How would you have done the Star Wars sequel trilogy?

[Admiral X]

So, I've been doing some thinking as far as how to approach the sequel trilogy had I been in charge of making it. The main obvious difference would be that I would have made a plan that encompassed all three as far as points they all had to hit in order to all fit together as one cohesive story. Beyond that, there are two main directions I would have gone.

1) First and foremost would have been to attempt an adaptation of the Thrawn Trilogy, perhaps with some elements of the Hand of Thrawn Duology. This would be a bit more complicated because it took place so soon after The Return of the Jedi, but I think it could have been reworked as a competent commander taking charge of an imperial remnant that was either quite large already, or gathering other factions to himself, and then largely played out as in the books.

2) The more I think of it, the more I think I could have worked with the basic elements of The Force Awakens but done more/better than what the actual movie and its sequels did. For example, I would have expanded on Rey, Finn, Poe, and Ren much more in the beginning than what was actually done. Also, I would not have done the stormtroopers as they were described, but rather had them as conscripts to better explain why Finn turned. I would have had Rey raised by a mentor figure who either died or had gone missing a short while before the movie to explain many of her skills, such as her ability to fix things and to fly at more than just a baseline competence. Or, I might have put her piloting skills as very basic and had her work to get better. I would have also done that with her fighting skills, to show that while she might be able to best some basic thug, she'd be outclassed by stormtroopers and Ren and have to train and work at getting better to face him.

So basically the upshot here is that I could go either way as far as how I would have approached the sequels.

Which of those two ideas do you like better? Is there another direction you would have gone had you been in charge?

[Darth Wedgius]

I like the first of those alternatives better.

If I'd done it, I would have had a remnant of the Empire still out there, but Sithless, and with an uneasy truce. The first movie would have Luke lead some Jedi into battle against some pirates that strike from Imperial space but that what's left of the Empire were unwilling or unable to stop. Luke is losing people, people he's known since they were children, and it's weighing on him. He seeks Leia's counsel (she's his sister and she's sent people in harm's way) and of course Han and Chewie are going to be there.

Word of an attack on Whateverooine comes in. The big six go investigate and they don't think it's the Empire. The New Republic nevertheless leads a major force into Imperial space to ask what the hell, and discover that the Imperial world was attacked too, in the same manner.

It's a new threat, militarily superior to both the Empire and the New Republic. Some Dark Jedi (not necessarily Sith) found someone else to manipulate, and these aliens grow midichlorian-rich tissue and merge it with cybernetics to create fighters incredibly quickly, and aided by being force-sensitive, the fighters can dodge in and out of hyperspace to evade fire or to bypass capital ship shields.

The New Republic and The Empire have to work together no matter how much they hate each other. They learn that the next target is Governor Calrissian's planet of Somethingvin and a major combined fleet action just barely fights off the attack, but with devastating losses. It's the kind of "victory" they can't take again.

In the battle, Han dies saving Ben. That's Ben's start of darkness. Not that Ben becomes evil, but he wants revenge on the new nasties.

The leak came from a gray Jedi (I know they officially don't exist) who investigated the Dark Jedi herself, and then escaped with details.

What's left of the Empire fragments. The Imperial fleet can't hold it together by fear if there's something scarier out there, and their star fleet is busy anyway. Some of the stormtroopers defect, and Finn is one of these. The Imperial officers will demand them back, threatening the alliance, of course.

In the second movie, the New Republic is losing badly. They've adapted some to enemy tactics, like pulling their shields in too close to the hull for an enemy fighter to slip past. But against overwhelming enemy numbers, it isn't enough. Whatever is left of the Empire has dissolved into civil war while still being hit as well. The good guys have to split their efforts; Luke and Leia will each lead forces in a conventional battle to strike at a shipyard where the enemy is growing a new fleet. This won't stop the enemy, but it will slow them down.

The new crew (gray Jedi, Finn, Ben, and R2D2), with the aid of Londo to get them there, investigate the aliens to try to find the magic handwavium that the gray Jedi wasn't able to get to on her own. They discover something or other about the enemy ships and how they're controlled. Ben gets hurt badly in a way that shows how off he's become, but they make it out in one of the enemy vessels after sabotaging it's remote control systems from inside it. When they get to the rendezvous, Londo lets them know that Coruscant has fallen.

