Never mind us guessing at what EU works it could be, or even factoring in the prequels. It seems that, as far back as during the production of ESB, there was some interesting chatter on ideas for a potential sequel trilogy. A lot of this seems to get lost in the chatter, but damn some of it really is intriguing.
Lifting out of Wookieepedia here--and do remember, when this stuff was dribbling out, the only Star Wars movie was the original. Much of this is from Empire Strikes back was still being referred to as Star Wars II, or else only shortly after RotJ...
The Basics
Based on early statements from Lucasfilm, this set of films would have taken place from approximately 40 years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi.
...
The sequel trilogy was to feature Luke Skywalker as a Jedi Master in his sixties, passing on the torch to the next generation of Jedi, the dismantlement of the last remnants of the Empire and the rebuilding of the Galactic Republic. It would also have concerned the re-establishment of the Jedi Order, as foreshadowed by Yoda's line in Return of the Jedi, "Pass on what you have learned." According to a 1983 Time magazine article, its main theme would have been "the necessity for moral choices and the wisdom needed to distinguish right from wrong".
George Lucas mentioned the sequel trilogy in an interview published in Denise Worrell's 1983 book Icons: Intimate Portraits. In the chapter entitled "The Dark Side of George Lucas", Lucas is reported to have only a vague notion of what will happen in the three films of a sequel trilogy. He is quoted as saying "If the first trilogy is social and political and talks about how society evolves, Star Wars is more about personal growth and self realization, and the third deals with moral and philosophical problems. The sequel is about Jedi Knighthood, justice, confrontation, and passing on what you have learned."
Gary Kurtz's recollections
Gary Kurtz, the producer of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, recalls that the outline for a sequel trilogy was "very vague", outlining Skywalker's journey to becoming the premiere Jedi Knight in the Obi-Wan Kenobi mold, and his ultimate confrontation with Emperor Palpatine. According to Kurtz, early plans for this trilogy would have included the introduction of Luke's sister (who was not slated to be Princess Leia), and the first appearance of the Emperor, elements that were incorporated into Return of the Jedi once Kurtz and Lucas parted ways after The Empire Strikes Back.
Other reports have revealed that Luke and Leia were not originally going to be related, and that Luke would eventually find his sister sometime in the sequels. Episode VII would have ended with Leia being crowned as queen of the remaining Alderaanians, and originally the Emperor was not to make an appearance until Episode IX.
Gary Kurtz further revealed the original plans for the sequels in 1999 to fans:
Episode VI was not to have a second Death Star, and Han was to be killed off in the final battle against the Empire. Luke was to confront Vader only to go on with life alone.
The third trilogy starting with Episode VII was to deal with Luke's life as a Jedi.
Episode VIII was to deal with Luke's sister (not Leia) coming from another part of the galaxy and Luke was to become a Jedi Master and pass on his training to her.
Episode IX was to feature the appearance of the Emperor and have Luke and his sister confront him on the Imperial Capital Planet of Had Abbadon, possibly bringing about the Return of the Republic and the Jedi Order.
Episodes VII, VIII, and IX would have taken place from approximately 40 ABY to 203 ABY, based on early facts from Lucas.
Protagonist
According to Michael Kaminski's The Secret History of Star Wars, the protagonist of the third trilogy was to have been Luke Skywalker's protege or successor. Just as Obi-Wan Kenobi was to be the protagonist of the Prequel Trilogy and Luke Skywalker was the hero of the Original Trilogy, Luke's student was to be the hero of the final/third trilogy. This is supported by George Lucas's quotes about one of the themes of the sequel trilogy being "passing on what you have learned".
Given the complete absence of any other possibility, it is most likely that this character was to be the 'Other' that Yoda referred to in The Empire Strikes Back. However, George Lucas has also claimed that Yoda's line was merely a dramatic device employed to heighten the threat to Luke - if the audience thought that the Jedi could continue without him, the possibility that Luke might die was not as credible.
...
