More Clarification on Iain McCaig’s Comments.
Recently, we told you about a conference that Star Wars concept artist Iain McCaig spoke at. There’s been a bit of confusion regarding what he said, so we’d like to clear that up with more information from E.R. Cina, who gave us this information based on his memory. We also contacted McCaig himself for a comment on the whole story, so read on for his take on this as well.
Again we want to remind you that this event happened almost a month ago. The source who described all this has no malicious intentions and everything he described is based on his memory. Of course there will be some inaccuracies but the topics that were discussed are absolutely legit and not made up. The event took place in a lecture hall at Massey University Wellington. You will see below that there were not many people present and there were no cameras or other outlets attending the conference.
We did the previous piece mainly because of Iain’s excitement about the Han Solo script, and the interesting comments he made on the unused Anakin’s Force ghost in The Force Awakens and Rey’s backstory in Episode VIII. Unfortunately some of the other comments were picked up by the fans and caused a huge stir.
Before we get into the story, I should first take a moment to note that Iain McCaig is no longer working at Lucasfilm. However, he is still in contact with Marvel Studios and Disney, as he worked on both Guardians Of The Galaxy and The Jungle Book, which were released before and after The Force Awakens respectively. As such, he may not be legally-bound to make certain statements, but he may work with Lucasfilm on later projects. We sent an e-mail out to McCaig for clarification on his role in the presentation shortly after we released the recent piece. His reply is as follows:
Thanks for the email, and I appreciate all the kind comments.
Alas, the report has many inaccuracies–not through any malicious reporting, I’m sure, but errors accumulated in the retelling.
I’m afraid I must decline any further comment–the Star Wars movies are like the best Christmas presents ever, and it would spoil it for so many if we were to give away too much beforehand.
All the very best,
Iain
So while there may be mistakes in the initial report – and possibly in the clarifications presented below – this itself is a real lead, and Iain McCaig absolutely talked about these topics at the presentation. Mistakes inevitably happen when it comes to this kind of reporting, particularly when there aren’t recordings to use for frame of reference (more on that below). What’s wrong and what’s right about the report, he doesn’t seem to be at liberty to say – so it’s likely that there are important elements that he discussed that may still be being discussed.
Amazing panel at #ArtImaginationIndustry @wcwart, Sir Richard Taylor, Iain McCaig, Christian Rivers & Stu Middleton pic.twitter.com/TtrKG2sbLz
— Mahuki (@Mahuki_TePapa) June 4, 2016
A big question about this event is why nobody recorded it. Slashfilm could corroborate that McCaig did speak at the event, but coverage on the event itself had been next to nonexistent. Make no mistake – while we might not know about every single word that came out of his mouth, he did speak there about what he knew. The following is what our source told us about the absence of recorded material:
Regarding footage – no sorry, not to my knowledge – hence my intial mention of a lack of secondary source. I dont recall seeing any phones/cameras out, and it was a small lecture hall at Massey University so there was no proshot taking place – I was so transfixed on hearing these revelations I didn’t think to record them, likewise for others in the hall I believe.
There may have been a ban on the use of recording devices at the event, but I don’t think that’s too likely. I think the short of this is that people weren’t expecting a lot of information about the pre-production of Star Wars, given that he is also known for his concept art for many other productions. Not every Star Wars-related presentation is going to get the kind of coverage that a Celebration or SDCC panel would.
Recently, our previous article caught a bit of flak for asserting that George Lucas turned in an entire script while Michael Arndt was coming up with a draft. Lucas, of course, did not complete a full script, but we were just reiterating what we had directly been told. So when we asked about this discrepancy, our source was quick to clear things up before getting into the details on casting:
The statement I gave you is as accurate as I can manage… its likely McCaig was being hyperbolic with the word ‘script’ – really meaning ‘treatment’. From ‘How Star Wars Conquered The Universe’ it seems Lucas was quite vague with his VII VIII IX treatments… But McCaig’s words suggested this development was after TFA pre-production began.
In terms of the race matter, McCaig’s words referenced that he loves using non-Caucasian foreign races in his ideas, but that he encountered resistance from TPTB. Whether this was simply for Rey (whom he envisioned as Asian) or for the rest of the main trio I cannot be 100% certain… All he mentioned was that he liked conceptualizing characters as non-caucasion but encountered resistance in doing so. He never mentioned a rule or a ban, as neither does my statement, simply that these concepts were resisted, or accepted with reluctance.
