An unexpected turn of events

I had intended this post to be about the unexpected resurgence of my interest in Star Wars. It was supposed to be about how the simple announcement about the EU being jettisoned had rekindled my enthusiasm for the Saga. I was even going to talk about how I, after a long-time and publically-documented indifference to the EU, was considering reading some of the "new canon" books, and was even eager to do so.

I even had a name for the post — Yesterday's News.

Then things changed.

As I began to write, the fine folks at starwars.com finally did what Star Wars fans around the world have been waiting for months for them to do — they announced the cast of Episode VII. 

I immediately penned some initial thoughts, determined for once to be A) quick, and B) timely. Unfortunately, through a combination of family and work concerns, I was neither. However, I'd still like to put my thoughts out there, so that my dedicated audience of Canadian pharmacies and work-from-home opportunities aren't deprived of my witty and wise repartee.

First, I know next-to-nothing, if not actually nothing, about new cast members John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, and Oscar Isaac. I also have no clue about what roles they are supposed to play; whether they are good guys or bad guys, etc. My initial impression from their IMDb pages was that they were a vaguely diverse looking group. They are also, to a man, relative unknowns — just like the original trio was back when. I'm actually happy about this; unknown actors mean a clean slate. It will be much easier to see them as their characters, rather than "that guy from x"

I'm very happy about the new names that I do know. Domhnall Gleeson is on my radar because he played Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter films, and Andy Serkis is a modern-day Lon Chaney who's very presence on this film is, for me, highly reassuring. I don't who, or what, he's playing, but I can't wait to see it.

Finally, there is Max Von Sydow. Again, I'm not sure what role he will be playing. I'm guessing it's a heavy, but as he's known for villains (his turn in Needful Things was a particular favorite) and good guys/mentors (he's played both Jesus and St. Peter, for crying out loud), it could easily go either way.

Finally, there were a few names that brought a broad smile to face just by reading them: Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and, most importantly, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill.

I've written elsewhere of my desire to see Leia Organa-Solo, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo as older, wiser versions of their young selves. Now it appears that I will get that chance. Whether I will like it or not when I do is another matter. For now, for today, I am going to pretend that I will, and hope for the best.

While I have always been, and shall always be, much more of a fan of Luke Skywalker than of Han Solo, I am actually just a little bit happier that Ford has returned. For one, he was always very vocal about disliking the character, and never wanting to do Star Wars again. So just the fact that he's gotten past that, for whatever reason, is good news. (I'm sure there was a large check involved at some point, but I hope it's more than that).

The second reason is more selfish. I never really "got" the character of Han until much later in life. When I did, the sheer "wrongness" of what happened to his character in RotJ became much more painful. He was a different character, and largely good only for comic relief. And I still cringe at his final 'romantic' scene with Leia — from the way he kissed her at the end, you'd think he was her brother, and not Luke. He started out a dangerous space pirate who accidentally fell in with the good guys; he ended as an emasculated buffoon.

I try to rationalize it by saying Han came out of two-plus years of carbon sleep a radically changed man, but I suspect most of the blame can be laid at the feet of the late Richard Marquand, the director, although George Lucas probably bears a good share of the blame himself.  My wife thinks it's because they wanted to make Solo safe for kids in Jedi, which is also a good theory. I think it probably came from a combination of bad directing choices, and an actor that just threw up his hands, and resigned himself to getting through filming so he could move on to other roles.

Whatever the reason, it no longer matters. Because now, finally, Harrison Ford is going to have another crack at Han Solo. Hopefully, we'll see flashes of the same guy we knew from A New Hope and Empire. Time will tell. Whether we do or not, I am excited about the possibilities for this film, and still largely (albeit cautiously) optimistic for the future of Star Wars in general.