a more upbeat version of the Emperor's theme.
Return of the Sith
The Final Film in the Prequel Trilogy. Released in 2013.
Return of the Sith begins with an opening crawl mentioning how the Jedi are being hunted down by an organization of Bounty Hunters called the Shadow Collective. It has been 11 years since the Destruction of the Jedi Temple. We are shown a group of Jedi meeting in a secret location, including Tarn Windu, brother of Mace Windu, played by Samuel L. Jackson, a Jedi stranded on Alderaan for years that wishes to avenge his brother's death. The Jedi base is attacked and destroyed, forcing the Jedi to flee outward where they are also attacked. Tarn Windu is seen starring down a large ship emerging from smoke before it cuts away. We are given information about where the cast are now. Padme and Anakin are married with Anakin taking long breaks to train with Palpatine. Bail Organa is feeding what information he can get to the rebellion including Obi-Wan, who is disturbed when the evidence suggests the Empire is building something massive, based on context clues like the material being used and resources. His response suggests he realizes they are building the Death Star. he witnessed the plans for in the previous film. Maul and Ventress travel to the abandoned Cloning facility discovered by Obi-Wan and Qui Gonn in Episode I, finding the Ysalamiri and the Clones gone. They hope the Clone Army would follow them against Sidious. Yoda emerges from the shadows and quickly subdues Maul and Ventress(never once using his lightsaber in the entirety of the franchise and instead pinning them down with the force). Obi-Wan reunites with the other remaining Jedi on a ship and the surviving Jedi question Darth Maul. Maul recalls a moment where he saw Darth Sidious weak when he was near a Dark Side Nexus. It is also revealed that the Jedi Temple was buried under one as a Force Nexus would usually work well to hide being who are of the opposite Force allignment, i.e. a Light Side force user hides well in a Dark Side Nexus, but over time the Temple grew massive and the Generations of Peace made the Jedi stop hiding. They eventually deduce that Palpatine may wish to seek out the remains of his deceased master Darth Plageuis. We learn the force shifts like seasons. There are long periods where the Dark Side is strongest and vice versa and that the time of the Dark Side will likely means there would be power held within the corpse of Darth Plageuis. The Jedi ship is attacked by the forces of the Shadow Collective, who are revealed to be led by General Grievous(portrayed as more competent, closer to how he appeared in the Genndy Tartakovsky cartoon shorts) and consist of Bounty Hunters, including Boba Fett(or possibly Jango Fett, it is not stated which though the armor is cleaner than the Original Trilogy). The Collective members are carrying cannisters of Ysalamiri on them, creatures which can cancel out the Force. The Jedi free Maul and Ventress to help. Obi-Wan and Ventress fight Grievous, during which Obi-Wan suddenly reveals a second Lightsaber, Anakin's. Grievous begins to overpower the Jedi until Yoda arrives. In preparation for fighting Yoda, Grievous planted bombs on the ship in order to destroy it. The bombs go off, destroying the ship. A handful of people escape. Yoda is flung into space.
The remaining Jedi regroup. Yoda is discovered by Rebel forces to be holding himself in a force bubble. Obi-Wan and Ventress made it to an escape pod and are picked up but his rescuers are forced to drop him off on the nearby planet of Alderaan. Anakin senses Obi-Wan's approach. Obi-Wan and Anakin reunite and Obi-Wan reveals he kept Anakin's lightsaber. Padme is also present and she brings up that she thought Anakin's Lightsaber was lost in the explosion at the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan begins to suspect something but Anakin brushes it off by claiming that he was summoned away before he put his Lightsaber down. Obi-Wan seems suspicious and later tells Anakin he swears he saw him put his Lightsaber down. He attempts to offer it back but Anakin tells Obi-Wan to keep it and maybe give it to his son when he's old enough(something mentioned in the Original Trilogy "You're father wanted you to have this when you were old enough"). Anakin takes Obi-Wan to the Jedi Temple, where the survivors are headed without Yoda, who was rescued separately by the Rebels. At the temple, Palpatine enters the ruins and goes through several tests overseen by the spirit of Mace Windu and other Jedi. One test involves fighting Jedi Spirits. His final challenge is to be confronted with the remains of Plageuis, which he attempts a ritual on. The ritual suddenly seems to turn on Palpatine, disfiguring him into his more well known appearance but he sees a vision of the future, specifically the conclusion of
Revenge of the Jedi. It is vague but he emerges believing Luke Skywalker would be the one to finish him, but also believing Luke could be turned to the Dark Side(He sees Luke threatening him and then his death but without Vader's role in it. He then sees Luke defeating Vader in rage and then bowing down to Palpatine, which is actually from the Sequel Trilogy. Palpatine emerges believing that either he will turn Luke and he will kill and replace Vader, or Luke will kill him. Palpatine emerges surrounded by Jedi. Palpatine is able to goad Tarn Windu into attack Darth Maul, leading Maul into killing him. Palpatine then reveals that being near the Dark Side Nexus actually makes him stronger, using its power to kill the Jedi present. He reveals to Maul that he feigned weakness before Maul to exploit such a false knowledge. He then hurls Maul, seemingly to his death(akin to Mace Windu's
Revenge of the Sith death in OTL though Maul is later revealed to be alive). Anakin and Obi-Wan arrive too late. Obi-Wan speaks to Anakin about his suspicions on what Anakin has done and makes him the offer to go back with him to the Temple and the two be friends again. Anakin refuses(when Luke makes an offer to Darth Vader in
Return of the Jedi IOTL, Vader mentions that Obi-Wan once thought as he did). Anakin leaves and Obi-Wan find only dead Jedi.
