What If...Star Wars

[kafka47]

One of my favorite series of Marvel comics in the early 80s/late 70s was the What If... series, as I did not have enough money to buy alot of comics then and this series allowed me to get the backstory (however modified on a wide range of characters).

However, there were licences they could not touch eg. the Star Wars universe. The weekend caught me speculating as I watched the series with my 4yr old son.

1. What if Obi Wan killed Anakin outright in Eps. III?
2. What if the Empire won at Endor?
3. What if Luke accepted his father's offer to defeat the Empire in ESB?
4. What if Darth Maul was not dead (ie. not sliced in two but pushed into the abyss)?
5. What if Luke joined the side of the Imperials in the events before ANH eg. becoming an Imperial pilot?
6. What if the gun was set to kill and they took out Leia?
7. What if Leia decided to cooperate with the Empire as most Senators did?
8. What if Han arrived at Cloud City first?
9. What if the Rebels managed to destroy both Death Stars before ANH?
10. What if Lucas never made Attack of the Clones but instead incorporated parts into Revenge of the Sith...and what would the 3rd movie contain?

 

[ShapeShifter]

What if's are entertaining in discussions of real history (e.g. What if Napoleon was seven feet tall and breathed fire, and Wellington a 4'10" cross-dresser?) but pointless with Joseph Campbell Jr.'s (ahem, George Lucas') cobbled-together pseudo-mythology.

 

[robject]

What if the ewoks were seven feet tall and breathed fire, and Darth Vader a cross-dresser...?

 

[Ran]

What if the ewoks were seven feet tall and breathed fire, and Darth Vader a cross-dresser...?

It would explain luke.

 

[Mithras]

Joseph Campbell Jr.'s (ahem, George Lucas') cobbled-together pseudo-mythology.

I don't get this analogy ... who is he?

 

[coliver988]

I don't get this analogy ... who is he?

big name in myths and how there are common types across cultures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell

"Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience. His philosophy is often summarized by his phrase: "Follow your bliss."

 

[jfetters]

One of my favorite series of Marvel comics in the early 80s/late 70s was the What If... series, as I did not have enough money to buy alot of comics then and this series allowed me to get the backstory (however modified on a wide range of characters).

However, there were licences they could not touch eg. the Star Wars universe. The weekend caught me speculating as I watched the series with my 4yr old son.

1. What if Obi Wan killed Anakin outright in Eps. III?
2. What if the Empire won at Endor?
3. What if Luke accepted his father's offer to defeat the Empire in ESB?
4. What if Darth Maul was not dead (ie. not sliced in two but pushed into the abyss)?
5. What if Luke joined the side of the Imperials in the events before ANH eg. becoming an Imperial pilot?
6. What if the gun was set to kill and they took out Leia?
7. What if Leia decided to cooperate with the Empire as most Senators did?
8. What if Han arrived at Cloud City first?
9. What if the Rebels managed to destroy both Death Stars before ANH?
10. What if Lucas never made Attack of the Clones but instead incorporated parts into Revenge of the Sith...and what would the 3rd movie contain?

kafka,

You may be interested in the Dark Horse Star Wars - Infinities line. There are issues that take the movies and go off on similar tangents.

And on the last one, I'd speculate that the third movie would be something similar to the plot of The Force Unleashed.

 

[jfetters]

More specific answers to your questions:

1 - The story would be focused on Palpatine's discovery of their existence and attempted acquisition. In the meantime, he would have found a Jedi to corrupt to become his Sith apprentice.
2 - People would be happy because of the destruction of the Ewoks. Seriously, that would have been the end of the Rebellion as depicted. That was an all or nothing battle for both sides.
3 - The Sith cycle would have continued, with the two killing Palpatine or Palpatine killing Vader and taking Luke as apprentice.
4 - Interesting question. Would Dooku have been recruited at all at this point? Or would they battle it out?
5 - Easier recruitment into the Sith path if he drinks the cool-aid. Otherwise, its an easier path to escape and join the rebels.
6 - Oddly, not much. The only difference is that Luke would have succumbed to the dark side or died in the final battle with Vader, as he had nothing to rally around.
7 - No ep 4. And Luke may never be recruited into the rebellion or trained as a Jedi.
8 - Cloud City would likely be torn apart by Vader's forces.
9 - This would probably lead to a long protracted rebellion with the Empire eventually winning.

 

[Jame]

One of my favorite series of Marvel comics in the early 80s/late 70s was the What If... series, as I did not have enough money to buy alot of comics then and this series allowed me to get the backstory (however modified on a wide range of characters).

However, there were licences they could not touch eg. the Star Wars universe. The weekend caught me speculating as I watched the series with my 4yr old son.

10. What if Lucas never made Attack of the Clones but instead incorporated parts into Revenge of the Sith...and what would the 3rd movie contain?

This would be a better option. Indeed, I would have Anakin become Vader and THEN father Luke and Leia.

