With the three new Star Wars films Lucasfilm announced at this year’s Star Wars Celebration, fans have officially entered the massive cycle of speculation that will determine the years to come until these films actually hit theaters. While all three films are exciting for different reasons, the one that sparks the most conversation is Dave Filoni’s film that will serve as the pinnacle of the Mandoverse shows on Disney+, such as The Mandalorian, Boba Fett’s book, Ahsoka, and more. Those shows, set about five years later Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, have established the state of the galaxy far, far away after the fall of the Empire and the installation of the New Republic. All signs point to Filoni’s new film being one of a kind adjustment of the Heir to the Empire novelwith Grand Admiral Thrawn as the central new villain.
The biggest question mark surrounding Filoni’s film right now is whether or not it will feature the core trio of characters from the original Star Wars trilogy – Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo. These three characters are some of the most famous and beloved of the entire franchise, and each has appeared in numerous projects outside of the Skywalker Saga. It wouldn’t be hard for Filoni to include them in his own Heir to the Empire movie.
They were the main characters of that book and its two sequels; Luke has already entered The Mandalorian on more than one occasion, and we all know how much Filoni loves fan service. With all that in mind, a true reunion of this iconic trio in their prime seems more than likely.
However, the way they will appear has become a heated debate. That’s because the Star Wars franchise has got a taste for bringing back its old characters through the use of digital de-aging and deepfake technology. This approach had already been taken with Luke involved The MandalorianLeia in Villain Oneand both in it Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Harrison Ford is also getting old series in the new Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fatewhich is also a Lucasfilm production.
However, despite the ambition of the technology and the genius of the creatives behind it, this is not the approach to be taken when these three characters are included in Filoni’s film. It’s time for Lucasfilm to do what once seemed blasphemous: they have to recast Luke, Leia, and Han.
Digital obsolescence does not work
There have been a handful of occasions where characters have been digitally aged or brought back after the actor’s death throughout the film. Star Wars franchise. The first copy of this has arrived Villain One, in which a digital double of a young Carrie Fisher appeared as Leia at the end, and a digitally recreated Peter Cushing made a few appearances as Grand Moff Tarkin more than 20 years after the actor’s death. Than in The Rise of Skywalker, a brief flashback sequence showed younger versions of Mark Hamill as Luke and Fisher as Leia, both of whom were digitally recreated for the film.
Finally, an elderly Hamill has appeared twice in the Star Wars Disney+ shows: 1st in the season two finale of The Mandalorian and then again in a crossover episode of Boba Fett’s book. With the exception of that last case, the continuous thread that weaves all of these performances together is that they were short scenes where the digital characters were on screen for only a few moments. That’s right, the version of Luke that was featured Boba Fett’s book was the most impressive use of this technology to date, as the aging Hamill appeared in several scenes and played a full supporting role in that episode. However, the digital effects were sometimes painfully visible.
Luke never really felt like a real person when he appeared in both The Mandalorian And Boba Fett’s book. This was most apparent when interacting with other, non-digital characters. Hollywood, and especially Disney, has been trying to take this digital technology to a place where it can be credibly used for extended sequences in a movie or series.
However, the biggest hurdle is that these digital reproductions of real people simply can’t feel and feel as real as a real human being. If Luke, Leia, and Han are going to play full roles in Filoni’s new film, then they should be played by real actors and not be brought back by the use of digital shells. As impressive as the visual effects have been, they have always been hugely distracting and taken the viewer out of the story.
Rearrangement is not a bad thing
In recent years, Lucasfilm seems to have grown scared of the concept of recasting the legacy Star Wars characters. Maybe it’s because of the financial failure of Solo: A Star Wars Storyin which Han was recast from Ford to Alden Ehrenreich. None, however SoloEhrenreich’s shortcomings were to blame. In truth, Ehrenreich was one of the best parts of that movie. He really epitomized Han’s character by embracing what Ford had done with the part, while still bringing his own personality and swagger to the film.
The same goes for the performance of Lando Calrissian, who was played by the infinitely charismatic Donald Glover, who took over from Billy Dee Williams. Those two were the real highlights of it Soloand they outperformed anything that could have been done with digitally recreated or deprecated characters.
What makes this shift to digital obsolescence and away from recasting all the more confusing is that Star Wars has become famous for having some of the best recast characters in any franchise. Some of the most iconic and beloved versions of Star Wars characters are ones that have been recast from their original actors. This is certainly the case with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
While there’s no denying how great Alec Guinness was as Obi-Wan in the original trilogy, the role is undoubtedly more closely associated with Ewan McGregor at this point. McGregor played the character throughout the film Star Wars prequels, and last year’s standalone Obi Wan Kenobi The Disney+ series became one of the streamer’s most successful shows to date.
Another recast that deserves a lot of love is Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, who took over from Caroline Blakiston from the original trilogy. O’Reilly first appeared as the character in a deleted scene from Episode III – Revenge of the Sithbut was given another chance to play in the character briefly Villain Onewhich has now led to her playing a full-fledged supporting role in Andor and ready to appear Ahsoka later this year too.
O’Reilly’s gig in Andor is arguably one of the all-time great performances of the Star Wars franchise. She has given this character more life and depth than ever before. If Lucasfilm had chosen to just digitally remake Mothma for the series, then Star Wars fans would have been robbed of some of the most memorable scenes in the franchise.
If Luke, Leia and Han really show up in Filoni’s novel Star Wars movie, recasting the characters is the best route to go. Han is already perfectly recast with Ehrenreich, so just bring him back and then cast new actors for Luke and Leia. Yes, they’re the most beloved and pivotal characters in the franchise, but that’s exactly why recasting is so important. Getting real actors in to play the characters will do them infinite justice more than a digital filter from Hamill, Fisher, and Ford could ever hit another actor.
Seeing this trio played by three new actors will feel more real and natural than watching three digital characters interact in a live-action setting. Plus, it would be much easier to bring back Luke, Han, and Leia more often if they were played by actors. Fans might even get excited about seeing their favorite characters on screen more ahead.