Padme meets with Yoda onboard the ship he was rescued on. Palpatine attempts to use a psychic link to attack Padme as she is giving birth. Yoda orders the ship to land on a planet with plenty of life which would make it difficult for Palpatine to concentrate. They find the planet Dagobah and Yoda begins to battle Palpatine in a powerful force duel across space that destroys the environment around them, turning it into the Swampland we know. Yoda is able to push Palpatine back but a powerful shockwave causes his back to nearly be broken. He picks up a broken branch with the force and begins to use it as a cane. Padme gives birth. Once rebel soldiers arrive, Yoda leaves and begins concentrating in order to hide their presence from Palpatine and delay him from learning their location. Padme dies in chilbirth. The rebels find an infant but no trace of Yoda and leave without him.
Obi-Wan and Ventress reunite with both Bail Organa's rebellion and a large number of remaining Jedi. They launch an assault to capture Grievous on Mustafar as rebel intel has revealed the material for the Death Star is being constructed there and Grievous evidently is working as security. The attack commences with Obi-Wan meeting Anakin, who surprisingly begins helping him. They reach Grievous, who fights both. Grievous gloats that he was told that Padme was dead. Anakin in rage kills Grievous by tearing him to pieces. Obi-Wan tries to calm Anakin down, resulting in a fight(The battle is less over the top than IOTL and focusing on more on Obi-Wan trying to bring Anakin back). Ventress tries to stop the two but is killed by Anakin, causing Obi-Wan to fly into race, where he is able to disarm Anakin and leave him for dead, unable to kill him. Obi-Wan leaves. Palpatine discovers what appears to be the corpse of Anakin(the scene of Anakin becoming Vader is not actually shown to provide a semblance of mystery to those who watch the films in chronological order, thus we are meant to believe Palpatine is looking at a Dead Anakin). Obi-Wan then leaves, He is seen meeting with Owen Lars and his wife Beru and what is presumed to be their child.
The Clone Wars
The entirety of the Clone Wars was for the most part not depicted on screen. Instead it was decided an Animated Series would be best to depict it. To test the waters, since Star Wars had never had an animated series before, Genndy Tartakovsky was hired to create this series, following his success on
Dexter's Laboratory. The project was supervised by Dave Filoni. The series premiered in 2008 and would run for seven seasons, ending in 2015. The resulting series was heavily stylized and was mostly action with little dialogue. While it did not break continuity, there were some additions such as Count Draku being more of a villain and General Grievous being introduced in the series before his film debut. Anakin even seemingly killed Ventress during an intense battle in one of the most iconic scenes. Most episodes were self contained, often simply involving different battles in the conflict, taking advantage of that to showcase different Jedi. It was well received. Samuel L.Jackson did reprise his role as Tarn Windu for the series. The series lead directly into the events of
Twilight of the Republic and then depicted events after in the intermediate 11 year period before
Return of the Sith.