It is important to note that at the time The Empire Strikes Back was made, Leia was not intended to be Luke's sister or the 'Other'. This has been corroborated by both Gary Kurtz and Mark Hamill. By the time Return Of The Jedi was being scripted, George Lucas had decided that the story would not continue past Episode VI, and so, had to tie up this loose end. Making Leia both Luke's sister and the Other did so, as well as resolving the love triangle with Han.
Who this 'Other' character was originally intended to be, beyond a plot device, is completely unknown. Although George Lucas has written the line off as a 'cheap trick', it is likely that he was also using it as a convenient set-up for the sequel trilogy.
Other interesting bits
Mark Hamill has said that George Lucas asked him to play Luke as an Obi-Wan type character who passes on the Excalibur to the next young hope in Episode IX, and that the sequels were to feature new characters with Hamill making a cameo in Episode IX. These sequels were to be made around 2011. In a 2004 interview, Hamill said: "You know, when I first did this, it was four trilogies. 12 movies! And out on the desert, any time between setups...lots of free time. And George was talking about this whole thing. I said, 'Why are you starting with IV, V and VI? It's crazy.' [Imitating Lucas grumble,] 'It's the most commercial section of the movie.' He said the first trilogy's darker, more serious. And the impression I got, he said, 'Um, how'd you like to be in Episode IX?' This is 1976. 'When is that going to be?' '2011.' I defy anyone to add 36 years to their lives and not be stunned. Even an eight year old is like, 'No, I'll never be 47.' So I did the math and figured out how old I'd be. I said, 'Well, what do you want me to do?' He said, 'You'll just be like a cameo. You'll be like Obi-Wan handing the lightsaber down to the next new hope." George Lucas has dismissed this as nothing more than an off-hand comment.
Mark Hamill said at a convention in 1998 that George Lucas talked to him about doing one more movie. However, instead of live action it would be a CGI film, and Lucas only wanted the original cast of Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams to lend their voices for their roles as an aging Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian, passing on the torch of adventure to others. Luke would of course be an Obi-Wan/Yoda-type Jedi Master and the film would be set decades after Return of the Jedi. The film was to be made around 2010. That plan was discarded.
Kind of makes the imagination run--particularly if it were 1970s-80s Lucas doing the filmmaking, instead of 1999-present George Lucas.
Lifting out of Wookieepedia here--and do remember, when this stuff was dribbling out, the only Star Wars movie was the original. Much of this is from Empire Strikes back was still being referred to as Star Wars II, or else only shortly after RotJ...
The Basics
Based on early statements from Lucasfilm, this set of films would have taken place from approximately 40 years after the events depicted in Return of the Jedi.
...
The sequel trilogy was to feature Luke Skywalker as a Jedi Master in his sixties, passing on the torch to the next generation of Jedi, the dismantlement of the last remnants of the Empire and the rebuilding of the Galactic Republic. It would also have concerned the re-establishment of the Jedi Order, as foreshadowed by Yoda's line in Return of the Jedi, "Pass on what you have learned." According to a 1983 Time magazine article, its main theme would have been "the necessity for moral choices and the wisdom needed to distinguish right from wrong".
George Lucas mentioned the sequel trilogy in an interview published in Denise Worrell's 1983 book Icons: Intimate Portraits. In the chapter entitled "The Dark Side of George Lucas", Lucas is reported to have only a vague notion of what will happen in the three films of a sequel trilogy. He is quoted as saying "If the first trilogy is social and political and talks about how society evolves, Star Wars is more about personal growth and self realization, and the third deals with moral and philosophical problems. The sequel is about Jedi Knighthood, justice, confrontation, and passing on what you have learned."
Gary Kurtz's recollections
Gary Kurtz, the producer of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, recalls that the outline for a sequel trilogy was "very vague", outlining Skywalker's journey to becoming the premiere Jedi Knight in the Obi-Wan Kenobi mold, and his ultimate confrontation with Emperor Palpatine. According to Kurtz, early plans for this trilogy would have included the introduction of Luke's sister (who was not slated to be Princess Leia), and the first appearance of the Emperor, elements that were incorporated into Return of the Jedi once Kurtz and Lucas parted ways after The Empire Strikes Back.