J. J. Abrams was hugely insistent on bringing a multicultural cast into the film (which seems to have paid off based on the movie’s excellent international returns), so it wouldn’t be too surprising to hear that Disney might have been insistent on having a more monochrome cast as far as the three lead characters goes. That’s not to say that Disney was explicitly against the idea, however – of the five finalists for the role of Finn, three were white and two weren’t. If Rey is indeed a Skywalker, then it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine why Disney would push for a white female lead.
There was also clarification on the Anakin/Vader concept art (which was not based on the Lucas treatment) and the story idea associated with it.
The story was told as a rough plot outline, but it involved Luke being guided through further Jedi training and the creation of a new Order by the force ghost of Anakin. However, the ghost is still conflicted by the dark side, and can slip back into being Darth Vader. This was accompanied by concept pieces of a half-human, half Vader face with the Vader side slowly growing over the course of the ‘film’ to overtake Anakin entirely. Because of the ghost’s inner dark side conflict, Luke is simultaneously corrupted in his mission to re-establish the Jedi whilst also attempting to save Anakin from the dark side, ergo himself.
George Lucas has gone on to say that only Jedi can become Force Spirits, which is why the Sith were obsessed with eternal life in the physical world. Anakin’s flux to and from the Dark Side comes across as contradictory to the canon. As this was an idea that came into the fray during the brainstorming phase, and that it conflicts with existing continuity, it’s extremely likely that this concept has been completely discarded and that it will have no impact on the story of the Sequel Trilogy going forward.
But more importantly, our source cleared up what most people have been asking about – the so-called “Prequel Ban”. The main issue with this is the use of the harsh word “ban”, but that’s what we’ve been given. The official stance is that Lucasfilm did not put a complete embargo on including content related to the Prequel Trilogy in The Force Awakens; however, our source says that McCaig felt that he was pressured not to go down that route.
In terms of the prequel-ban issue, I can’t really offer much else… He mentioned this ‘ban’ in regards to a) his and others’ attempts to use prequel ideas/IP in designs and b) any script ideas that involved prequel actors or IP (including the [the Anakin/Vader concept]).
This may not have been Lucasfilm’s offical policy, however… McCaig may have been referring to what he personally perceived from the work environment, and extended this to an assumption about official policy, though he seemed to feel quite strongly that a ‘ban’ was in place.
My memory is not vivid enough to offer what can be considered a cohesive quote, but he did indeed say that Disney/Lucasfilm had placed a ban on any prequel-related work. I’m afraid I cannot offer anything further as this was the entirety of his statement.
While there are references to the Prequel Trilogy in The Force Awakens (such as “Balance of the Force” quote, the allusion of a clone army, or the nigh-inaudible Palpatine quote from Revenge Of The Sith that was heard during the “Forceback” sequence), they are so few and far between that it’s not hard to consider that Disney wanted to distance this specific film from the Prequel Trilogy. Had George Lucas directed Episode VII (like he’d considered doing before selling Lucasfilm), there’s no question that his story would have had a greater number of allusions to the Prequel Trilogy than the few blink-and-you’ll-miss-them allusions (the total of which you can count on one hand) present in The Force Awakens. There’s no apprehensiveness to including content related to the Prequel Trilogy anywhere else, but perhaps Disney was more concerned with uniting the fanbase for their first movie in a new trilogy than they were to bring in content from the more contentious trilogy of Star Wars movies.
Again keep in mind that this is how Iain McCaig felt about this. This is not an official LFL stance or anything, and I am sure they don’t have something like this as a rule. If I had to bet, I would say that the next two films will be more free with existing prequel connections. I think the anthology films will do even more service to the prequels. I doubt it was something in writing but more so a creative decision from the execs.
So there you have it. Some people accused our report of being fake and made up, so I hope all this clears things up. While there are some inaccuracies the overall story is absolutely legit. We’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything else on this matter. Special thanks again to E. R. Cina for providing this clarification and trying to be as accurate as he can in addition to our initial story, and to Iain McCaig for responding quickly and succinctly.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
The Vader idea might have been a good one actually, and it doesn’t contradict canon, Anakin is a Force Ghost because he repented at the last minute of his existence as Vader. removing the helmet aboard the 2nd Death Star is quite the symbolism for that. Anyway, this article seems like a PR release…
I wouldn’t want to see an Anakin force ghost still being corrupted by the darkside and effecting Luke somehow. That seems like a shit idea to me.
