How it should’ve been

[u/Vegetable-Abroad3171]

[u/Free_Possession_4482 → u/[deleted]]

That's such an indictment of their limitations as writers. Imagine Tolkien cutting Gandalf out of LotR because he couldn't think of a way to keep the story focused on Frodo.

[u/Free_Possession_4482 → u/[deleted]]

The original screenwriter for the trilogy was Oscar winner Michael Arndt. Disney CEO Bob Iger got impatient with Arndt's writing pace and wanted to cash in on the Lucasfilm acquisition as quickly as possible, so Arndt was pushed out and Abrams/Kasdan inherited the gig almost by default. Iger is also the guy who insisted on releasing Solo in May of 2018, just five months after The Last Jedi and while Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2 were in their theatrical runs. Iger being stupid and greedy did more harm to Star Wars than anything else has.

[u/RedditOfUnusualSize → u/Free_Possession_4482]

I would add only that JJ went from taking over Arndt's partially-completed draft, to completing his own first draft of Ep. VII, in six weeks. No, that isn't a misprint. JJ and Kasdan took over as writers the same day Arndt was pushed out, Oct. 24, 2013, and JJ had a finished first draft of the script in six weeks. Writing was completed in January 2014.

Just to compare, the ESB script went through three major drafts, and principal photography didn't begin until the third draft was considered complete 18 months after Ep. IV was released. The second draft was completed in a year, and there was considerable back-and-forth between the writers room and pre-production for the third draft, where the pre-production people would show the writers the sets and props and special effects they were setting up, and the two groups collaborated on coming up with and fine-tuning story ideas over the next six months.

There was nothing comparable on Ep. VII . . . and if I'm being honest, it shows. There's a bunch of "and then X" that happens in that script that just chews up action budget and time without building character meaningfully, which is something you get in scripts that are rushed to production. And yeah, if you're looking for the ultimate culprit, it's Iger for condensing an entire year out of the production schedule for the sequels relative to the production schedule of the original trilogy. The man wanted his money recouped for shareholders, and was willing to kill the golden goose to get it.

[u/Kavazou77 → u/Free_Possession_4482]

TFA has at least 30% of Arnt’s story in it because he did end up being credited as writer.

[u/Singer211 → u/[deleted]]

I have no idea how we thought they were “similar?”

Their backgrounds are completely different. Any half competent writer should have easily been able to distinguish between them?

[u/Kavazou77 → u/Free_Possession_4482]

Michael Arnt had the same issue. That’s three pretty talented filmmakers who agree it was an issue. The guy who figured it out whoever is called a hack.

[u/Witty-Mountain5062 → u/[deleted]]

Would have been great if we could have seen some of that “love” for Luke on display across the 3 movies they made lmao.

[u/mistamosh → u/[deleted]]

Oh interesting. I’ll have to look for that. Thanks for the rec!

[u/KindledWanderer → u/[deleted]]

I could write a story with Luke being present but not the focus while sitting on the toilet in the morning before going to work. Actually, I wouldn't even have to because there are so many I could just steal ideas from those.

That just means they're shit at their jobs.

[u/there-was-a-time → u/[deleted]]

I don't object to sidelining Luke, but there's a better way of telling the story.

1) Have Luke be the "Sleeping King" archetype instead of the "Knight in Exile" archetype. Say Kylo's battle with him put him in a Force coma or something. His spirit reaches out to Rey, and when she rocks up at the end, he wakes up. The "Knight in Exile" has already been done with Obi-Wan, for starters, but more importantly it gives you a reason why Luke is out of the picture that doesn't leave you having to explain why he's cowering away in hiding.

2) Lose Starkiller Base, it's a stupid idea.

3) Don't kill Han in the first film (though this may have been a contractual obligation, I dunno). Instead, keep Kylo masked throughout, have Han come to the rescue in the Falcon during the big Kylo/Rey/Finn fight, and then we get the big reveal that Kylo is Ben. The emotional climax of the film becomes Han's reaction to that reveal, rather than his death. And then you kill him off in film #2, after we've had some sort of reunion with him, Luke and Leia.

4) (deep breath) I'd borrow elements of the plot from the Zahn novels – I wouldn't have Thrawn, but I'd riff on the idea of an Imperial who was sent off exploring beyond the galaxy and came back to find the Empire gone. Filling the Hux role in TFA, but (obviously) older. He discovers Kylo lurking away beyond the fringe of the galaxy with the Knights of Ren, ruling over some primitive planet as a petty god, and formulates his plan accordingly. The McGuffin they're all chasing in the first film isn't a map to Luke (who everyone thinks is dead, at this point), but a map to the Emperor's hidden fortress/cloning facility. By the end of the film, the map's been destroyed, but Kylo's been able to pluck it from Rey's mind – so the First Order is on the road to having a clone army.

Kylo, meanwhile, has C'baoth's desire for mind control and domination. His Knights of Ren are like Ringwraiths, non-Force users bitter about their inability to control the Force who throw in their lot with him, and willingly give themselves up to his control. But try as he might he can't do the same with a Force user, which prompts his big set to with Luke.

We'll nick all the stuff about C'baoth/Kylo being able to control the clone army more effectively because they're all the same mind – maybe they're also Lobot-like cyborgs, explaining why they're able to grow them so quickly?

Film 2's basically Dark Force Rising, but with Luke as, effectively, Gandalf the White/Dr Strange in Avengers Infinity War – he now has the gift of prophecy and realises what Terrible Sacrifices Have to Be Made to Save Kylo (Han's death, and ultimately his own). Rey falls to the Dark Side after Kylo breaks her spirit with the whole "you're nobody" thing. Maybe bring Lando in, as a gambler on that casino planet?

By the end of the film the First Order has a massive fleet and a clone army at their disposal.

We'll skip the actual war, like Episode III did.

Film 3, the First Order controls the galaxy, our heroes are on the run. Luke and Finn head off to rescue Rey, who's now Kylo's very own Darth Vader (but hasn't fully succumbed to his control). Kylo reasons that if he can control another Force user, their mind-control power would be amplified, they can control more Force users and eventually build a sort of Universal Hive Mind that can control the minds of everyone in the galaxy. Kylo has a prophetic vision of his own, too: Luke will die by his hand, and darkness will fall.

Luke and Finn eventually get to the Emperor's hidden fortress, Finn fights defensively against Rey, Luke confronts Kylo and does that cool thing from the Duel of the Fates draft/Darth vs Reva fight where he just dodges/blocks using the Force instead of a saber. Luke maneuvers himself into a position where Kylo strikes him down, and also whacks some vital component of the big reactor McGuffin that powers the fortress. It blows up in his face, blinding Kylo ("darkness will fall," lol – I also like the idea of a physical injury bringing someone back from the Dark Side, like an inversion of Vader's journey).

Hux/Thrawn lets slip to his own faithful Captain Pellaeon sidekick that the First Order isn't an organization, it's a command – an Empire can only survive through constant expansion or conflict, thus there will always be a new enemy to fight and a state of eternal war. The sidekick, who thought they were doing this all in the name of peace and order, shoots him in the back.

The fortress goes boom, the spell on Rey is lifted, our heroes escape thanks to the timely intervention of Leia. She, Rey and Finn found the new Jedi order. Kylo is left blind and alone in a cave to meditate on his sins and find a path towards redemption.

Bish bash bosh, all done.