With Star Wars: The Bad Batch released on Disney+ earlier this week, we thought it would be cool to suggest further spin-offs we’d like to see from that galaxy far, far away. After all, while the Mouse House has certainly provided a fair amount of Star Wars content since acquiring Lucasfilm way back in 2012, there’s still plenty of material to be mined from this enormous gallery of heroes, scoundrels, and villains.
Read on and be sure to chime in on the Star Wars spin-offs you’d like to see!
Darth Vader
Yeah, yeah, a Darth Vader spin-off reeks of fan-wanking and would elicit the same stuck-in-the-past criticisms levied at The Mandalorian and Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. Still, we have one reason to justify a series devoted entirely to the dark lord of the Sith: it would be so awesome!
Imagine a television event based on the comic “Vader Down,” in which a stranded Vader must contend with Rebel forces with nothing but a lightsaber and his own villainous instincts or another dedicated to Vader hunting down and slaughtering the remaining Jedi hidden across the galaxy — ahem, Quinlan Vos anyone?
Chances are we may see a variation of the latter play out in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, but why bog ole Darth down with supporting characters when he’s badass enough to carry his own solo story?
Consider this: through six movies and one remarkable guest appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we have yet to see the big guy truly unleashed. We want Vader taking down waves of enemies and thrashing dozens of younglings in gruesome fashion. Hell, we’d even take an entire series devoted to Vader personally wiping out the Gungans on Naboo and choking Jar Jar Binks with his own intestines before bathing in his blood … okay, that’s probably too far, but you get the gist.
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Knights of the Old Republic
If you’ve ever played Knights of the Old Republic, there’s a good chance you’re currently spinning your lightsaber in the air after reading our second choice. And no, that’s not a euphemism. As much fun as Han, Luke, and Leia’s battles against the Emperor are, the Old Republic is where it’s at.
During this time period, set some 3,650 years before A New Hope, the Jedi are nearly exterminated by the Sith, but, thanks to the courage of a lone amnesiac named Revan, are able to rise once more and, for lack of a better phrase, open a can of whoop-ass and eventually restore order to the galaxy — unless players chose the dark path, which ends with Revan leading the Sith armada to victory over Darth Malak … but whatever.
Long story short, there’s plenty of great material that could come from the Knights of the Old Republic era — including stuff outside the plot of the popular video game — that would be fun to see on the big screen either in live-action or animated form.
An Old-Fashioned Western
At its core, Star Wars is basically just an old-school Western with lasers and spaceships, a concept rendered beautifully in The Mandalorian. Why not lean into that notion with a series set in the Star Wars universe centered around a random family dealing with an Imperial invasion? Hell, take it one step further and show a family divided by war in which one sibling opts to join the Emperor’s team and the other sticks with the Rebellion — North & South by way of Star Wars. Get it?
Or, do something in the vein of Little House on the Prairie, where a group of settlers deals with the difficulties of life under Imperial rule, and call it Little Moisture Farm in the Desert.
At the very least, the series could further shed light on just how bad the Emperor’s rule over the galaxy was and increase the importance of the Rebellion — an aspect curiously absent from the main Star Wars series of movies; and only briefly touched upon in Solo and Rogue One.
Or, in a weird twist, the series could reveal how much better this particular planet or society fared under the Emperor and explore the negative fallout that resulted from his defeat … after which an angry young citizen goes on a Terminator-style mission to wipe out those responsible for Palpatine’s demise.
So many story possibilities … so little time!
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Luke and Mara
Mara Jade is one of the better characters to come from the expanded Star Wars universe, which is why it sucked when Disney decided to wipe everything expanded universe-related off the menu.
Still, considering there’s a huge chunk of time set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, it stands to reason that Mara could be introduced in a series dedicated to hers and Luke’s adventures post-ROTJ. The duo could join forces to track down Sith lords (in what would be a neat reversal on Darth Vader’s Jedi extermination) or follow the plot established in the “Thrawn Trilogy” in which Mara morphs from evil Imperial assassin to Luke’s kick-ass wife. We could follow Luke all the way up until his eventual run-in with Kylo Ren before everything (including the saga itself) went to shambles.
Jedi Academy
How about this: a story set after Rise of Skywalker in which Rey [Skywalker] trains a fresh legion of Jedi Knights? Haters gonna hate, but Daisy Ridley was one of the bright spots in the new trilogy and did her best with an ill-conceived character. Bringing her back in some capacity, even as a supporting role ushering in the latest wave of heroes, may help right a lot of wrongs. Hell, bring back John Boyega while we’re at it and allow Finn to finally become a full-fledged Jedi Knight.
Actually, you know what? How about we just pretend Episode IX never happened, and Disney simply gives us a proper sequel to The Last Jedi? One that doesn’t feel abnormally rushed or riddled with plot contrivances? One that doesn’t include the Emperor or space horses or bad lightsaber scenes, or an unusually bland finale ripped straight out of a certain Avengers movie …
Screw it. Call it Duel of the Fates and let Colin Trevorrow direct.
Then do Jedi Academy. Except with Kylo Ren.
Alternate Timeline
Since every studio on the planet has suddenly bought into the concept of a multiverse, why not do a Star Wars series that explores what would happen if Luke turned to the dark side? Call it Revenge of the Jedi, give Luke a red lightsaber and allow him to rule the galaxy alongside his deadbeat pops — a universe in which Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and the Emperor have been wiped off the map.
That’s exactly the kind of outlandish concept modern TV should embrace — else world-styled adventures that further explore beloved characters in a unique way. Plus, this would allow Disney to essentially retcon the latest trilogy and establish an all-new narrative with (presumably) the same characters introduced in The Force Awakens. Except now, Rey (still the bastard granddaughter of the Emperor, albeit one with an ulterior motive) must hunt down and destroy old man Luke in order to bring peace to the galaxy.
Maybe Luke stays bad … or maybe he eventually returns to the light, proving that his destiny always belonged on the Jedi path. Either way would pave the way for new adventures with old friends, which is never a bad thing.
Then, once that well is dry, we could really go crazy and adapt Patton Oswalt’s Star Wars/Avengers crossover and make the greatest film ever made.
Disney, get on it!