EPISODE VII news is only just starting to trickle in, but Disney CEO Bob Iger is keen to make sure we know there’s plenty more STAR WARS to come even while we wait for the main sequel trilogy instalments – confirming that ‘at least three’ spin-off films are in the works.
The spin-offs will be released between EPISODES VII, VIII and IX, with earlier rumours suggesting they’ll each focus on an established character in the existing STAR WARS canon. There’s no official word on who these characters will be, with rumours circulating around Boba Fett and a young Han Solo, but they’re way too obvious.
And what are the chances of a young Han Solo being anything but frustratingly annoying? As both THE PHANTOM MENACE (Anakin) and ATTACK OF THE CLONES (Boba) showed us, demystifying characters with their child selves never works. Besides, who wouldn’t rather see a documentary-style film about the rise of the Bith (the Mos Eisley Cantina band), or a collection of shorts titled ‘THE WILD AND WACKY ADVENTURES OF SALACIOUS CRUMB’?
More STAR WARS is always welcome, but the spin-offs will need to tread a careful path where existing characters are concerned, no matter the subject. With STAR WARS films promised yearly from here on out, expect to see the first spin-off in cinemas in 2016.
STAR WARS: EPISODE VII opens December 18th, 2015, directed by J.J. Abrams. It’ll star John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow, plus original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker.
Source: Variety