 

[jfetters]

This would be a better option. Indeed, I would have Anakin become Vader and THEN father Luke and Leia.

oooooooo... :devil:

 

[Darkhstarr]

Never got into Marvel's 'What If', though I got a good laugh when they came out. I thought it was hysterically funny that Marvel after years & years of blasting DC for doing the same idea in 60's would come out with a similar concept.

 

[Blue Ghost]

One of my favorite series of Marvel comics in the early 80s/late 70s was the What If... series, as I did not have enough money to buy alot of comics then and this series allowed me to get the backstory (however modified on a wide range of characters).

However, there were licences they could not touch eg. the Star Wars universe. The weekend caught me speculating as I watched the series with my 4yr old son.

1. What if Obi Wan killed Anakin outright in Eps. III?
2. What if the Empire won at Endor?
3. What if Luke accepted his father's offer to defeat the Empire in ESB?
4. What if Darth Maul was not dead (ie. not sliced in two but pushed into the abyss)?
5. What if Luke joined the side of the Imperials in the events before ANH eg. becoming an Imperial pilot?
6. What if the gun was set to kill and they took out Leia?
7. What if Leia decided to cooperate with the Empire as most Senators did?
8. What if Han arrived at Cloud City first?
9. What if the Rebels managed to destroy both Death Stars before ANH?
10. What if Lucas never made Attack of the Clones but instead incorporated parts into Revenge of the Sith...and what would the 3rd movie contain?

I was never a big Star Wars fan. That's going to shock a lot of people who know me personally, but it's very true.

I never liked the story nor the characters, but liked the potrayal of characters and environment. I never bought any of the action figures, didn't care for the Star Wars board game, read a few of the comics but didn't care for them, nor did I buy any of the other toys.

The two things I did buy were the sketch books and conceptual art books. I liked the energy put into the environment, and was hoping beyond hope that some serious drama would be married to those new found production values.

So, to answer your questions, ... meh ... I don't have much of an opinion. I thought the whole saga was a little too Wagnerian for the venue. It's entertaining, people like it, and I guess that's what's important.

The whole saga really doesn't do anything for me. Some of the environments and technology portrayed are interesting, but I don't connect too much with the characters. Hence my lack of interest in the subplots and overall stories.

Loose anecdotal tangent; years back, when I was working in film and video, I had a couple of coworkers offer to hook me with ILM/Lucasfilm. In retrospect I see now why it was offered. I called one guy, a sound man on an industrial we both worked on, but his mobile phone was on the fritz. I decided not to take up the offer. I was merely a grip/production-assistant/stage-manager-intern. I had no technical skill as such, and didn't have anykind of artist's portfolio. A second offer was made when I worked on a feature film, and I see the same reasons for it. Again, I decided not to persue it. It was the right decision. Working for Lucas as a gofer wasn't going to get anything I wanted to do shot. Oh well.

Neat films. But, as many a person has told Woody Allen; "I like your earlier funny ones", to paraphrase; i.e. I like the first two SW flicks. The rest are time-killers.

 

[Ran Targas]

Neat films. But, as many a person has told Woody Allen; "I like your earlier funny ones", to paraphrase; i.e. I like the first two SW flicks. The rest are time-killers.

If we could have had four more Empire Strikes Backs, I would have been much happier.

Flipping through the channels last night, I came across The Phantom Menace; all I could think was why would any responsible adult, regardless of any gut feeling, let a child race a pod at several hundred kph through narrow, rocky canyons and stalagtite strewn caves? Then, take him from his mother, drag him onto a battlefield, tell him to find cover on his own, and let him fly a high performance military fighter aircraft? Even for the chosen one, this is all a stretch. Qui Gon was lucky he died before Republic Child Services caught up with him.

Why not make Anakin already a brooding teen/racing phenom, not knowing his skills are due entirely to his connection with the Force (what I always thought they should have done with Han Solo, making him the other)? It would explain why Obi Wan couldn't control him in the end and would also reflect on Luke's teenage angst-y attitude in A New Hope, or as I like to call it, just plain Star Wars.

 

[Gaming Glen]

If we could have had four more Empire Strikes Backs, I would have been much happier.

Flipping through the channels last night, I came across The Phantom Menace; all I could think was why would any responsible adult, regardless of any gut feeling, let a child race a pod at several hundred kph through narrow, rocky canyons and stalagtite strewn caves? Then, take him from his mother, drag him onto a battlefield, tell him to find cover on his own, and let him fly a high performance military fighter aircraft? Even for the chosen one, this is all a stretch. Qui Gon was lucky he died before Republic Child Services caught up with him.

Why not make Anakin already a brooding teen/racing phenom, not knowing his skills are due entirely to his connection with the Force (what I always thought they should have done with Han Solo, making him the other)? It would explain why Obi Wan couldn't control him in the end and would also reflect on Luke's teenage angst-y attitude in A New Hope, or as I like to call it, just plain Star Wars.

Because in today's shows, kids are capable of anything while most adults are dolts....