In the last movie, the New Republic is still being shredded. The Empire is basically gone, what's left of it's star fleet having been absorbed into the New Republic forces.

Leia confronts Ben, thinking his guilt over Han has lead him down a twisted path. He says it's irrelevant with entire worlds going down. Luke and the gray Jedi talk about what's happening to Ben, how she didn't trust the Jedi enough to alert them to this threat early and possibly save countless lives. In the end, Luke and Leia let the new group get to a spacemawhoosis that lets them interfere with the enemy's control of their ships. Leia dies. It comes down to Ben to destroy them, and he doesn't. He puts aside his hatred and his guilt and frees them from the aliens' control instead. When he does, some of those enemy cybernetic fighters turn on the alien control ships, taking them out and the dark Jedi with them. The rest scatter to the stars.

The gray Jedi wants to know more about the Jedi as they are now, under Luke. And Finn is placed in charge of integrating the Imperial fleet and devolving control to their subject worlds to allow them to join the New Republic or not.

[clearspira]

The story of the OT characters was done. This franchise needed to go into the far future or distant past.

But if it "had" to be done the way it was done, here is a radical thought. How about making "the Skywalker Saga" actually about the Skywalkers and not about someone who turns out to be a Palpatine?

[ChrisTheLovableJerk]

For TFA: Less Marvel Style humor, Lor San Tekka is taken with Poe and is tortured to death via the Force by Snoke as he refuses to reveal Luke's location, Poe is with Finn after the crash, Finn is more hesitant to fight and kill his former comrades and doesn't do it until the fight at Takodana, Constable Zuvio is a Wyatt Earp/John Wayne-like father figure to Rey who dies helping them escape, they escape in the Quadjumper and the Millennium Falcon (sent by Leia) shows up to help fight off the First Order and hooks up with them later, BB-8 recorded the First Order's massacre and Leia uses that to prove the First Order is a threat, Starkiller Base isn't there and instead the Supremacy leads an attack on Coruscant to take out the Republic Capital, Maz explains she found the Skywalker lightsaber from a fellow pirate who got it during the raids on Palpatine's palace, there are Jedi around with the Republic (either trained by Luke or survivors of the Purge), Lando is a club owner on Coruscant who helps fight the First Order, Kanjiklub are the ones with the Rathtars instead of Han and Chewie, R2 is with Luke, Luke is on Ahch-To with other Jedi and senses what's happening and gets in his X-Wing to help with the final battle and helps Rey fight Kylo on top of the Supremacy, Lt. Mitaka is the one they force to turn the shields off, Phasma is a badass who fights Finn and is thrown down an elevator shaft by him during the battle on the Supremacy, Maz and the pirates help fight the First Order, Hosnian Prime is changed to the headquarters of the Republic military, Borsk Fet'lya is a Republic General and Ponc Gavrisom is the Chancellor, the Knights of Ren are now the Sith Knights and are simply dark Jedi claiming to be Sith, Kylo Ren is Darth Caedus (I mean, he basically is so why bother with the name change?) and the name Kylo Ren is given to the second in command of the Sith Knights, Darth Talon and Espaa Valorum (great-grandson of Chancellor Valorum) are among the Sith Knights, Han survives being attacked by his son but dies from his wounds while surrounded by Luke, Leia, Lando, R2, 3PO, and Chewie. Rey is Luke's daughter who he hid on Jakku and blocked her memory so Snoke couldn't find her and Zuvio was an old friend from the Rebellion who remained on Jakku to help keep the peace after the battle of Jakku devastated the planet, Pryde and Holdo are there from the beginning but Holdo is off elsewhere and Pryde betrays the Republic and reveals he never gave up his loyalty to the Empire. The movie ends with Luke and Rey on Ahch-To, ready to begin training while Snoke berates Darth Caedus for his failure on Moraband, where Starkiller Base is revealed.

I'm still working on my ideas for a proper Episode 8, which I call The Secret of the Whills.

[PapaPalpatine]

Just off the top of my head:

1) The First Order isn't fully formed until the second movie, if indeed I use them in this trilogy at all. In the first movie, the baddies are former Imperial governors and admirals who have become regional warlords in the systems outside the New Republic.

2) We actually get to see the New Republic that the Rebel Alliance sacrificed to create in the original trilogy, not just some scared faces just before it all gets blown up by Death Star 3.0.

