One of the most significant Star Wars stories that Lucasfilm could possibly tell is currently unfolding, as Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return to the known galaxy to declare war on the New Republic will take place in Ahsoka season two.
Set years after the original trilogy and decades before the sequel trilogy, this is setting up a major conflict between the Imperial remnants and the New Republic. In Legends, this Thrawn crisis was one of the most significant and pivotal stories told, with the Grand Admiral returning to wage all-out war and pushing the Republic to the brink. It seems that we’re seeing a similar thing being adapted on-screen now, which is really exciting.
But if Lucasfilm is going to do the story justice, they have to include the original trilogy heroes: Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian. It would be dereliction of storytelling not to include them. Only five or six years after the original trilogy, these heroes are still around and still fully capable of fighting. If this Thrawn war wraps up without them being involved, it will be a significant let-down and a massive missed opportunity.
So, with that said, here’s the reality: it’s time for Lucasfilm to finally re-cast these heroes.
They have seemed reticent to do that. Case in point: they brought Mark Hamill back and de-aged him for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. It is always cool to have Hamill involved in a project, but the de-aging process is an untenable long-term solution for the kind of stories that need to be told. Yet it seems Lucasfilm learned the wrong lessons from Solo, concluding that fans don’t want to see characters like Han Solo or Lando Calrissian re-cast.
But therein also lies the positive: they already have Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo and Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. Should they want to, Max Lloyd-Jones – who was a stand-in for Luke in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett – looks the part. Billie Lourd played Leia in the flashback in The Rise of Skywalker. And Joonas Suotamo could easily return as Chewbacca. Re-casting these heroes, in other words, doesn’t need to be as difficult as it seems.
It will be jarring at first, yes. But I firmly believe that having these characters re-cast will be far less jarring than witnessing an entire Thrawn war without their involvement.
Star Wars Thoughts 