Why Dave Filoni's Star Wars Movie May Be The Sequel Fans Wanted To Have

Three new movies were announced at Star Wars Celebration. A sequel to the sequels featuring Rey, a “Dawn of the Jedi” movie set 25,000 years in the “past” and then we also had an announcement for the Mandoverse crossover event movie, which is meant to be the culmination of all the various series like The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett and possibly also Skeleton Crew on the big screen. It’s very likely that all those shows will culminate in some version of the much loved Thrawn trilogy. And that is exactly the reason why I feel Filoni’s movie may be a love letter to fans, the ultimate fan service. Click through for more!

Jedi Master Luke teaches Grogu

Now some eternally grumpy fans immediately believed that Disney will now appropriate the much loved Thrawn trilogy from the 1990s and bastardize it. However, even though the version we will eventually get will certainly be very different from what Timothy Zahn wrote, both Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have been more than willing to include elements from – what is now – the EU into their shows. In fact, especially Jon Favreau has proven that he is not above giving fans what they want, i.e. “fan service”.

See it like this: any Mandoverse event movie will have to appeal to lots and lots of casual fans out there, and even though Disney+ has a decent number of subscribers, it will not be enough to appeal to just them. Any movie thay will cost anything between $150-$200 million, plus marketing, will have to have a broad appeal and “wow” people. Not just in the US, but also in foreign markets.

Now we know Jon Favreau was not averse to including Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Now imagine this: all the stories in the various Mandoverse series will culminate in this massive, epic last stand by the Empire vs the fledgling New Republic.

Do you really think that it will be only Din Djarin, Bo-Katan, Ahsoka and her rebels and Boba Fett fighting the bad guys on the big screen? Remember, the movie will not be just yet another Disney+ streaming show episode, it will be a proper big budget Hollywood blockbuster.

I think there is a good chance that we may not just get CGI/deepfake Luke, but deepfake Han and even deepfake Leia. I mean, what are the chances that the ONLY proper Jedi Master in the galaxy would completely ignore this massive conflict? What are the chances that heroes from the rebellion that now work for the New Republic would not join one last effort against the entire Imperial Remnant? And that means people like Leia and Han, maybe even Lando.

In short: I think there is a good chance the Dave Filoni movie may be the sequel many fans originally hoped for. A version of the Thrawn trilogy that doesn’t only give us the new heroes, like Din Djarin, but also reunites the alltime greatest team in Star Wars: Luke, Leia and Han. Now it would be a bittersweet all CGI reunion. We already have deepfake Luke in The Mandalorian, with Mark Hamill being on set, but his part played by a double with added CGI. We will get de-aged deepfake Indiana Jones in the upcoming movie, so we know Harrison Ford is absolutely willing to have his CGI alter ego be on screen. And I think Carrie’s estate would not be against a deepfake Leia when it’s a loving hommage to the original Star Wars trio.

Of course this is all just speculation on my part. I could be very, very wrong. But imagine how much PR a movie with the original cast in their deepfaked prime would get, who stand side by side next to Din Djarin, Ahsoka, Boba Fett and others? I think the Thrawn movie, or whatever the Mandoverse movie will be about, is the perfect opportunity for a fan service festival. Any Mandoverse crossover event movie that features the original cast (as CGI) would sell more tickets than merely a glorified Disney+ episode. Disney must know this. Favreau knows this, Filoni knows this. The highest rated Disney+ episode ever was the one featuring Luke Skywalker. I think the Mandoverse movie will include at least some original trilogy characters.

But what about you? Would you like to get a “proper” sequel? Would you be ok with deepfaked Luke, Leia and Han? Or is all too late and too little? Or do you think Disney will not go there anyway and not feature any OT character in Dave Filoni’s movie?

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