What Could Have Been: George Lucas' SEQUEL Trilogy

I think George at least would've had a much more consistent overarching story to his trilogy. It wouldn't have been entirely made up as it went along by a pair of combative filmmakers who were constantly undercutting each others' creative decisions.

The Lucas vision is much better than what we actually got. A lot more interesting concepts instead of recycled storylines.

The senate scenes in the prequels were well done. Palpatine's plot was devious and realistic. "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause" is an iconic line.

Marcia Lucas said it best in regards to Disney's crappy sequels..."It sucks." 100% spot on.

What’s so strange about the sequel trilogy is that it very much to me felt like episodes 10, 11 & 12. Like we missed a whole trilogy involving Luke rebuilding the Jedi and Ben Solo’s fall to the dark side. Ironically the backstory of Force Awakens was what many people were really interested in.

Correction: Lucas wasn't going to scrap the entire EU, just the parts that contradicted his sequels (with a few notable exceptions, these parts aren't very beloved by the community, I should note). This isn't very surprising, either. He has always refused to acknowledge the EU continuations of his story, he's very consistent about that.

I don't see how it could have been any worse than what we got . At least this has a coherent story arc and is a logical progression of the story .

So here's the thing. George Lucas is an awesome "Big Picture" guy who can put the elements of an epic together. Then someone takes his epic, refines the dialogue, edits the world-building and politics, and walla - a masterpiece. Disney wanted a quick guaranteed return on its investment. Too bad there were too many big egos to get in the way and spoil an epic opportunity at another trilogy.

What they did with Luke in Sequels was unforgivable. Mark Hammil has said as much, he should have walked away but he's too nice a guy.

Maul was/is actually such a dope villain, would've loved to see more of him.

It doesn't have "Somehow, Palpatine returned." and about a thousand planet-destroying starships from UNKNOWN SOURCES and staffed by WHO KNOWS WHO from WHO KNOWS WHERE. It's a massive improvement over what Disney gave us. Episodes 7 and 8 had problems, but I would have forgiven them if episode 9 made any sense whatsoever.

The Zahn books may have some flaws, but I don't think there is an OT fan out there who wouldn't have loved to see his books adapted to the screen, that scene with Luke and the Noghri alone would have been worth it and Thrawn's interactions with Palleon, the scheming and machinations... I truly loved those books and will always be deeply disappointed in the sequels we did get

I agree with Lucas selling the franchise to the highest bidder, pocketing the money, retiring, and spending more time with his family. He had done his part in making great movies.

These ideas are infinitely better than what we got from disney. Even when Lucas’s ideas aren’t well executed (the prequels) the politics are believable and the world building is so interesting that it engrosses you into that universe.

I will be eternally fascinated by what could have been Lucas’ Sequel Trilogy. There are things I love about Disney’s sequel trilogy and there are things I absolutely can’t stand about it (especially in The Last Jedi), but I can’t help but wish we could have seen Lucas’ vision for the rest of his story brought to life. It just feels wrong that he never got to personally wrap up the stories of Luke, Han, and Leia. I can’t help but wonder… how does someone so smart and so business-savvy such as George Lucas NOT contractually guarantee his involvement in the films and simply leaves it up to, “Gee, I hope they’ll let me be involved”??

I think it was fine that Lucas didn't want to direct the sequals. He didn't direct episodes 5 and 6, but was in control of the story telling. I think if he was put into a similar situation, the sequals would have been great.

The core elements were all there - didn't take much to keep the fans engaged. Just having a coherent storyline through each film would have done wonders. Having Luke, Leah and Han be the main leads in all should have been a no-brainer. Can't believe how much Disney ruined this.

If George let others direct, or at least was not surrounded by "yes" men, his sequel trilogy would've worked well. It would've at least been far more consistent than Disney's mess.

now i want these movies 😭

So Lucas might have planned this for years, so my criticism might be unfair, but I am a little tired of them bringing back old characters just to show that their happy ending went in misery instead. I think I should be happy with what we got of Lucas, 6 films that tight in nicely. The new trilogy have great acting, great cinematography, great effects, but the story and consistency is a mess. Thanks for sharing.