The Clone Wars introduced an old idea of Lucas's. The idea of the Republic also using Clones, though more human ones. Filoni conceived on the idea of the Republic, as it was transitioning to an Empire, making use of Cloning technology now taken from the Confederacy. Who the Clones were exactly Clones of remained unclear(a common theory, one which Filoni supported and even later confirmed, was Boba Fett). The series expanded even beyond the events of the Second film and now had the Clones ordered to hunt the remaining Jedi. One group defected and were referred to as "The Bad Batch", when authority figures claimed that their choice to break away from orders was a type of mental defect. The Republic using clones was an interesting idea as was the use of Order 66 in the Final Season, which was a full 20 episodes. The season also includes
the Siege of Mandalore, an event with massive repercussions in Filoni's Star Wars run, which began when he took over Lucasfilm following the success of
the Clone Wars and retirement of Gary Kurtz in 2015
. The series also introduced many fan favorites such as Jedi Padawan Ashla Chutu(OTL Ahsoka Tano, the name was changed to Ahsoka at request by George Lucas, who has no involvement here). Ashla was rescued by the Jedi Master Plo Koon after nearly being tricked into joining a Sith as a child. Another character was Clone Arc Trooper Alpha 17(OTL Rex, his name was changed after a request by George Lucas as he believed there were too many names that started with A. Rex and Alpha 17 are very similar). The Series also introduced Bounty Hunter antagonists Durge and Cad Bane. One arc tracked the character Pong Krell's descent from Jedi to traitor and finally death at the hands of his own Clone Troopers(OTL this almost happened but they just chose to have Krell already turned to the Dark Side). The End of Season Six tied well directly into the conclusion of
Twilight of the Republic. The Jedi Temple was bombed by Anakin and Ashla was blamed. Anakin could not say anything and instead framed another Jedi, Barris Offee, of the Crime. Despite Anakin attempting to convince her to stay, Ashla left the order, which Anakin did himself soon after.
The Final Season focused on "The Bad Batch" on the run. They had made the mistake of putting up Pin Art of Padme Amidala on their ship, which caused it to become instantly recognizable as they went on the run. Filoni also took the time to tell more Ashla centered stories as she moved on her own, including achieving a life goal of letting her ride a giant wolf(during an episode where she is in a wilderness setting). Cad Bane and a group of Bounty Hunters including Boba Fett also factored in as members of the Shadow Collective hunting Ashla. Towards the climax, Cad Bane and Boba Fett engaged in a wild west style showdown where the two shoot each other, leaving Boba Fett with the dent in his helmet and killing Cad Bane, his hat slowly falling to the floor. Another Arc involved Asajj Ventress and Jedi Quinlan Vos, occurring prior to
Return of the Sith.
Expanded Material
Free Radical Design released what is largely considered the definitive Star Wars game series,
Battlefront, with every installment having more features than the last.
Star Wars: Battlefront 3 included many more Heroes and Villains, transitions from space to ground combat and a Story mode. Another shooter series,
Republic Commando, followed the Clones in the employ of the Republic on their missions.
The Force Unleashed was released, telling the story of Darth Vader's hitherto unknown apprentice trained between the prequel and original trilogy and his role in aiding the Rebellion before his death. A sequel was made. It was decided there would be a different protagonist so as to not invalidate the character's sacrifice.
The Force Unleashed 2 focused on the father of the first game's protagonist and was set during the prequel era, allowing encounters with the likes of Darth Maul, Count Draku, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress and Darth Vader. Kento Marek fell in love with another Jedi and the two abandoned the order, which ironically saved their lives as the Jedi began to be hunted down, leading to Marek's master being killed in front of him by Darth Vader and him going into hiding with his son after his wife is killed.
Kinect Star Wars was released with better Gameplay and technology, allowing the player to be registered by the machine. The Galactic Dance Off is completely absent. Rancor Rampage and Podrace modes remain. The Story Mode allows the player to recreate moments from all three trilogies in chronological order, while another mode allows them to play as specific characters with alternate endings possible. Qui Gonn-Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Ahsoka Tano and Luke Skywalker are the Jedi characters while Darth Maul, Count Draku, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress, Darth Vader and Palpatine are the Sith characters. Several alternate scenarios can be played out such as Qui Gonn Jinn surviving and killing Darth Maul, Ben Kenobi defeating Darth Vader on the Death Star, Anakin Skywalker refusing to turn to the Dark Side, and so on. The Sith players always inevitably turn on each other and so in general have more fights than the Jedi.
Darth Maul even received his own Video Game
Star Wars: Darth Maul.
Screenshot from Star Wars: Darth Maul, courtesy of Gameinformer.
Following the success of
Star Wars; Darth Maul, a video game was released titled
Star Wars: Boba Fett(contains some mechanics of
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter with a different plot depicting events before and during the Original Trilogy from Boba Fett's perspective. Elements of the cancelled Star Wars Game
1313 are also folded into this game, specifically scenes diving into Boba Fett's past).
