The Star Wars universe is supposedly a really big place, but you'd never know it to watch the movies. They all tend to focus on the same events and core group of characters, and while we saw some new additions in 'The Force Awakens' and 'Rogue One', the stories themselves were still linked to what we already knew. But that may be about to change according to writer Gary Whitta, who says the legacy characters may be relied on less and less. He tells Comingsoon...
"I think you’ve already seen us get 90% of the way there with “Rogue One.” Yes you see Leia, yes you see the Death Star and Vader, because those are elements of that story and they belong there, you can’t tell that story without those characters. But for the most part, 90% of that story is completely new characters. Completely new planets and places you’ve never seen before. It’s a Star Wars movie with no Jedi! You don’t see a lightsaber once until Vader pops it out at the end. It doesn’t have any spirituality or mysticism… a little bit through Donnie’s character, but it’s very different DNA to the Star Wars films that have come before it. I really like the fact that we tried to do something different."
"The next spin-off is ‘Han Solo,’ that’s another familiar character, but I think increasingly you’re going to see… One of the thing things we really want to do at Lucasfilm is create a universe and not keep relying on old legacy characters. We’ve got Rey and Finn and Kylo Ren, they’ve already introduced a new generation of characters. Whatever kind of Star Wars films they’re making 10 or 20 years from now, I don’t think they’re going to be relying on the same legacy story elements as we have in the past."
A brand new Star Wars character with no continuity baggage and no relationship to the actions of the Skywalkers or Darth Vader? Yes please. The question is whether Disney/Lucasfilm wants such a thing since it could be a tougher sell, but 'Rogue One' should have helped ease those fears.