3) We actually get to see Luke in his role as headmaster of the new Jedi Academy. He does not turn into a washed up, green milk sucking hobo.

4) Phasma actually amounts to something as a villain. Possibly make her the big bad of the first film.

5) No fucking porgs and no Vice Admiral Man-Hater.

[G-Man]

For Episode VII, I would have made it clearer what the political situation was vis a vis the First Order, the Republic, and the Resistance (which I would not have called "the Resistance."

More or less made clearer what each was, and have it revealed that the Resistance is basically in contact with some "rogue" elements of the Republic who are aware of the First Order threat, whereas the rest of the Republic sees it as "we leave them alone, they leave us alone." Also, the First Order is not mysterious, it is known as the remnants of the Empire; the "head in the sand" issue is about its intentions.

I also would have explained the StarKiller base a little better: made it clear that it has a range that allows it to attack several distant star systems in one go, etc. The whole attack scene was confusing because it looked as if our heroes, the destroyed planets, and the absorbed star were all in the same system.

For Episode VIII, I would have had the First Order on the run from the enraged Republic attacking one of their last bases (i.e. it would be like Empire Strikes Back but with the bad guys beleaguered for a change). We would see Rey training with Luke, and Kylo with Snoke, whom we would only see as a hologram. Kylo would come in at the last minute to blow away most of the Republic fleet, and to "save the day" for the baddies while trapping the remaining Republic fleet in a system about to supernova. Rey would then come in to save the day, but get seriously damaged (think Anakin, not Luke). Carrie would use her Force abilities, previously revealed early in the film, to save her, and as Kylo leaves, Luke and Snoke would confront each other.

They would wind up both dying, with the reveal that each wanted to "de-purify" their factions. Luke wanted to make more "gray" Jedi who are not as rule-bound, and Snoke, who would be revealed as a Yoda-type alien behind the hologram, was trying to create a more cohesive dark side user than the Sith who would not be bound to the limitations of the rule of two, by adding some light.

The Finn and Rose Tico arc would involve them trying to get a message from the planet back to the fleet, while escaping Captain Phasma. Finn would be wounded. (Basically the plot would be the two trying to outsmart one another). Paige Tico would be portrayed almost as Mary Sue-ish but die early on, and the conflict with Rose would be simultaneously grieving for her sister and dealing with her resentment and jealousy towards her.

The answer to the question of Rey's origin would be that her parents are no one significant, but she was one of a number of force-sensitive babies that Luke discovered and hid in case Dark Side users destroyed his Jedi class (basically, back-ups). Rey was separated from her parents because they were abusive; other "Force babies" might be hidden with their families, etc.

As for why Ben Solo fell, we could have the same basic story, but flashbacks to him losing his temper and attacking other students in his class, things such as that. Luke could even dream that Ben Solo was going to do something terrible, and that is why he almost tried to kill him - but the dream would be preceded by actual acts making Luke increasingly worried that Ben Solo would turn evil; no "my dark side detector" went off, and no indication that Luke based everything on a dream as Anakin did; his premonition would come from a worry based on actual actions by Ben Solo.

I think the third movie, among other things, would feature a quest to find the other "Force babies" and rebuild a less centralized Jedi that appreciates a somewhat grayer Force, and some sort of banishment for the First Order, while the Knights of Ren would break into factions that could become different sorts of enemies in the future. Don't know what I would do with Kylo yet.

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

If we're stuck with the same general story with nearly the same characters (Rey, Finn, Kylo, 30 years after the OT, etc.), I think a lot of problems could have been fixed if the story began earlier in the chain of events.

For example, start the first movie with the New Republic in power, but being unable to eradicate splintered Imperial resistance (in a reversal from the original dynamic) and new Outer Rim factions rising out of the power vacuum. Ben Solo would still be a student at Luke's academy, Rey could be trying try to get off a planet still controlled by either the Empire or another minor factor. The movie could follow two threads- Rey's journey (with the help of Finn) to meet Luke and become a Jedi, and Ben turning to the dark side at the behest of a mysterious new figure who has arrived on the scene and begun to unify disparate anti-Republic groups into the First Order/whatever it might be.

The second movie would have to cover the actual collapse of the New Republic. If Starkiller base or some other super weapon needed to appear in the movie, I'd do it here, but the origin of it and Snoke would need to be a lot more mysterious, whether they be some ancient, awakened evil or from another galaxy. I'd also have Kylo kill Han here. Rey would continue to search her past, etc.