One that dumps on Episodes I-VI as well, which is why I don’t see it happening.
The Anakin/Vader Force Ghost idea seems to be much more interesting than the whole plot of Episode VII – and I actually liked Episode VII.
I disagree but hey, I don’t hate it either. I’m really happy that Luke was what they were searching for as it gave the spotlight to the new cast and eased luke back into the fold. Now Luke can be in it as much as they want and it doesn’t take anything away from the new cast
The coward they were searching for has nothing to do with the Luke we were waiting for. And why is it Rey that meets him instead of Leia, she couldn’t care less I guess, or Chewie, instead of waiting at the Falcon like a pet while his master goes to Luke??
I assume you’re either kidding or trlling, but for the sake of those who might take your comment seriously:
None of us like the idea of a cowardly Luke. Including LFL/Disney, I’m sure. We have bo idea why he went searching for the First Jedi Temple. Maybe it was, as you seem to believe, just a place to hide and be depressed. But I find it far more likely that Luke needed answers. He’s probably at a place of extreme Force power and Lightsaber skill from all these years of research and archeology. Maybe the counsel of Force Ghosts awaited him at the First Temple, or they lead him there directly. Or maybe there’s a powerful Force weapon there. Who knows? We have no reason to think so lowly of the premiere Jedi Master. We don’t have the whole story.
JJ Abrams and Kasdan are dumb , incensitive and cynical. This is a stupid script written by stupid people. The search for Luke is the McGuffn, therefore he has vanished. They don’t care about the reasons, it was up to Rian Johnson to figure it out. It’s the JJ Abrams mystery box, basically you sjust have to deal with it, not his problem. But if they had intelligence, they would have realized it made Luke look like a coward, a quitter, and killing Han Solo was one thing, but killing him like a dog is unforgivable. JJ Abrams, he never adressed these serious plot issues, he only adressed the missing Chewie-Leia hug to avoid the important questions.
The rehashed plot of TFA aside, I don’t think the Anakin idea was good as it undermines the dramatic impact of the end of ROTJ.
Pablo Hildalgo says no such thing as a prequel ban. McCaig says yes. Soooo they are all confused?? I think it was pretty obvious in TFA that they shied away from PT stuff. A little sprinkles here and there just to not totally seem dismissive of it but it was all very OT related content. Let’s be honest.. it was better that way.
Pablo talks like a politician and I don’t blame him. If he tells the truth, he loses his job.
I followed him and twitter and I’m pretty sure he hates TFA as much as I do but just act like he doesn’t because obviously he loves his job
Lol…all your comments are so full of BS that you need wings to fly above it
I’m not sure he hates TFA, Don’t put words into someone elses mouth.
They clearly shied away from certain aspects — Gungans, midichlorians, prophecies, etc. but if they’d wanted to de-canonize the prequels entirely we wouldn’t be getting Saw Gerrera in Rogue One or continuity ties in Rebels or, you know, “balance of the Force” in the opening lines of TFA.
Adding Saw Gerrera in the canon is just a dog biscuit thrown at unwordly fanboys
Let me guess…
https://i.imgflip.com/16rlvn.jpg
Saw Gerrera isn’t a PT character, and he isn’t appearing in a Saga movie. I think cartoon links are really only for the more hardcore fans. It’s not like something specifically created for the PT has been overtly taken and included in TFA.
Let’s be real here, in your myopic view of the Star Wars galaxy you think TFA was better that way. In reality it wasn’t better, but nor was it entirely unexpected.
Being that the ST takes place chronologically after the OT (and thus is more closely related to the OT than the PT) it was not surprising that the OT would have more of an influence on the ST. The truth is there are many great elements form the PT that could have been included in the TFA (and the ST in general) which would only have enhanced the film (and can still enhance the ST).
It probably was better, and certainly better in terms of fan reception. But I’m not convinced they needed to distance themselves quite to the extent they did, which is almost as if the PT never happened.
We all know that Episode VII went into pre-production before the Disney sale and Lucas sold a detailed treatment for the ST to Disney. Bob Iger confirmed this. Lucasfilm confirmed this. Can we start reporting this properly please? Nobody in the production can point to anything in TFA that was Lucas’ idea except a male and female. That doesn’t even count as an idea. Please.
