There are some mild potential spoilers here for Rogue One and speculation about the sequel A New Hope.
By now everyone on the Internet knows that Disney’s brilliant Rogue One will have the sequel set up by the end of this blockbuster. For those of us who were thrilled with Disney returning to their roots that began with The Black Hole and the billions of dollars that the series made for the studio, are delighted to see a new direction for Disney.
For many of us Black Hole and the six sequels shaped our childhood and helped reboot science fiction. It is easy to forget that Disney at the time was in trouble after the death of Walt Disney. The silver age of animation being ushered in by Ron Miller, including classics like The Little Mermaid, might never have been made. Miller faced serious corporate trouble, but the merchandising of Black Hole . . . most of us owned a Maximilian or V.I.N.CENT robot toy…and the money made saved the company and Miller’s job.
Yet it is the very success of the Black Hole prequels that worries me. Disney has done something new with Rogue One and introduced us to a whole new world . . . the violent and dark world of Star Wars.
The things that made Rogue One so good must be maintained in the sequel, operating under the name A New Hope, but the signs are not promising
For fans, it is hard to admit the limits of even the original Black Hole, but some of those problems only increased with time. Rogue One represents a new departure (much due) for Disney science fiction. Here are six things A New Hope must avoid.
George Lucas and his temptation to relive his childhood ala American Graffitti.
George Lucas has a long history of reliving the movies of his childhood. It is easy to imagine him turning the dark 21st century sensibility of Rogue One into the space opera films (Buck Rodgers!) of his childhood. It is odd that Disney would turn such potential over to a filmmaker with so few science fiction chops.
The development of “cutesy robots” that undercut the seriousness of the series.
We don’t need another V.I.N.CENT and his cute “made for kids” voice. K-2SO was a new departure for Disney, a wisecracking battle droid made for grownups, not a Happy Meal. The risk, however, was seen in a brief and unnecessary shot in Rogue One where a Laurel and Hardy robot pair (one gold and tall, the other a Harpo of sounds) are shown chatting.
Star Wars is (obviously) a war and needs to look like one.
The appropriation of pieces of “Eastern” religion to use in a film.
Rogue One did not depend on the mysterious “Force,” but as the film progressed, there was a greater emphasis on it. Lazy filmmakers are always tempted to a “ying/yang” power that must be balanced. Disney has gone there in any number of films, including the final sequences of The Black Hole. Mystery religions lead to bad writing.
A disturbing downgrade in cast quality.
Rogue One works so well because the actors can pull off the often absurd science-fiction lines. Voice and game actor Mark Hamill has had a fine career in gaming voice overs and cartoon work, but he lacks the chops of the Rogue One cast. The shot of him in a stormtrooper’s uniform is promising. Has he betrayed the empire?
Best news is the casting of the roguish British legend Sir Alec Guinness in the mysterious role of a friend to “Skywalker.” Some have speculated he may be the “other” mentioned by Organa in Rogue One. If he plays his normal role, he will carry much of the sexual tension in the new film. One assumes little known actor Harrison Ford (?) will act as the straight arr0w contrast to the devil-may-care Guinness.
A temptation to give us a pre-packaged happy ending.
Grand Moff Tarkin and his backstory should be the focus of the next film as he dominated Rogue One with his weird presence. Yet marketing will be tempted to make something of the toy-like plastic “Darth Vader.” Partly this “masked man” can be immortal from a studio point of view, never aging like human actors. They should resist the temptation.
The dark ending of Rogue One is what separates Rogue One from the Black Hole series. This is a star war and not a fairy tale in space. Disney and Lucas must avoid the temptation to make something else out of what might be a brilliant series.
The temptation to destroy the Death Star.
Rogue One foreshadows a flaw in the awesome power of the Death Star. The foreshadowing is so strong that a simple minded writer will be tempted to destroy the machine. They should not. The Death Star was a character in the film, just as Enterprise was a character in the little remembered Star Trek (a 1960’s television program that had some influence on The Black Hole).
One promising “still” shows The Death Star looming over a planet and Grand Moff Tarkin ordering planetary annihilation. This is what a 21st century audience needs: the failure of politics and the bleakness of “heroes.”
Disney has a chance to do something special with the sequel to Rogue One. If Star Wars: A New Hope continues the dark, cynical, war centered 21st century vision of science fiction, then we might get many more films and the struggling Disney empire might get a new lease on life. Walt and Ron would want it.
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This just for fun alternate history of science fiction. Imagine if Rogue One, were the first Star Wars film. Merry Christmas!
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