Unless you’ve been hunkered down for winter on the Ice Planet of Hoth for the past two years, you have undoubtedly heard of the much anticipated live-action Star Wars TV series starring none other than Boba Fett.
I write this post in an effort to guard against a resurrection of Jar Jar Binks or any other Lucasisms that might tarnish the series and ruin its potential. I have decided to generate a list of 10 notable science fiction writers or directors who would do a far better job than George Lucas of writing episodes for the new series.
1. Timothy Zahn: The genius behind the Grand Admiral Thrawn trilogy of books. He brought us characters the likes of Mara Jade, Talon Karde, and Grand Admiral Thrawn. It is thanks to books like Heir to the Empire that the Star Wars expanded Universe has developed into what it is today. If I had my pick, Zahn would write both the pilot episode and the season finale.
2. Kevin J. Anderson: This author took the work started by Timothy Zahn and continued in quality fashion with the Jedi Academy Trilogy. He then continued to pop up in other solo novels and as part of several series and comic books in the Star Wars Universe. In addition, I’m sure his wife, Rebecca Moesta, would be a valuable consultant at his disposal considering she has also written many installments in the expanded universe.
3. Kevin Smith: Let’s not forget about comedy. C3PO and R2D2 were the Abbott and Costello of the original trilogy. Also, Han Solo’s constant badgering of Threepio added yet more comic relief to an otherwise serious trilogy. Kevin Smith is the only writer I can think of competent enough in both Science Fiction and Comedy to pull of a much needed funny episode of the series.
4. Stan Lee: He is the father of the Marvel Comic Empire. This one might be a stretch but I think The Hulk throwing a fit is perfect parallel to a Sith Lord channeling his anger through the Dark Side of the Force. Lee has shown over and over again that he can both imagine great characters and write great stories to go along with them.
5. Michael A. Stackpole: Dogfights are a must in this series. Stackpole was author of the X-Wing series that featured some very well written fighter combat sequences. How about an episode with Wedge Antilles going toe to toe with some upstart TIE Fighter Ace with a reputation for vaping Rebel pilots?
6. George A. Romero: Ok, so I have a soft spot for Zombies. But perhaps there might be an episode buried in here. How about some out of the way planet infected with a biological weapon conjured up by the Empire that turned the natives into cannibalistic Zombies? Remember, you need to blast ‘em in the head! Just a thought.
7. Anne Rice: I am sure about this one. Perhaps she could write about some type of Force Wielding life form lurking in the shadows that survives by using the force to drain the life out of unknowing victims just as her famous character, The Vampire Lestat does.
8. M Night Shyamalan: I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the prequels major downfall was the lack of a plot twist such as the one that made the original trilogy such a success. Who better than Shyamalan to write a Science Fiction plot twist. He will have to have a cameo in the episode of course.
9. J. Michael Straczynski: Perhaps another point of contention for many of you but I truly enjoyed the space combat sequences he wrote for Babylon 5. The Star Wars TV series had better feature at least one major Space Fleet battle and Straczynski does an excellent job of infusing contemporary naval battle tactics into a space-faring environment.
10. Dave Wolverton: As the author of the novel The Courtship of Princess Leia, he introduced an new aspect into the Star Wars universe: Amazonian domination. Both the Hapans and the Jedi-like Witches of Dathomir were societies of warrior women who dominated their own male population and held their own against the Empire. This could make for a very interesting episode.
Image Used in this Post
Darth Vader Imperial Logo image courtesy of Flickr user gogen001 published under the CC license.
~Man Overboard
5 Comments
Excellent picks! How about Catherine Saunders, The Story of Darth Vader?
How about me? Because not only would Jar Jar not appear again, but there would be a hideously long torture seen a la Quentin Tarantino in which Jar Jar would “meet his destiny.” (Of course, that scene could be annoying — “Nosa! Don’ta pulla meesa fingernails outs!” Guess the first thing to go would be his voice box.)
And anyone attempting to bring him back would get the crap kicked out them in the meeting room. The idea would never get out of the “planning” stages.
Oh, and lastly, I’d take Joss Whedon over M Night Shyamalan. I’ve only liked “Sixth Sense” — his other stuff has been pretty predictable.
You had up to Anne Rice.
Did you know she has become a born again Christian and is now ashamed of her previous work and wishes she could have it removed from the shelves.
I did a double take when I heard this news.
It would be interesting to see what Stan Lee came up with however again I have concerns after seeing some of his straight to video offerings over the last couple years.
Other than those 2 I got no problems with this list.
Hey jack, is Madonna still set to work on the show?
I haven’t heard anything on top of the original rumor about Madonna in the show