Ye, even Jett Lucas said that his dad started writing the new SW a year before selling to Disney. It’s only after George signing that Kathleen Kennedy revealed her true ugly face.
George changed his stories up until the moment of shooting and even after principal photography started. So even George doesn’t know what he really would have made.
But we know that JJ Abrams made shit, unfortunately.
That’s just your opinion. I thought TFA was great. And, I have very good taste. Perhaps it’s your opinions that are shit.
“I have very good taste”.
Surely taste is in the eye of the beholder?
Not sure I would call it a “clusterfuck by committee”. The movie is still entertaining. But it’s “playing it safe”, “Star Wars paint by numbers” approach is obvious to anyone wanting to be remotely objective and honest about it. It’s absolutely clear they sat down and thought “let’s give the fans something that feels just like the OT” with the express intention of fostering acclaim from those fans and general audience members that felt the prequels were far too different in tone from the OT. I can understand why they did that, but I think they took it a little too far to the extent that TFA exhibits creative cowardice. It’s recycling of the past is just too heavy. It needed just a little more creativity IMO to have been a genuine worthy OT follow up. If you look at TESB and ROTJ, they are far more creatively daring and different from the movies they followed in terms of plot and design. In contrast TFA feels as if someone sat down and said “how can we make this risk free”?
And as much of a bummer as that is, (I loved TFA, but more originality in Star Wars would always be welcome) I think the movie was exactly what it needed to be to excite the world about Star Wars movies again in 2015. Not to excite fans, we were already on board, but the general masses. Risk-free was the way to make it the financial and critical success that it was. And now that it’s proven to be such a success, they can get creative. Think of it like the approach pop artists take when they’re trying to gain traction in the industry. You start off playing it safe with harmless, simple music. Then when you have a fan base, you get more creative because you’ve already gotten people’s attention.
It’s not ideal, but it’s how entertainment works these days.
I’m sure there is no official “ban” anywhere in the lucasfilm contracts, its more an unofficial desire to avoid backlash. There will always be a throwaway line to keep prequel fans like me happy, but thats not the same thing. I hope eventually it settles into a happy medium. I don’t want tons of prequel references crammed in because that wouldn’t make sense (plus nobody wants jar jar!), but I would hope that Kathleen & co. are smart enough not to throw away beautiful locations or good future story ideas just because we don’t like the movies they were introduced. I would hate to see the spirits of yoda and obi-wan show up in ep. 8 and they are like “oh sorry luke, your fathers ghost is still mad at you for killing him so he didn’t show up today”
So basically, there was an official unofficial ban on Prequel stuff.
That sucks and I hope Disney does not take the route again.
Weird b/c we got the Kanan comic and Obi Wan and Anakin…so what ban?
For all we know, it may just relate to the films.
For all we know…wait, we actually know nothing!
Smartypants! You know full well it’s just an expression.
I’m sure the “ban” was mainly in relation to the movies. It doesn’t take a genius to work out why, given the divisive nature of the prequels.
And yet in in the first 3 lines, they mention the Force being in balance, which is strictly a prequel concept. Again, what ban?
Notice I put ban in quotation marks. I don’t think there was an actual ban, but I think it is entirely credible that there was an intentional distancing from the prequels. Hell, they even removed all o the prequel flag references from Maz’s castle. So I think it’s pretty weak sauce to be relying on one line about balance and a barely audible McGregor line as proof of them having no intention to move away from the PT.
I know you weren’t saying there is a ban. But I don’t see anything from Disney distancing the prequels, especially since we are seeing Ashoka in Rebels and now Clone Wars characters appearing in Rogue One.
As for the flags, JJ said, ““I don’t want to be too about podracers,” he says. “I’d rather come up with our stuff.”
Which makes sense. He left some and then they made up new stuff. That’s not distancing from the prequels, that’s just trying to make the world seem larger.
The line about balance is just one small line, but the balance was a HUGE part of the prequels prophecy and if Disney were trying to distance itself, they would have asked LFL to remove or change that line.
And again, they are making prequel comics (including young Anakin!) and Disney Infinity also focused on the prequel characters as well.
It’s a given that Disney is trying to recapture the popularity and cultural relevance that Star Wars had during the OT. But that doesn’t mean they are ignoring the PT.