(yeah, I've been watching too much Nick and Disney shows lately)


As for Republic Child Services, isn't that what the Jedi are? (get them while they're young and impressionable)

 

[G. Fieendish]

One of my favorite series of Marvel comics in the early 80s/late 70s was the What If... series, as I did not have enough money to buy alot of comics then and this series allowed me to get the backstory (however modified on a wide range of characters).

However, there were licences they could not touch eg. the Star Wars universe. The weekend caught me speculating as I watched the series with my 4yr old son.

1. What if Obi Wan killed Anakin outright in Eps. III?
2. What if the Empire won at Endor?
3. What if Luke accepted his father's offer to defeat the Empire in ESB?
4. What if Darth Maul was not dead (ie. not sliced in two but pushed into the abyss)?
5. What if Luke joined the side of the Imperials in the events before ANH eg. becoming an Imperial pilot?
6. What if the gun was set to kill and they took out Leia?
7. What if Leia decided to cooperate with the Empire as most Senators did?
8. What if Han arrived at Cloud City first?
9. What if the Rebels managed to destroy both Death Stars before ANH?
10. What if Lucas never made Attack of the Clones but instead incorporated parts into Revenge of the Sith...and what would the 3rd movie contain?

Here are my responses...
1) The Emperor might have been able to clone Anakin, as according to the Expanded Universe novel Outbound Flight mentions tissue samples were taken from Anakin. But it would take several years to do so, if growth acceleration wasn't used, & several years to train him...
2) The Rebellion falls apart, Battle Station II a/k/a the 2nd Death Star would be completed, & be used, along with other Imperial Superweapons, such as the World Devastator, Galaxy Gun, & possibly the Sun Crusher, to repel the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Imperial Space...
3) It depends if Vader can get away with hiding Luke from the Emperor...
4) If Maul survived, he would probably become one of Grevious'es "watchdogs" along with Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus in "a Good Cop/Bad Cop" type situation... Alternatively, he comes a Seperatist leader in a similar way to Asajj Ventress...
5) Given Luke's piloting skills, given enough time, he just might be transferred to Vader's personal squadron... If this does happen, & Vader realises, then see answer 3...
6) Vader kills the person who shot her, as they want information about the Rebellion, & dead people can't tell where they put the secret plans...
7) Given that the Senate is dissolved by the Emperor, she gets thrown out of a job... After that, who knows what would happen to the Organa family...
8) The Falcon gets repaired before Vader arrives...
9) The Sun Crusher destroys Yavin's sun with a resonance torpedo...?
10) No idea...

 

[LordVan]

Star Wars

I am a longtime fan of Star Wars, having seen A New Hope and Empire Strikes back in a drive-in theater back in the day, and yes I am that old. Phantom Menace - that whole let the kid do it because adults are dolts, have you looked at society lately? Kids nowadays get dumbed down or drugged, and adults, well I rest my case. Besides Tatooine is a backwater world that is not part of the Republic. As for racing look around after dark sometime. Besides, they needed some action in the movie. Also the thing to understand, Star Wars and Star Trek were both social commentary at the time.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Well, that may be, but Star Wars is a children's film. They're movies for kids. Where Star Trek has a lot of flashy gloss that attracts some kids, but has adult themed stories.

 

[BlackBat242]

2. What if the Empire won at Endor?

Back in 1984 I created a Champions superhero based on this...
1. Luke told Leia she was his sister as soon as they freed Han.
2. Han married Leia and got her pregnant with twins.
3. She stayed behind instead of going to Endor.
4. No friendly meeting with the Ewoks, the rebels are hunted down and killed/captured, the forcefield is never turned off.
5. the Alliance is defeated.
6. Leia flees in an X-wing, and escapes through a wormhole.
7. Leia lands on Earth in 1981, and goes into hiding, giving birth.
8. She develops full use of the Force while weaning her children, then emerges as a superhero
9. Her plan is to carefully guide the UN into a world government, and to boost Earth's technological progress, so Earth can defend itself when the Empire finally reaches this section of the Galaxy (not being aware of having travelled through time as well as space in the wormhole).

Note that this was well before Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire (1991), which is the first mention of Leia having twins in the "expanded universe" material.

10. What if Lucas never made Attack of the Clones but instead incorporated parts into Revenge of the Sith...and what would the 3rd movie contain?

This would be a better option. Indeed, I would have Anakin become Vader and THEN father Luke and Leia.

oooooooo... :devil:

Nice... Vader would hide them from the Emperor (who would either kill them or take them to be raised under his supervision, as they would be a distraction for Luke/Vader as well as an opening for the "light side" to work on him).

Then Obi-Wan steals them, and hides them himself.

 

[Jame]

I meant to point out earlier that I would have Anakin turn sometime during Episode 2, then be dark and not-cyborg, and, having already married Padme while still on his path to turning, get her pregnant for Ep. 3, and then be burned by lava in the first part of Ep. 3 and then spend the rest of the time driving her into hiding - and she would NOT die in childbirth; remember that in Ep. 6 Leia had some memory of her mother as a woman who was very sad.

 

[Princedarkstorm]

This reminds me of Dark Horse series they did on Star Wars a few years back . Pity I cannot recall the title of the series