Screenshot of Gameplay from Star Wars: Boba Fett.
The Star Wars brand lended itself out to parody such as R
obot Chicken and Lego versions, as well as a series of books reimagining the franchise as a series of Shakespeare plays(which ITL includes
Heir to thy Empire, Thy Dark Force Riseth, and
The Last Commandeth in addition to the OTL books
). Of the Parodies, Star Wars drew the line at an
Angry Birds version. Instead creating a Video game similar to
Kingdom Hearts in which Disney characters were put into the role of Star Wars characters, with full voice acting and rendered in a 2D style(similar to the remastering of the SNES
Ducktales) with fully animated cutscenes. This was based off toys seen at the Disney Parks, though the game chose to tell its own story that included elements of the trilogy. Star Wars also officially appeared in the toy to life game Disney Infinity, in version 3.0(Sans The Force Awakens as that film has yet to appear ITTL, a Mara Jade figure is released instead. A Thrawn figure is not due to him not being a physical fighter). Disney Infinity adapted the Original Trilogy in an interesting way. All the characters are already familiar with each other. Luke having been raised alongside Leia and Han and Chewbacca already helping the rebels. The group stays together and there is some special dialogue triggered depending on characters used(even if they aren't Star Wars characters, though most of the time the response is confusion). For example, Boba Fett will make a comment about the rebellion paying him more than the Empire if he is helping the heroes and Han Solo will express surprise if he doesn't die in the Boba Fett boss battle on Kashyyk. Similarly, a player Boba Fett will accuse a Boss Battle Boba Fett of being a clone and vice versa.
Comics continued with the distant future story,
Legacy, starring Cade Skywalker in an age where the Sith have returned.
With Filoni in charge of Star Wars after Kurtz retired, changed were made. Filoni was convinced the Star Wars films were complete and no new trilogy was needed. Instead Filoni would shift towards continuing the story of Star Wars in a TV Show format(his bread and butter) and some standalone films. these would finally manifest in a series of projects.
Rebels
Rebels was the sequel series to
The Clone Wars, running from 2015 until 2019 . It depicted a group of the titular Rebels surviving during the period just prior to
A New Hope. The Series surprised many by introducing Grand Admiral Thrawn earlier than expected(he is later transported forward through time, justifying his disappearance until the Sequel trilogy, unfortunately Thrawn's entire fleet is separated from him into Time as well). The series also took elements from the cancelled
Star Wars: Underground Series that Lucas suggested Lucasfilm do between the two Trilogies.
Rogue One(Standalone Film): The previously untold tale of how Kyle Katarn obtained the Death Star plan. The story also introduced and then killed off many characters, including the fan favorite K2SO, and Jyn Erso. In the end, Katarn is the only survivor, taking a ship with the Death Star plans towards Tantive IV only for his ship to be destroyed seconds after the plans are transferred and Katarn shown surviving in an escape pod that falls back down to the planet of Scariff, leaving him stranded there until his rescue.
The Kessel Run(Standalone Film): Phil Lord and Chris Miller direct a more comedic(but still somewhat serious) Film often compared to
Guardians of the Galaxy. The film is essentially a heist movie in Space following a Young Han Solo, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian as they attempt the titular Kessel Run. The film also features comic only characters Tag and Binks, a duo of rebel soldiers who are often in the background of scenes in Star Wars. the trailer for the film is infamous for playing a parody of Jason Darulo's "Ridin' Solo" titled I'm Han Solo"(which doesn't actually appear in the Movie).
Kenobi(TV Series): The Kenobi series starred Ewan McGregor(Based mostly on OTL Comic series), having one long adventure that takes him off Tatooine when he is abducted by Jedi Hunters, with him now seeking a way to return to protect Luke. Only one Season was made due to the ridiculous nature of Ben leaving Tatooine multiple times and the fact that most of the stories used were too similar to episodes of what became the
Mandolorian.