If the first two movies played out right, the last movie would be a lot of payoff, the big final battle, and so on. The state of the galaxy would be fairly uncertain, with the trilogy being more about passing off the torch for the new generation to take up the fight and all the usual Star Wars stuff.

Tl;dr- Don't eradicate all the old lore to reset the situation, show the First Order's rise to power and give some context to the situation. Heck, I think Luke's perception of himself as a failure would be far more effective if the audience actually got to see what he built be torn down both by powerful dark side forces outside his control and by those closest to him. What didn't have to be done is completely negate his work- I don't think I would kill all the Jedi, the Skywalker family line, maybe not even Luke himself.

[G-Man]

I forgot - Rose Tico's "Save what we love" instead of "killing what we hate" line would be a lot more powerful if she stopped Finn from destroying Phasma in order to make certain they get back to their friends with vital information they need to escape the supernova; basically, if he gets his revenge he will reveal his location and they will die, and their friends will be doomed, but if he forgoes his revenge he can save his friends.

[Actarus]

First I must say that I am okay with the Sequel Trilogy, even though I believe that it should have been presented as a story of its own and not pretend that it is the ending to the Skywalker story. That story ended well enough in Return of the Jedi.

I will rather tell how I thought the story would have been when they announced a new trilogy and that it would be set 30 years after RotJ. The story of the galaxy is a republic that is replaced by an empire. It mirrors the Roman Empire. And what happened after the Empire, at least in the West? The territory was reorganized in several kingdoms. Therefore, I imagine that the galaxy would have been composed of several "states" or organizations. Some systems would have united in a New Republic, but some other sectors would have been their own republic, federation, confederacy or even feudal monarchies. Some others would have been born of imperial moffs taking power and creating their own empires or kingdoms, some being better than others. Now the story would have begun with one of the warlords growing in power and annexing other sectors by force. One of its victims would have been a benevolent state, who would want the New Republic's help. But the New Republic would still be weak, a fraction of what the Galactic Republic was. I don't know who would have been the heroes, but Luke, Leia and Han would have played only a very minor role. They would have been there only as mentors. Leia could have been the leader of the New Republic, Luke a wisened Jedi Master, but their only role would have been to send the new heroes on their mission. And they would not have been related to the Skywalkers or any known character.

Now that I think of it, that setting could still be used for a future movie or trilogy (without the original trio, of course).

[clearspira]

If we're stuck with the same general story with nearly the same characters (Rey, Finn, Kylo, 30 years after the OT, etc.), I think a lot of problems could have been fixed if the story began earlier in the chain of events.

For example, start the first movie with the New Republic in power, but being unable to eradicate splintered Imperial resistance (in a reversal from the original dynamic) and new Outer Rim factions rising out of the power vacuum. Ben Solo would still be a student at Luke's academy, Rey could be trying try to get off a planet still controlled by either the Empire or another minor factor. The movie could follow two threads- Rey's journey (with the help of Finn) to meet Luke and become a Jedi, and Ben turning to the dark side at the behest of a mysterious new figure who has arrived on the scene and begun to unify disparate anti-Republic groups into the First Order/whatever it might be.

The second movie would have to cover the actual collapse of the New Republic. If Starkiller base or some other super weapon needed to appear in the movie, I'd do it here, but the origin of it and Snoke would need to be a lot more mysterious, whether they be some ancient, awakened evil or from another galaxy. I'd also have Kylo kill Han here. Rey would continue to search her past, etc.

If the first two movies played out right, the last movie would be a lot of payoff, the big final battle, and so on. The state of the galaxy would be fairly uncertain, with the trilogy being more about passing off the torch for the new generation to take up the fight and all the usual Star Wars stuff.

Tl;dr- Don't eradicate all the old lore to reset the situation, show the First Order's rise to power and give some context to the situation. Heck, I think Luke's perception of himself as a failure would be far more effective if the audience actually got to see what he built be torn down both by powerful dark side forces outside his control and by those closest to him. What didn't have to be done is completely negate his work- I don't think I would kill all the Jedi, the Skywalker family line, maybe not even Luke himself.

Ultimately the problem we have is that there is no general story for there was no plan. TLJ rewrote TFA and TROS rewrote TLJ AND TFA. Palpatine was never planned, it was always going to be Snoke for one obvious example.