Rumor Patrol: ‘Star Wars 7′ Characters Based on EU; Michael Arndt Writing Episod

[Kham-Ryn Kurios]

Star Wars: Episode 7 is a lot like Batman vs. Superman. Because there isn’t much in the way of official information about the film, all manner of rumors and speculation have popped up and filled the void. Will Benedict Cumberbatch play a Sith? Will Judi Dench (Skyfall) play Mon Mothra? What about Michael Fassbender and Hugo Weaving – are they going to be in the film?

Everything’s pretty tenuous at the moment and will likely stay that way until we hear some official announcements from Disney and Lucasfilm. In the meantime, today we have more Star Wars rumors to dissect – one having to do with the Episode 7 characters being based on those from the Expanded Universe, and another to do with Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) writing Episode 8.

These rumors come courtesy of StarWars7News.com. The first one pertains to EU characters like Mara Jade (Luke Skywalker’s wife), Jaina and Jacen Solo (Han and Leia’s offspring), and Ben Skywalker (Luke’s son) being used as inspiration for the characters in Episode 7. Check it out below:

"Right now they’re looking at using the basic descriptions of EU characters with different names. Luke’s wife will follow the same template as Shira Brie/Mara Jade. Red hair, Green eyes, attitude etc.

The same with the kids of the big three. [...] Jaina will be the inspiration for the Solo daughter, Jacen for the Solo son and Ben for the Skywalker son.  Most of the new characters in the new continuity are based on characters from the old continuity. Fans should not expect to see Kyle Katarn, Corran Horn or Cilghal, but characters who are very much like them.

This can not be made clearer, the post [Return of the Jedi] EU launched in ’91 is dead. No story from Outbound flight forward counts. That’s why Bob Iger said they would use the 17,000 character for inspiration for new characters.  Shira Brie and Mara Jade are the templates for Luke’s wife/Love interest."

So, if true, what does this all mean? That there will be a bunch characters that look and act just like EU characters, but will, for some reason, not have their names? What’s the point of that, exactly?

Well, perhaps it’s as simple as J.J. and company just not liking those names, or maybe the involvement of some of these EU-inspired characters will be minimal. (Placing a major focus on, for example, a Kyle Katarn clone could be a bit redundant, considering he was already sort of a Han Solo clone and Episode 7 will feature the real deal front and center.)



We know from Leland Chee – manager of the Lucasfilm Story Group – that going forward, some of the EU will be in canon and some (probably much) will not. So perhaps there’s some credibility to this story, or perhaps some Star Wars fan took advantage of that news and made up a rumor to go with it.

The second rumor, again, has to do with Michael Arndt. As you’ll recall, Arndt wrote the story treatment for Episode 7 and was initially expected to write the whole script. Instead, J.J. Abrams and The Empire Strikes Back writer Lawrence Kasdan pulled scripting duties. According to StarWars7News, none of this means that Arndt was let go – rather, he’s moved on to writing Episode 8 instead.

Their argument for why there’s validity to this scoop is that Arndt, an Academy Award winner, has yet to move onto another project. That said, Arndt did write the script for Pixar’s upcoming movie, Inside Out (2015), so it’s very possible he’s still doing work on that project.

As always, the veracity of these rumors should be completely suspect until we hear something concrete from director J.J. Abrams, one of the producers, or even just a Lucasfilm PR person. Having said that, what’s your take, Screen Ranters? Do you want new characters to be based on those from the Expanded Universe? Would you like to see Michael Arndt write Episode 8? Drop us a line in the comments.

Star Wars: Episode 7 hits theaters December 18th, 2015.

Sauce: http://screenrant.com/star-wars-episode-7-rumors-mara-jade-eu-characters-michael-arndt-episode-8/

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[srams]

This made me smile!   Even if they are just rumors they are optimistic rumors, I'm not crazy about the name changes, but I'm glad they are starting to realize they need the EU characters to make another good SW trilogy. Sad about Kyle Katarn though. He would be an interesting addition. Although probably not very relevant. Although Kyle would be a good character to have his own movie.

[Aurentis]

With respect, they don't need anything from the EU.  Saying that they need those characters and stories to make another good trilogy is honestly the wrong attitude to have; it's one thing to really want to see the characters on screen, but it's another thing entirely to say that's the ONLY WAY it will be any good.