Resistance(TV Series): A Live Action Television series set 30 years after
Revenge of the Jedi, starring John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac and Kelly Marie Tran. The series follows up on a scene in the finale of rebels in which an entire Imperial Fleet is brought forward in time to an unknown fate. They have now reappeared and find the Empire has fallen and the Republic has won. The remnants of the Empire now ironically become the titular Resistance(complete with a stylized Imperial themed title card for the word Resistance. Upon reappearing, the Imperial Remants under the Leadership of Grand Moff Snoak(Andy Serkis), redub themselves the Final Order. Snoak becomes obsessed with learning as much as he can of the Dark Side to counter the Jedi. The Imperials also capture Rebel Pilot Poe Dameron shortly after they arrive in the new time period. Two members of Luke's Jedi Academy become involved, his daughter Jaina Skywalker(Daisy Ridley), and Ben Solo(Adam Driver). Ben finds himself drawn to the Dark Side and betrays the Jedi Academy, befriending Finn, until the latter defects and helps Poe escape, destroying their friendship. Finn then joins with Jaina in the hopes of bringing down the Last Order, which he contributes to by convincing many Stormtroopers to rebel. Kelly Marie Tran also appears as fan favorite character Dr.Aphra, described by many as an "Evil Indiana Jones" accompanied by Droids BT-1(or simply BT) and 0-0-0(Triple Zero), who are black colored, weaponized and extremely sadistic counterparts to R2D2 and C3PO. Dr.Aphra is eventually killed off in a rather horrifying way(They are claustrophobic and afraid of being unable to breath. Ben Solo ends up shooting her out in an escape pod into empty space to suffocate. Feeling were mixed as while she was a villain who deserved it and did far worse, she was also very likeable). Her death also had the ripple effect of making Triple Zero and BT, who she owned and commanded, now without a Master and they became sadistic serial killers and torturers with no one to command them. Special attention also went to Captain Phasma, played by Gwendolyn Christie, who in one episode, discovers the remains of Palpatine's Yacht and constructs a suit of Stormtrooper armor out of it.
The Mandolorian(TV Series): Set 5 years after
Revenge of the Jedi, The Mandolorian(AKA Dave Filoni's challenge to create another Mandolorian character after Boba Fett's oversaturation), features the Bounty Hunter Din Djarin, being forced to protect a child of Yoda's race from the Empire remnants and others who would wish him harm(probably the closest to OTL with some changes to accommodate the events of
Revenge of the Jedi, though Grogu's Fate is now even more in question as he does not appear in the Thrawn trilogy. Filoni has expressed his plan to continue the story of Rebels with the Mandolorian.
Video Games
Star Wars Battlefront was rebooted(not by EA)
. The series does not include loot boxes but does include content from all eras. This includes Heroes and Villains from the Original and sequel trilogies. Among the Heroes were Luke Skwalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian. The Villains included were Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Boba Fett, Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Heroes from the prequel Era include Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ashla Chutu. The Prequel era Villains include Darth Maul, Count Dooku, General Grievous, Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane. Maps include: Tantive IV, Tatooine, Yavin IV, Death Star, Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin, Jabba's Palace, and Kashyyk from the original trilogy. From the sequel trilogy there are Coruscant, Sluis Van Shipyards, Jomark, New Cov, Honoghr, Berchest, the Imperial palace, Poderis, and Trogan. Most locations can switch to space combat, a carry over from the previous game
Battlefront 3. From the Prequel trilogy the Maps include Alderaan, Tatooine(an alternate map in the middle of a podrace track), Kamino, Geonosis, Naboo, Coruscant(the Jedi Temple), Mustafar, Kashyyk(beaches), and Felucia. There is also a story mode. Rather than a sequel, the game continues to be updated, often for free. Updates introduced new units and vehicles as well as Heroes and maps.
For the
Rogue One expansion Kyle Katarn and Orson Krennic are the new hero and villain with Scariff being the new map.
For the
Resistance expansion, Finn, Poe and Jaina were introduced as Heroes while Kylo Ren(Ben Solo), Captain Phasma and Doctor Aphra(with moved incorporating BT and Triple Zero) are Villain Units.
The Mandolorian expansion introduced the titular character as a hero and Moff Gideon as a Villain unit. The Mandolorian had baby Yoda with him in game. The second season expansion adds new costumes for Ashla Chutu and Boba Fett along with adding Dark Troopers and Mandolorian Units.
Filoni has just announced a series of new Shows and Second Seasons. It seems the TV show and streaming format is the future of Star Wars(though each series will get a home and television release once they complete their runs).
The Fourth Awakens? New Star Wars Trilogy in 2021?
New Rumor suggests plans to release a Fourth Star Wars Trilogy and Second Trilogy in 2021. Timothy Zahn said to be writing. Rumors have been denied by Lucasfilm and Dave Filoni.
-Comic Resources Article