Other reports have revealed that Luke and Leia were not originally going to be related, and that Luke would eventually find his sister sometime in the sequels. Episode VII would have ended with Leia being crowned as queen of the remaining Alderaanians, and originally the Emperor was not to make an appearance until Episode IX.
Gary Kurtz further revealed the original plans for the sequels in 1999 to fans:
Episode VI was not to have a second Death Star, and Han was to be killed off in the final battle against the Empire. Luke was to confront Vader only to go on with life alone.
The third trilogy starting with Episode VII was to deal with Luke's life as a Jedi.
Episode VIII was to deal with Luke's sister (not Leia) coming from another part of the galaxy and Luke was to become a Jedi Master and pass on his training to her.
Episode IX was to feature the appearance of the Emperor and have Luke and his sister confront him on the Imperial Capital Planet of Had Abbadon, possibly bringing about the Return of the Republic and the Jedi Order.
Episodes VII, VIII, and IX would have taken place from approximately 40 ABY to 203 ABY, based on early facts from Lucas.
Protagonist
According to Michael Kaminski's The Secret History of Star Wars, the protagonist of the third trilogy was to have been Luke Skywalker's protege or successor. Just as Obi-Wan Kenobi was to be the protagonist of the Prequel Trilogy and Luke Skywalker was the hero of the Original Trilogy, Luke's student was to be the hero of the final/third trilogy. This is supported by George Lucas's quotes about one of the themes of the sequel trilogy being "passing on what you have learned".
Given the complete absence of any other possibility, it is most likely that this character was to be the 'Other' that Yoda referred to in The Empire Strikes Back. However, George Lucas has also claimed that Yoda's line was merely a dramatic device employed to heighten the threat to Luke - if the audience thought that the Jedi could continue without him, the possibility that Luke might die was not as credible.
...
It is important to note that at the time The Empire Strikes Back was made, Leia was not intended to be Luke's sister or the 'Other'. This has been corroborated by both Gary Kurtz and Mark Hamill. By the time Return Of The Jedi was being scripted, George Lucas had decided that the story would not continue past Episode VI, and so, had to tie up this loose end. Making Leia both Luke's sister and the Other did so, as well as resolving the love triangle with Han.
Who this 'Other' character was originally intended to be, beyond a plot device, is completely unknown. Although George Lucas has written the line off as a 'cheap trick', it is likely that he was also using it as a convenient set-up for the sequel trilogy.
Other interesting bits
Mark Hamill has said that George Lucas asked him to play Luke as an Obi-Wan type character who passes on the Excalibur to the next young hope in Episode IX, and that the sequels were to feature new characters with Hamill making a cameo in Episode IX. These sequels were to be made around 2011. In a 2004 interview, Hamill said: "You know, when I first did this, it was four trilogies. 12 movies! And out on the desert, any time between setups...lots of free time. And George was talking about this whole thing. I said, 'Why are you starting with IV, V and VI? It's crazy.' [Imitating Lucas grumble,] 'It's the most commercial section of the movie.' He said the first trilogy's darker, more serious. And the impression I got, he said, 'Um, how'd you like to be in Episode IX?' This is 1976. 'When is that going to be?' '2011.' I defy anyone to add 36 years to their lives and not be stunned. Even an eight year old is like, 'No, I'll never be 47.' So I did the math and figured out how old I'd be. I said, 'Well, what do you want me to do?' He said, 'You'll just be like a cameo. You'll be like Obi-Wan handing the lightsaber down to the next new hope." George Lucas has dismissed this as nothing more than an off-hand comment.
Mark Hamill said at a convention in 1998 that George Lucas talked to him about doing one more movie. However, instead of live action it would be a CGI film, and Lucas only wanted the original cast of Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams to lend their voices for their roles as an aging Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian, passing on the torch of adventure to others. Luke would of course be an Obi-Wan/Yoda-type Jedi Master and the film would be set decades after Return of the Jedi. The film was to be made around 2010. That plan was discarded.
Kind of makes the imagination run--particularly if it were 1970s-80s Lucas doing the filmmaking, instead of 1999-present George Lucas.
Comment