One addition: Darth Maul in Rebels…not exactly distancing…sounds like embracing to me!
What point is there to referencing the prequels in this timeline? I seriously don’t get it
Continuation? Otherwise why even both with having Luke, Han and Leia, and other aspects of the original when it could of been set without reference to them?
Well, when you have a main villain that worships Vader, I will find it weird if they purposely avoid mentioning Anakin at all because of PT bad memories.
Especially when Lor San Tekka himself references the PT with the balance of the Force for seemingly no purpose so far, as it had no relevance for the TFA storyline.
Anakin and Vader are two different people, basically. Anakin has no bearing now.
So the history of Anakin Skywalker and his transformation from Jedi to Sith in III and his redemption in VI has no bearing to the one person in the galaxy that basically wants to be him? What’s fueling his admiration then?
He admires Vader, and only Vader.
Source: What we know.
Yea..we need more info!! I wonder if Luke sat Ben down and told him everything he knew as soon as he found out about his lineage..or if he just went searching for answers and maybe the wrong person (Snoke) gave him what he wanted..
Hey, you wanted to know about the Jedi Council music, right? I asked Kristian and he said that it’s an original music.
His actions once he became Vader, obviously. He doesn’t care about Anakin. He probably thinks Anakin was foolish and weak UNTIL he became Vader. But we don’t know what he thinks so…wait and see.
Because the ST is an opportunity to blend the established history from two prior trilogies, and weave them together to create an established continuity in the GFFA. It can also be the door to many possibilities story wise. That’s why.
“What point is there to referencing the prequels in this timeline?” – – – simply because, love it or hate it, the PT is in-lore history, and ought to be referenced in some manner ; and as someone else suggests here’s a golden opportunity to blend the PT and OT more.
“Iain McCaig is no longer working at Lucasfilm,” …and neither is J.W. Rinzler. Who else?!?!
McCaig’s style was very prequelly. Lots of Art Nouveau inspired stuff. Not the best in designing for the classic Star Wars look.
Anyone who goes against the corporate mentality at Disney.
Disney is running by narrow minded little rats that only care about maximum box office results in the shortest time possible. These people are bankers and haven’t created anything ever, they only capitalize on other people’s work.
No one cares
You’re no one
Lol….then neither are you.
They’re giving us real Star Wars movies again for the first time sine 1983 that aren’t cringe-inducing stupidity. They’ve hired plenty of talented and creative people and performers who put in a tremendous amount of effort and energy into creating quality films.
Who decides what is a “real” Star Wars movie?
I would’ve thought that Lucas would be the first to have the right to determine that.
I’m speaking for myself. When you have 3 great movies that establish what Star Wars is, then follow it up with 3 insultingly bad and stupid movies, you fail to meet the standard set that made the originals so popular.
Well, to some they ,may be “insultingly bad and stupid”, but the fact is that the prequels have a whole generation of fans that grew up with them. Those kids weren’t alive when we saw the OT. So they will inevitably have a nostalgia factor for them that we don’t.
That doesn’t make them suck any less. It only explains why they like them – because they saw them as kids and didn’t know any better, and now, as adults, pretend they were good by jumping through hoops to defend them.
The fans grow up. The films don’t.
The two trilogies were distinctly different and can be judged as films without nostalgia being a factor. And in nearly every way, the originals were exceedingly better films and the prequels were lackluster films.
The Anakin/Vader force ghost idea is interesting, but I see a problem with it. Why would Yoda and Obi Wan have Anakin provide guidance to Luke, when Anakin was feeling the pull of the dark side? I know he was redeemed in ROTJ, but if he was struggling to keep from falling back, why would they let him influence Luke? Why wouldn’t Yoda and Obi Wan be guiding Luke instead, preventing any negative influence? Doesn’t make sense to me. The only way it would work is if Anakin was influencing Luke without Yoda and Obi Wan knowing, in which case I think Anakin would have to be fully back on the dark side to be so deceitful and nefarious.
Agreed. Plus it go against Lucas’s line of the Jedi can be force-spirits, but the Sith can’t and as such seek immortality in the flesh. Most likely why the concept was dropped, as Vader couldn’t exist as a force-spirit aspect of Anakin.
The one way they could get away with it is that in the scene that Kylo Ren is speaking to Vaders helmet, Anakin appears to warn him about the Dark Side but Kylo is so far gone he see’s Anakin as the Vader/Anakin hybrid.
