A new rumor claims that Disney and Lucasfilm are planning to reimagine the original Star Wars trilogy as animated films.
This rumor comes from Nick Santos at That Hashtag Show, who claims they are already working on outlines for all three films.
Santos also asserts that Lucasfilm will reimagine the original trilogy films as animated films based off Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept art for the films.
Not only does he claim the films will be reimagined in McQuarrie’s style, but he also asserts the films will not be direct animated adaptations, but instead will be based off the original second draft of Star Wars.
Santos writes, “Currently, writers are writing an outline for all three films, that will be familiar to long-time fans but will see some deviations to the story as the basis of these three films is the original second draft of what eventually became Star Wars: A New Hope.”
The first animated adaptation will specifically be based off the draft and Santos says “the other two films will blend elements of that 2nd draft, while also keeping familiar with regards to what happens in Empire Strikes Back and Return Of the Jedi.”
The draft was titled Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars and had quite a number of differences from what ended up becoming the original Star Wars film.
First off, the world of Star Wars looked a little different. The Empire did not have the iron grip on the galaxy that they are shown to have in the original Star Wars rather it is already in decline and faced a significant loss to the Rebel Alliance and the mighty Jedi warrior known as The Starkiller.
The opening scrawl in the draft states, “The Republic Galactica is dead. Ruthless trader barons, driven by greed and the lust for power, have replaced enlightenment with oppression, and ‘rule by the people’ with the FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE.”
It continues, “Until the tragic Holy Rebellion of ’06’, the respected JEDI BENDU OF ASHLA were the most powerful warriors in the Universe. For a hundred thousand years, generations of Jedi Bendu knights learned the ways of the mysterious FORCE OF OTHERS, and acted as the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic. Now these legendary warriors are all but extinct. One by one they have been hunted down and destroyed by a ferocious rival sect of mercenary warriors: THE BLACK KNIGHTS OF THE SITH.”
“It is a period of civil wars. The EMPIRE is crumbling into lawless barbarism throughout the million worlds of the galaxy. From the celestial equator to the farthest reaches of the GREAT RIFT, seventy small solar systems have united in a common war against the tyranny of the Empire,” the script reads.
The scrawl concludes, “Under the command of a mighty Jedi warrior known as THE STARKILLER, the REBEL ALLIANCE has won a crushing victory over the deadly Imperial Star Fleet. The Empire knows that one more such defeat will bring a thousand more solar systems into the rebellion, and Imperial control of the Outlands could be lost forever…”
Not only is the world slightly different, but the opening scene has some significant changes as well. Instead of Darth Vader tracking down and capturing Princess Leia, a Rebel ship finds itself in a dog fight with four Imperial stardestroyers.
The ship is captained by Deac Starkiller and he and his crew manage to destroy one of the stardestroyers; however, another one of the stardestroyers lands a devastating blow on the Rebel ship destroying its main solar fin. With the ship damaged, the Imperials, led by a Sith Knight, plan to board the Rebel vessel.
The Rebels provide a much tougher fight as well as using seeker bombs to counter the Imperials massive numbers advantage. Deak even wades into battle using his laser sword to devastate the Imperials. There is even a confrontation between Deak and Darth Vader.
Of note, the script also shows that the Sith Knights are able to exert emotional manipulation of the battlefield through the Dark Side of the Force, which is called Bogan in the script. Deak tells one of his soldiers, “You’re feeling the Bogan’s despair. Be strong, Tyree, drive if from your thoughts.”
The script also sees Luke and Leia as the son and daughter of Owen and Beru Lars. They also have two twin brothers named Biggs and Windy. Their last name is also Starkiller instead of Skywalker.
There are also changes to the Tusken raiders. Instead of them being Sand People, they are actually Imperial scout troops sent to the planet Utapau to track down C-3PO and R2-D2 by Darth Vader.
One of the biggest changes is the fact that the draft does not include Obi-Wan Kenobi whatsoever.
So, it wouldn’t be simply a retelling of the original trilogy in animated form, something Disney is known to do in the opposite direction as they adapt their classic animated series into live-action films.
If it wasn’t 2021, this might actually be something to be interested, but given it is 2021 and Disney’s abysmal track record with anything Star Wars, there is absolutely no interest in seeing this being made as it more than likely would butcher the script with identity politics.
Is this something you would be interested in? Would you want to see the this original script get an animated film adaptation?