Remember when Chewbacca died?
In the 1999 ebook The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime by R. A. Salvatore, Han Solo’s devoted Wookiee associate, Rebel Alliance fixture, and large strolling carpet Chewie purchased the moisture farm. Not surprisingly, he died a hero, saving 1000's of lives.
It was a reasonably large deal, even for these Star Wars followers (like me) who didn’t learn the Expanded Universe books and comics on the time. Vector Prime bought an enormous promotional push, together with a business that includes Mark Hamill doing voiceover as Luke Skywalker, and the ebook even made it to the New York Times Best Sellers listing for 4 weeks.
But that was then and that is now, the place the EU is called Star Wars Legends and “doesn’t count” anymore, and a personality like Chewie appears unlikely to ever die within the fashionable Star Wars canon. No, a well-liked determine reminiscent of Chewbacca, who may be endlessly recast on a budget – and who can proceed to juice merchandising gross sales for untold generations to come – might be doomed to stay like some type of outer area Renfield, beholden to do his grasp’s pop-culture bloodsucking endlessly.
It’s not simply our favourite Wookiee who's consigned to this dire destiny, of course. C-3PO and R2-D2 are, and will proceed to be, equally bothered, however even characters which have died within the canon like Yoda and Jabba will proceed to rise from the grave time and once more to fulfill the Sarlacc-like Easter egg maw of the most recent present or sport (most just lately for Yoda on The Acolyte and for Jabba in Star Wars Outlaws). And these are simply the obvious examples. Everyone from Nien Nunb to Baby Yoda to the man who bought his arm reduce off within the cantina in A New Hope is up for grabs. (Ponda Baba. His title is Ponda Baba.)
I’m fascinated with this right now not simply because of the information that Disney is embroiled in a lawsuit over the use of the late Peter Cushing’s likeness as Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One, but in addition as a result of of the passing of James Earl Jones on Monday. Jones of course was the voice of Darth Vader, one of essentially the most iconic characters not simply in Star Wars however in all of cinema. The proven fact that the actor had signed off on AI recreations of his Vader voice reminds us that whereas he could also be gone now, the Sith Lord can and virtually actually will proceed to pop up in future Star Wars movies and TV reveals.
But Vader, or Anakin Skywalker if you'll, really died all the way in which again in 1983’s Return of the Jedi. And whereas, certain, prequels like Rogue One, flashbacks like within the Obi-Wan Kenobi present, and Force dream sequences (or no matter that was) in Ahsoka can deliver a personality again, we now have to ask whether or not or not they ought to be bringing a basic determine like Vader again time and once more.
Take the prequel trilogy, the place Anakin’s origin story was informed and he was portrayed first by Jake Lloyd and then Hayden Christensen. I might argue that whether or not or not you suppose these films in the end work as authentic tales, they a minimum of have been making an attempt to do one thing new with Anakin, uncovering the occasions that led to his downfall over the span of three complete films. Can the identical be mentioned for Rogue One or Obi-Wan Kenobi, the place Vader was extra of a “how cool is it that we brought him back” play than anything?
Of course, the menace of dwelling endlessly in an ever-diminishing sequence of Star Wars automobiles has now prolonged past the masked and non-human characters. The debate over the use of Cushing in Rogue One some 22 years after he died isn’t a brand new one; ditto Mark Hamill’s cut-scene-like returns as a youthful Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Even our three most important heroes from the unique trilogy — Luke, Leia, and Han — are all useless now within the canon, however they’ve every come again in some kind or one other too. Plus, within the case of the late Carrie Fisher, digital trickery was additionally employed to (unconvincingly) insert previous footage of her into The Rise of Skywalker.
Indeed, the notion of the useless returning to the land of the dwelling goes again to the very first Star Wars film when Obi-Wan’s ghost whispered, “Run, Luke, run!” But that was an sudden and cool extension of Luke’s story, not a gimmick used to promote extra tickets or Alec Guinness plushies.
Andor, which is the finest of the live-action Star Wars reveals, additionally options the return of a useless character by way of prequel story, however the compelling story of how an extraordinary man turns into a insurgent throughout the age of the Empire works as a result of of the present’s wonderful writing and performances, not to point out the avoidance of cute cameos for the sake of them. Alas, that's the exception somewhat than the rule within the Star Wars universe now.
So pour one out not only for the EU model of Chewie, who died saving 1000's somewhat than persevering with on endlessly as a shambling echo of his former greatness, but in addition for Threepio, R2, Vader, Yoda, and all the remaining who won't ever be allowed to really transfer on. They will persist in order that the Star Wars franchise can proceed to, type of, stay.
Talk to Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura, or hear to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do each!