I like that, can picture Anakin’s force spirit with Vader’s helmet in the background so the head of the spirit overlaps.
It also completely undermines the dramatic impact of Vader’s redemption in ROTJ.
The artstation concept art contest from ILM is strict about no prequel references or influences whatsoever, only episodes 4-6, and are grounds for disqualification.
It is not strict about that, the contest only wants 4-6 because the Rogue One movie coming out soon is a lead in to ANH, Of course they would want to focus on OT.
Here’s a quote from announcements: Remember submissions for this challenge must fit the aesthetic of Episodes 4-6. Mixing places and things from other episodes or completely going outside the aesthetic may result in a submission that does not meet the challenge instructions. (Even if they look great) Keep this in mind as the challenge nears the end.
I’m sure contestants aren’t going to run out and use prequel imagery after reading that.
There is absolutely NOTHING on that page listing that says it’s a cause for disqualification. They do NOT say “Don’t send us art with prequel references”
What you need is to find someone else who attended and cross-check 🙂
As Anakin was the chosen one, the force-ghost concept is entirely possible as he isn’t a ‘conventional life-form’.
He’s also a Jedi, which means the “Sith can’t be force ghosts” thing surely wouldn’t apply to him.
That said, I don’t like the idea of an Anakin ghost wrestling with the dark side and dragging Luke down. It would undermine the ending of ROTJ.
I feel Ep. 7 already undermined Luke’s heroics. As of now Look was an epic failure of a Jedi, literally failing to build the order up to bring peace to the galaxy again. He failed and decided to hide out while a genocidal menace grew into a force capable of killing billions with one single laser.
I have to disagree. Nobody said restoring the Jedi Order would be easy. We are in part one of a three part story. If Rey is to be the new Luke and if the trilogy follows the same pattern, then it is entirely possible that Rey will help Luke restore the Jedi Order and, thus making Rey to Luke what Luke was to Anakin, and also thus fulfilling the aim of restoring the Jedi by having Rey be the first true new Jedi.
So I think we need to see the whole story before we can say Luke was a failure.
Ultimately, Luke kind of has to fail in a sense so we can continue the story. He can’t be a perfect mentor and also have a galaxy expansive drama and conflict. He was always going to have to fail in some way – as a mentor or as a father.
Unless we start out after Luke’s dead.
Part of becoming a force ghost involves conquering your dark side, which is one of the many reasons why Sith cannot become one. Anakin overcame his dark side when he sacrificed himself to save his son.
Lucas only told Filoni why Anakin can become a force ghost, and he keeps cock teasing us about it. I doubt we’ll get an answer to force ghost Anakin anytime soon.
I still fully support the distance to the PT in the new movies. I don’t find that it hurts considering the OT already feels quite separate from them and they took place much closer to those events. So it’s not crazy to think the NT is even further from it.
Personally I feel the opposite. I think the attempt to distance TFA from the PT further makes the PT feel out of place and orphaned.
I think that could’ve been helped by including, for instance, the odd dialogue reference or background alien. Notice that in TFA none of the background aliens from either the PT or OT were featured and that felt a bit strange to me.I think that in the cantina scene in might have been nice to see a couple of aliens in the background that were common to both the PT and OT (and, indeed, the now canon animated shows), like Twi’Leks and Rodians. I think that and a few dialogue references to some of the less contentious elements of the prequels would’ve gone someway to making it feel like they weren’t trying to pretend the PT didn’t happen.Unfortunately the move to do the oppsite feels like they are in denial that the movies exist and are part of the canon, and it also, frankly, feels like a bit of a middle finger insult to Lucas.
It probably doesn’t help I’m ok with all of that lol… I’m a PT hater to be clear. I do agree that familiar aliens would have been a nice touch. Though I feel they wanted to make it clear that the galaxy is vast…
Still if humans have spread to every corner surely there are other races on par with that population.
I’m just torn. In some ways… yeah it would be nice if a lot of post content could make the PT more palatable… but I try to watch them again… and I immediately would rather just not include them. I personally don’t. I just can’t think of Anakin’s story to have played out like that. At least when I’m watching the saga etc…
I’m not a prequel hater. But Episode III is the only one I can watch without frustration. But I just feel that there are out there. They are part of George’s vision for the SW universe and therefore to orphan them off only serves to make them seem even more jarring and out of place for people going back and seeing them for the first time after watching TFA.
