Return of Darth Vader? My Interest in the New Star Wars Has Just Plummeted

There is a rumour that Darth Vader may be resurrected for Star Wars Episode 7.

If this is true, then apparently I was a moron about being optimistic about the new trilogy.  Because resurrecting Darth Vader so that he can be an integral part of the new franchise is a slightly better idea than making it a heartwarming tale about Jar Jar Bink's descendent scouring the galaxy for true love.

The reason they want to bring back Vader is apparently based off the fact that someone believes the entire series is about him.

This is an excellent argument, if it wasn't for the fact it is full of shit.

The prequels are all about the Anakin Skywalker story.  I won't dispute that.  If you watch the original Star Wars film you'd have a hard time thinking Vader is the focus of the narrative.  I'm not entirely convinced George Lucas even knew that Vader was Luke's father when filming the first (and he definitely didn't know Leia was going to be Vader's daughter until the third film).  The original trilogy wasn't written as a tale about Vader, because he wasn't supposed to be the central character.  His redemption story was entirely reserved for the third film, and that was really the first film you could see him as more than just the antagonist of the series (with the Emperor taking over that role).

The new trilogy doesn't need Vader.  To be honest, it doesn't need any of the original characters.  Or at least, they shouldn't be the main focus.  They can be there to pass the torch to the new blood, but it shouldn't be their story.  They had things nicely wrapped up in Return of the Jedi.

If Star Wars is to become a franchise with a different film every 3 years or so, then the universe needs to expand.  It needs new characters to help continue the series.  The franchise is going to be in a lot of trouble if Star Wars is nothing more than the Anakin Skywalker story.

I'm not saying that he shouldn't be in it at all.  I'm fine with him as a ghost.  It has been established that Jedis become blue spirits after death.  A cameo from ghost Anakin is cool.  The story can't be about him.  The less lines that Anakin has is the better (especially if they opt to have Hayden Christensen return).  There really isn't anything compelling or left to be said about the Anakin story.  Plus there has never been any sign that a Jedi can rise from the dead.  No one has shown the power to raise the dead either.  If they could, it would have been rather helpful if Obi Wan Kenobi and Yoda did that right after Revenge of the Sith.  This resurrection would muck up canon more than the prequels did, and it would serve absolutely no purpose.  Well, it would allow Disney to sell Zombie Anakin dolls, but I need to stop giving them horrid ideas to make money.

At this point, this seems to be nothing more than a rumour.  There isn't going to be any confirmation of this until Christensen gets rehired or the marketing material starts coming out.

Plus even if this is the plan, the studio still has a chance to realize it is awful.  They can scrap the current putrid script that suggests this idea, and then start making a Star Wars that people want to pay money to see.

Don't get me wrong, Disney.  I want to give you money for this.

I am practically begging you to give me something that I can throw money at.  I want to love this.  I want to spend a ticket for the premiere night, and then buy another the next week to take my kid.  I want this to be a movie that reminds me how much I loved this series in my childhood.  I want to be someone that helps you make billions of dollars.

I'm just needing a reason.

Zombie Anakin is not the reason.  We don't need any more parallels to Jesus Christ.  The virgin birth was enough.  Besides, I don't remember the "Christ needs a breathing apparatus and chokes generals with his mind" period of his life.  The analogy to a major religious figure dies pretty quick.

Keep Darth Vader's corpse on Endor, and make a fresh and awesome Star Wars.  The draw to the film has never been one character, but rather the entire rich and imaginative universe.

Comments

  1. Agreed with all of the above. I'm mainly just worried about how it will fit in with all of the books. The story has been expanded through to about 30 years after Return of the Jedi last time I checked, including a lot of fascinating characters and storylines, so I hope that this doesn't destroy that entire universe by trying to throw something else in the middle of the timeframe.

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  2. I sense that even if the trilogy is amazing that it will muck up with the expanded universe. The only way it won't, will be if they jump ahead 30 or more years. Even then, it means it is jumping off what the books have created rather than the more mainstream films. It would be nice if the filmmakers don't screw with all the hard and appreciated work of the authors, but my faith in that happening is incredibly low. This doesn't mean the new trilogy won't still be great, even if fanboys everywhere will write nasty things on the internet.

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  3. Exactly. If they try not to mess with the expanded universe, they need to explain who all these new characters and what all these new plots are 30+ years in the future. If they don't and try to shove it in between some of those existing plots, there's really no way to do it without losing some consistency between the different stories. And that's something I've always loved about the books - even with multiple authors, they are amazingly consistent in their overarching stories as well as their fine details. I'm sure I'm in the same boat as you, probably going to like it no matter what, but I am a little worried about how they'll negotiate that aspect.

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