Stated more bluntly, that statement says that without these characters, the movies will be horrible, and I steadfastly disagree.  The potential to be good or bad exists independent of the presence of EU characters.  They could include the characters and the movies could be awful in every sense of the word -- then, nobody would be happy.

[The 97th Acolyte]

Benedict Cumberbatch would be AMAZING as a Sith Lord! Based upon his role in Star Trek Into Darkness and Sherlock (among others), I think he would just fit in a Sith role...

[kewlkev360]

This is dumb, either decide to use the EU or not.  Don't make a character that is basically Mara Jade and give her a different name.  Either make her Mara Jade or make an entirely new character. 

[srams]

With respect, they don't need anything from the EU.  Saying that they need those characters and stories to make another good trilogy is honestly the wrong attitude to have; it's one thing to really want to see the characters on screen, but it's another thing entirely to say that's the ONLY WAY it will be any good.

Stated more bluntly, that statement says that without these characters, the movies will be horrible, and I steadfastly disagree.  The potential to be good or bad exists independent of the presence of EU characters.  They could include the characters and the movies could be awful in every sense of the word -- then, nobody would be happy.

True, all new characters wouldn't make a bad movie, poor production, writing, direction, and acting would. I feel though, EU characters would make for more happy fans.

 I feel new characters would make a very confusing rift in the SW EU space time continuum.  I hope the writers know what they're doing. But I'm feeling less and less confident.

[ThreadJack]

This is dumb, either decide to use the EU or not.  Don't make a character that is basically Mara Jade and give her a different name.  Either make her Mara Jade or make an entirely new character. 

I'm inclined to agree. If you're going to shower, wash you're whole body, or don't shower at all.

[Zephon]

I'm inclined to agree. If you're going to shower, wash you're whole body, or don't shower at all.

That...that makes sense weirdly. 

Anywho, I agree with a few of the things said here. If they plan to use the EU, then use it. Dont take it, and slightly alter a carbon copy to make it "your's." That's an indirect slap to the face of the fans who would specifically recognize the characters even if they were different. For the people who have only seen the movies or the newcomers of the SW saga, then it'd be fine, but the fans long-term or not, would disagree with it.

Now I won't say that new characters will make the new movies suck, just like I won't say the EU character will make the movies better, it all comes down to the writing, production, and acting. But if they seriously plan to put out a new movie every single year after 2015, they're going to need somewhere to pull ideas from, and that will most definitely be the EU-portion of Star Wars.

[JEStucker]

That...that makes sense weirdly. 

Anywho, I agree with a few of the things said here. If they plan to use the EU, then use it. Dont take it, and slightly alter a carbon copy to make it "your's." That's an indirect slap to the face of the fans who would specifically recognize the characters even if they were different. For the people who have only seen the movies or the newcomers of the SW saga, then it'd be fine, but the fans long-term or not, would disagree with it.

Now I won't say that new characters will make the new movies suck, just like I won't say the EU character will make the movies better, it all comes down to the writing, production, and acting. But if they seriously plan to put out a new movie every single year after 2015, they're going to need somewhere to pull ideas from, and that will most definitely be the EU-portion of Star Wars.

I admit, I haven't kept up with the EU, but even I know Mara Jade married Luke, Han and Leia are married with three kids... Either use these characters or don't... don't make carbon copies and give them different names, you'll just piss everyone off.  Now granted, I think there's an entire Galaxy worth of material to be used without ever even touching on the Skywalker line.  To say the universe revolves around the same 6-12 characters gets a little old when you could effectively show 1,000,000 other heroes of the Republic or Empire.

[Zephon]

I admit, I haven't kept up with the EU, but even I know Mara Jade married Luke, Han and Leia are married with three kids... Either use these characters or don't... don't make carbon copies and give them different names, you'll just piss everyone off.  Now granted, I think there's an entire Galaxy worth of material to be used without ever even touching on the Skywalker line.  To say the universe revolves around the same 6-12 characters gets a little old when you could effectively show 1,000,000 other heroes of the Republic or Empire.

This is very true. They may need to splinter some of the production company into smaller cells, but with the galaxy being as large as it is, they could easily make the Spin-offs without using a EU character by making up new characters in the Star Wars universe. Hell, that's how a portion of the EU has been handled anyways. Relatively, the majority of the Star Wars line though is related to the Skywalker Family in some form or another with the exception of the Darth Bane era and before that in the timeline. I know this is a gross simplification, but my point still stands.