With every passing convention and public announcement, Star Wars fans wait anxiously for news of the next Star Wars standalone film. The third Star Wars standalone movie was announced but no further information has been given about it. Presumably, this was the film that Josh Trank was hired to direct before he parted ways with Lucasfilm in 2015. Countless rumours and guesses have been put out there by fans. The front runners from fans are an Obi-wan Kenobi film and a Boba Fett film. Personally, I’m finding it very hard to get excited about either of these ideas. To be fair I was mixed on the idea of Rogue One and a Han Solo film as well.
It’s no secret that I am a huge Obi-wan Kenobi fan. He is my favorite character of the saga and the only face character that I ever plan on costuming as. Alec Guinness created an amazing character and his portrayal carried a depth and a back history before anyone except George Lucas knew what that story was. Ewan McGregor added to the Kenobi mythos with his portrayal of the younger Jedi in the prequel trilogy. I would love to see McGregor return to the role and give us more. The only problem is that I don’t think there is a story to tell here.
Obi-wan Kenobi’s role after the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a silent guardian watching over the young Luke Skywalker, keeping him safe and hidden from the Empire. I really don’t want to see McGregor out among the dunes fighting Darth Vader, Inquisitors, or other troops from the Empire. To the galaxy at large, he is thought to be dead and only a select few know that he lives and what his true purpose is. We have seen this in both Rogue One and Rebels. He should not be leaving Tatooine for any reason, and the Empire should have no reason to come looking for him. Basically, we would have a movie where the whole point would be to keep his secret. A talented enough writer can work with that, but I just don’t know how exciting of a movie it would make.
A lot of people point to John Jackson Miller’s novel Kenobi for what could be done in Obi-wan movie. It’s a great novel and I really enjoy it. Technically, it is under the Legends canon but there is nothing that says it couldn’t have still happened in the new canon. Again, I’m just not sure if the idea works as a movie. It may be that my view of what constitutes a Star Wars film is very limited, but I see Miller’s story as a terrific novel, not as a film. The best part about this kind of speculation is that if I’m wrong, I get more of what I love.
The other leading rumour is Boba Fett. First off, whenever a new Boba Fett anything is brought up my first thought is “Ugh, no.” I’m really burned out on all things Boba. I really don’t care about him making his name and working as a bounty hunter. We already have too much Fett in Star Wars already.
However, there are some Fett stories I’d like to see, but I think they are the less likely possibilities. I am way more excited for a possibility for a Jango Fett movie. What is his story, how did he attract the attention of Dooku? That’s a story that would be interesting. Plus it would give us more about one of the biggest questions of the prequel trilogy, the ordering of the clones. The only problem is Tem Morrison is probably about 15 years too old to make this movie. Although, if they can give us a CGI Peter Cushing I think anything is possible.
The other Fett movie would be a larger story, telling us more about the Mandalorians and their interactions with the Republic and the Empire. We’ve gotten teases of Mandalorian history with The Clone Wars and Rebels. I’d love to see how the Fetts, both Jango and Boba, interact with the Empire and Mandalore since they wear Mandalorian armor but are also the template for the Troopers. It shows them on both sides and can lead to a lot of potential drama. However, this might be too big of a story to tell in a single film. This might work better as a new series, either animated or live action. It does also have a problem with audiences needing to know a lot of outside canon to follow the events.
The Star Wars standalone films open up a galaxy of possibilities for the storytellers. We know that Lucasfilm has potentially decided on what the next film may be, but there is no set schedule for when they will announce that story to us the fans. Until then, we fans will continue to speculate on every possibility.
Author: Paul Depaola
Born in the desert, raised on the beach and now residing in the mountains. An obsessive, compulsive geek with a tendency to bring everything back to Star Wars. In his spare time he is TK-5990, a proud member of the 501st Legion. Paul is also the host of his own podcast, Fanboys Talking.