So Facebook lit up today with some incredible news. Pun definitely intended.
Apparently Disney announced that Pixar is working on a third Cars movie. This should delight my older son, I think. He was, at one time, a huge fan of Cars. Not so much anymore, but maybe this will kick up some nostalgia.
More exciting, I think, is the announcement that they’re working on a sequel to The Incredibles. This, I think, is the bigger and better piece of news. The original The Incredibles, while bearing some plot similarities to The Watchmen, was a fun superhero story and adventure. For some reason, my older son has pulled our DVD out and watched it a lot lately. Every time, I keep wondering what happened to the Incredibles after their adventures with Syndrome. Did society accept the return of the supers? Or did they have to go into hiding again? How did two kids deal with having a secret identity, especially if one is in…high school.
Hey, Pixar! If you need someone to write on this project, call me!
Even if they don’t, I’ll be excited to see what they do with this super family next. Pixar hasn’t really made a misstep yet in terms of storytelling (granted, Cars 2 was a bit of a letdown, but it’s still a fun spy movie).
The other news to come out of Disney is in regards to Star Wars Episode VII. Specifically, they announced that their story will be set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi.
And this, my friends, has me really nervous.
On the one hand, this announcement makes sense, especially if they want to include Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in the new movie (which seems to be the prevalent rumor). It’s been about thirty years since RotJ, so our heroes would have aged that much in the meantime. It’s a good kicking-off point.
But at the same time, I’m worried that this will lay waste to a bunch of really great storytelling.
I’m a huge Star Wars geek, so much so that I’ve consumed mass quantities of the Extended Universe lore (comics, games, and especially novelizations). While the EU may not be exactly canonical, I’ve come to really like what authors like Timothy Zahn, Michael Stackpole, Kathy Tyers, and others have put together for that far, far away galaxy. They’ve created some memorable characters, such as Admiral Thrawn, or Corran Horn, or Kyle Katarn. They’ve reshaped the Star Wars universe in huge, mind-boggling ways (and no, I’m not going to give examples of how. If you want to see what I’m talking about, read the New Jedi Order series and be prepared for your jaw to drop repeatedly). I would hate to see all of that erased officially by Disney.
Now I just did some checking on Wookiepedia’s timeline, and it looks like Episode VII would take place right after the Yuuzahn Vong invasion (and if you don’t know what that is, seriously, The New Jedi Order series. Go read it). They haven’t done much past that (two or three book series that I’ve seen; since then, they seem to be delving more into the Old Republic territory, which is probably safer at this point). It’ll be interesting to see what they do.
Maybe I’m being silly. I probably am. I mean, it’s not my playground. If they want to slash-and-burn the EU to tell new stories, that’s their prerogative. I just hope that, if they do, they put in something worthwhile.
Awesome news about The Incredibles.
In regards to Star Wars, I think the real question is whether JJ Abrams has earned the benefit of the doubt. Personally, I’m a fan. At the same time, I was never a Star Trek guy before Abrams took the reigns (for no other reason than I just never happened to watch it before that).
I understand that Abrams’ Star Trek movies deviated from the feel of the existing material, even when borrowing heavily from the storylines. With that in mind, I suppose anything is in play here from honoring the EU to completely trashing it.
I’ll have to check out The New Jedi Order series. Great blog!