I suppose what I’m saying is let’s just accept these are part of the story and get on with it. I really don’t think that an audience would be put off by a few prequel references if the overall movie was good.
bad reporting
It’s too bad they strayed so far from the prequels because those were mostly great stories. Force Awaken could have used the good part of them, like powerful Jedi, explanation of political environment, and the sure strength of the Skywlker blood. And they could scrap the kid like droid army, blah.
I hope they use the Vader idea and stress that the ST is a completion of the PT and OT. Whatever Rey is, Kilo Ren is another wheel in the Skywalker legacy.
I hated that they played it safe with Ep. 7. But I’ll hate it more if Kylo is the remaining legacy of the Skywalker blood, and Rey isn’t a Skywlker. I certainly hope she is setting up an epic Skywalker v Skywalker final battle.
Prequels mostly great stories – no, not by any traditional or reasonable or likeable or standards. I get that you like them, good for you but even fans of those movies couldn’t seriously be against them being remade with the full resources of Disney behind them. They couldn’t but be a major improvement.
What is so great about the prequel stories? It’s about how one politician manipulates the stupidest people in the galaxy to achieve power, by means of tricking an even more stupid person to betray his order on a promise that can’t even be fulfilled in the time he needs it to.
You again. See you’re just proving you can’t admit John Williams scores for all of the prequels are better than TFA because you don’t like the prequels. If you’ve ever read Othello by Shakespeare you’ll quite clearly see parallels between it and ROTS in particular. Its much better than what we got with TFA anyway, which was a sub par retelling of ANH.
And you obviously have nostalgia for all things prequel-related, which influences your opinion. The prequels were lazily-written nonsensical garbage. You must be another clueless millennial who desperately tries to defend those piles of crap because you saw them as a kid and didn’t know any better at the time. These movies have been taken apart six ways to Sunday for how everyone in them acts like a complete idiot, about how nothing what they do makes any sense whatsoever, and how boring and dull they are, with no likable characters, horrendous acting and dialogue and god-awful CGI overkill. TFA was received exceedingly better by critics and the public than the cringe-inducing prequel stupidness, and it brought Star Wars back after it was driven off a cliff.
What’s the story in TFA? Oh, right. There isn’t one.
Same story as ANH, a good film.
A group of resistance fighters attempt to track down a missing Jedi Knight before a dangerous dark side user does. Sorry that was over your head.
Not a chance Rey is a Skywalker, unfortunately
Strange way for Disney to unite the fanbase by ignoring the Prequels and their fans. Seems to me the best thing for Disney to do would’ve been to quash all the hate for them by throwing their full support behind what George Lucas had created. Now all they’ve done is legitimized all the disgusting invective towards him and shown they’ve no regard or respect for his work. But thats fine so long as they profit from what he’s done I guess.
Amen. Preach it brother.
Throwing the Prequels under the Bus was the BEST decision Disney made regarding these NEW Films. The Prequels are a BAD memory for most of the fanbase.
Only best for the loud & nasty butthurt fanboy part of the base.
Real world “normals”? Not at all.
Keep telling yourself that.
The prequels are part of Star Wars and that’s just all there is to it.
I have no trouble at all seeing the prequels all over TFA in word, deed and characters, the story, the situations etc etc.
The reason? It’s all Star Wars. Over and again I saw the prequels in TFA because of two characters. Rey and Kylo Ren.
For anyone to pretend that those two are not directly pulled from aspects
of Anakin (plus Padme) is simply fooling themselves. The end duel
between them pulls so many elements from the prequels via PT duels I
thought I was watching a flashback. Then add in the entire Kylo and Han
scene. What does it most play out like? Anakin and Padme in ROTS.
So the prequels were very well represented in TFA both visually
and in JW’s score. The visual poem moments in TFA were also very much in
the PT style as well. The First Order troopers were very much based on
the Clonetroopers. I could go on and on but to pretend that the prequels
were ignored might make some sad fans feel better but they are just
fooling themselves in the extreme.
I’ve thought Maz’s image being pulled from TPM was very interesting. Maybe JJ pulled this tiny scrap out of the PT, so Disney wouldn’t realize, or maybe this is some kind of preordained bit of knowledge that came from Lucas himself. Probably the former.