So, George Lucas did the unthinkable. After pledging that there would never be any more Star Wars films (to the extent he would leave a clause to that effect in his will!) and doggedly overseeing his franchise for decades, Lucas has sold his company LucasArts to none other than that corporate titan, Disney. Uncle Walt’s now vast conglomerate wasted no time in announcing not only one new Star Wars film, but three (of course!), boldly labelling them as Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. Such an announcement has set fans’ tongues wagging across the internet, and chief among the topics for discussion is what exactly these new films will be about.
Now, why, might you ask, is this a valid subject for By Jove’s blog? For one simple reason: Disney have not simply bought a company with their massive 4 billion dollar purchase, but an entire mythology.
Some will get very snooty about using the word ‘mythology’ in this way, but whether they like it or not, today some of the best known mythologies are not from ancient cultures, but from popular culture. The likes of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, the vast backlog of comic book lore from Marvel and DC, and of course Star Wars, are all examples of fictional worlds that are in many cases as detailed and complex as tales from ancient Greece and Egypt.
Some – The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter being two exemplary specimens – are so extensive that they delve heavily into language, geography, botany, and so on. However, they are also the result of a single imagination and are used to provide back story for a contained number of published narratives. In these worlds, the vision of the original author is authoritative and final – whatever Tolkien and Rowling decree, so it is law.
Marvel and DC comprise the minds of many, and are fascinating for their constant resetting of chronology (‘retconning’), which has had the effect of creating in less than a decade what occurred in ancient myth over thousands of years – multiple versions of events. With the new wave of films, the multiplicity of comic book myth has come to the fore. Each film crystallises a character at that particular historical moment, and the interpretation of that character can tell us as much about that period as the deployment of a myth in one Greek tragedy. Batman, for example, is vastly different in 1989 than he is in 2005.
Star Wars is somewhat a mix of the first two, and has set the precedent for ‘expanded universes’ outside of the initial creator’s vision. Lucas’ films remain authoritative (‘canon’), and indeed episodes I-III rewrote a lot of what had been ‘canonical’ prior to 1998. However, whatever you say about Lucas, the basic principles of the world he had created have fed the imaginations of millions, spawning novels, comic books, TV series, and video games that are not simply brand merchandise, but additions to the vast mythology that is the Star Wars ‘expanded universe’ (‘EU’).
So, what will Disney do? If episodes VII-IX are to chronologically follow the original trilogy, then they face a choice: either they adhere to the mythology that has been meticulously marked out by other creators (and there are 100+ years of history after ep 6 concludes), or present a new narrative that overrides the EU. Both options have their drawbacks – obviously many fans will know and love the stories that have been told post-Return of the Jedi, but if Disney want to include any of the familiar characters they’re going to have to essentially adapt novels and other source materials, which will be a first for Star Wars. On the other hand, they could introduce a new story for the principle heroes – indeed, if they set it about 30 years on from Return they could legitimately have Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Billy-Dee Williams reprise their roles – but in doing so risk the wrath of a vast and very passionate fan community.
George Lucas doing his best Faustus impression.
Perhaps they could follow the comic-book film route and reinterpret elements and events that have been laid out by expanded universe writers. The Star Wars mythology, however, is less open to ambiguity than Marvel or DC, companies which lack the authority of a singular original. One look at Wookiepedia – the Star Wars wiki – will tell you that pluralised continuity is more of a nuisance than a facet; establishing the canon is all important, pushing towards fictional history as opposed to mythology.
I’m not the only Star Wars fan who will be nervously wondering what the bosses at Disney have in store for us, but I fear the road ahead will not be without it’s compromises, frustrations and surprises. As Luke Skywalker first said in a line repeated by someone in some way in every single Star Wars film: I have a bad feeling about this.
