Why Do Fans Want to See the Original Cast in the New Star Wars?

I’m not sure I am obsessed with the original cast being there, per se, but, let’s face it, there were really no interesting characters created in the last three Star Wars movies. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia are iconic, whereas Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, and… basically every other new character they created… not so much. Through those movies, I wished they had picked a young actor to play Han Solo as some young hoodlum trying to survive in this world, and it did not matter if Harrison Ford played him, just to see a familiar face beyond C3PO and R2D2. All I ask is that whatever characters they create for this next Star Wars, just make them characters I care about. I would assume they would be the children of Han and Leia and Luke and whatever girl he ended up hooking up with, so, yes, I could see the three of them appearing as parents to the next generation of heroes. In the end, just make characters I care about.

You have to have Hamill return the others can go fly a kite. Ford has wanted to kill Han solo since the first movie, he has always begged Lucas to kill off the character. I would. Leia is a Jedi master now, she could sit on the new orders council with Luke, and you could have all manner of younger actors in their to attract the teeny crowd. even a new story after Luke rebuilds the order then you can make any story you like with most of the old cast of twilight if you like. you just have to have a mark Hamill in their somewhere.

It’s called continuity, but it can also be a passing of a torch to see the original characters pass on their legacy to a bunch of new characters.

 It’s a typo.  The only reading that makes sense in the paragraph is “wouldn’t be interested”

Exactly- all three have stated that they would be more than happy to reprise their roles in the new film. The bias present in this article is the reason why I cannot take him serious, andI doubt I’ll read any more articles from him on any topic. Me? I’ll at the very least wait until I see a trailer for Episode VII before I start douching it out at Lucas and Disney. Until then, I’m still as happy as a kid on christmas.

haha….yeah, i was thinking the same thing. what is this author talking about. all of the actors just recently said they’d be interested in reprising their roles. in other news, all of the directors they’ve asked so far did not want to take on this project.

 It’s Graeme McMillan, so, uh, yes.

I definitely want to see the return of Luke: at the end of RotJ, he had the task of rebuilding the Jedi order.  I’d like to see a reinvented one where the Jedi aren’t a bunch of loveless, celibate assholes.

I only hope that Star Wars will handle the passing of the torch from old cast to new better than Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek 10.

 Episode 1 Amidala is iconic. Just by the impact of the visual.

We want to see them because we associate those characters with those actors. Those actors WERE those characters. Why do we refer to Arnold’s character in Schwartzengger movies as “Arnold”?

Plus, after seeing X3 and previews for the new Tron (haven’t seen the movie) we have the ability to de-age actors through special effects. So, why not?

You could argue Mace Windu, but mostly because he’s played by Samuel Jackson. I’d say Jar Jar had become iconic in his own way…as an example of what NOT to do.

I would also say seeing the old characters pass the torch to the next generation is an endorsement of the new characters. The prequels didn’t have that luxury. 

I’m not a fan of the prequels, by any stretch of the imagination. But they do now set a precedent, as Obi Wan and Annakin are in all 6 (albeit played by different actors).  So, it would be keeping with tradition to have characters from the middle trilogy carry over to the next.

I’m not sure I see the problem; it just requires a little thought in how to approach these characters thirty years later:

Fisher easily can play a Mon Mothma type that lays down the major “Empire” plot beat of the movie (just like in Return of the Jedi), Hamill is the Yoda figure who trains the new folks Episode VII is sure to bring along (and perhaps has to save them at the end of VII with a grand gesture; the easy route here could be to hobble Luke from helping in the action sequences by writing in a line about injuries he sustained over the years, although the Yoda parallels may be a little too strong there), and Ford could go a number of ways, not the least of which is a sort of “Heat” action/subterfuge sub-plot where he could match wits against someone still in the smuggling business . . .like another elder statesman of the screen . . .perhaps Jeremy Irons? It’s not like Harrison Ford can’t act, y’ know?

Cast Irons as a Talon Karrde type . . . he could be in cahoots with what’s left of the Empire, and there’s your basic plot set-up. Hell, maybe they borrow C’boath and Thrawn from the Zahn books for the Empire / big “dark jedi” baddies. Ian McKellen could get his dork on again as C’boath . . .how cool would *that* be?

For dramatic interest, and to make Ford happy, you could even have Solo die at the end of Episode VII to give the new characters (especially if one is a Solo offspring) something to grab onto for Episode VIII.

There are many ways things could go wrong . . .but, I know this: the end of Toy Story 3 was more powerful to me than a great many other “adult” movies claim to be. Yes, the prequels were “meh”, but I think this could be something great if it’s handled correctly. After all, the Mouse managed to do Marvel justice, right?

I get where the article is coming from . . .but think about the people in these six films, and the common threads. Fisher, Hamill and Ford (among others) deserve the chance to help frame these new films.

I’m hard pressed to argue against twenty minutes or half an hour of this new film helping to tie up what we’ve all been hoping for since getting out of the theaters in 1983. :)

I would argue that Darth Maul, Qui Gon Jinn, Queen Amadala, and (love him or hate him) Jar Jar Binks are all iconic in their own way, in that they represent things.  It may just be that you don’t like what they represent.

Can you write a sentence without using the word “I,” you narcissistic hack?

I’m pretty sure they’ll the original cast will get the job. Personally I’m all for a recast. If Star Trek can do so can Star Wars. That way you can continue the adventures of Luke,Han, and Leia only a few years after ROTJ. You can watch Luke search for force gifted people like himself. You could watch Leia come to terms with Anakin being her father, being trained as a Jedi, or having the kids. Han could still be of some use, and Boba could be resurrected to continue their feud. So many more possibilites. Still I’m sure they’ll go with the geriatrics. Which I’m not totally against, but I just worry about how they’ll be used. I believe they’ll have bigger roles than cameos, how can they not? People will expect these old character to actually be apart of the plot, not just little nostalgic touches. And what of the new characters? Any new hero’s, sons or dauthers, or whatever have to be spot on. If not then they’ll be overshadowed by the Big 3 and friends. Which then causes the audience to be pissed that they were stuck with these uninteresting people, while the original hero’s did next to nothing. Disaster. Not to mention the amount of exposistion that the audience will have to sit through just so they can be up to date over what has happened over the last 40 years. Michael Arndt has a job on his hands.

Jar Jar Binks is iconic… but for all of the wrong reasons…

I am sooo torn about this.  There is a part of me that wants to see the original core return, but I want to see Luke become the BA Jedi Knight and Master that we read about in the books.  I don’t look at Mark Hamill and think “action star”

Ummm I’d say a popular majority loved Bucky as Cap and Dick as Batman. So yes it doesn’t work most of the time, but it does work some of the time.

It’s a freaking movie.As long as it rocks who cares what they do with it.One problem with this is Disney sucks and there is no way they will ever pull anything off that is remotely worthwhile.And Lucas is laughing all the way to the bank.

Lenoard Nimoy was in his late 1970s when he appeared in the 2009 Star Trek movie and while his role was smaller than the new cast it wasn’t exactly a mere cameo either.  With a bit of imagination it can be easy enough to give them supporting roles.  Heck, lots of 60-year-olds are pretty spry (witness Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz); maybe you can start with a young crew, but have them defeated. Then cut to Luke, Han, and Leia sighing and deciding to show the young people how it’s done.

Reminiscing like this is why movies suck these days.

Obi Wan and Yoda were how old in the original trilogy? And yet these characters were pretty damn important to that story.  For Luke and Leia it makes total sense for them to be involved if the story involves Jedi.  And since Han Solo and Leia are a pair, it makes sense for him to be there too.  Now if they throw EVERYONE in it’ll be a little much, I agree (I could do with some Lando though, I’m not gonna lie about that one).  But Luke and Leia as older mentors to the newbiles ain’t far off the mark.

Honestly, I don’t have a problem with something bordering on cameos by the originals. Even a plot point that ends up in Solo being killed off if done correctly. But I certainly can’t imagine they would build the sequel around them. They need to pass the torch to a new series of conflicts. Lucas always said the third set would concern a drastic threat to the new republic. The originals would be perfect seasoning, just not the main course.