Since the Star Wars acquisition by Disney in 2012, rumors have circulated about the possibility of a Marvel-style What If...? story for the galaxy far, far away. LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy was an official testing of the waters and was critically acclaimed as a "fabulous multiverse frolic" by Space.com and hailed as "one of the best uses of the multiverse we've seen in a while" by entertainment writers at IGN.
Today, we have discovered that Disney shares the opinion of many fans that the overtired and underwhelming franchise needs to take a break from the prequels to Rogue One and sequels to The Clone Wars and delve into what fans have been demanding: J.J. Abrams and the power of the Dark Side.
What we know about J.J. Abrams' long-awaited return to Star Wars
For eagle-eyed fans, this breaking news isn't exactly new. We can't forget that, before becoming involved in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams was heavily involved in the smash-hit LOST in 2004 and 2009's Star Trek reboot. According to a 2017 article in TheWrap, he had no intention of returning to Star Wars at first, "but when the opportunity presented itself to finish a story that we had begun... it felt like there was a chance to do it in a way where could go beyond, and do better." The article goes on to say that J.J. "saw... a chance to sort of realize something that we hadn't quite achieved."
What is that certain something? Abrams points to "The Enemy Within," the fifth episode of Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, in which Captain Kirk is split into two personalities with equal power and divergent priorities. This ground-breaking 1966 episode followed is also cited by original Expanded Universe author Timothy Zahn, whose 2012 short story, "An Apology," shed light on the reason that things had gone so terribly wrong for the galaxy far, far away. In this tell-all by Luuke Skywalker, we learn that deviant behavior has been the result of unchecked cloning and a master plan by Grand Admiral Thraaaawn.
The Star Wars: What If...? series is set to premiere in 2028 on Disney+, but noted writer Charles Soule is already in talks to pen a series of tie-in comics, and Claudia Gray teased a cover reveal of Leeeia, Overlord of Alderaaan on her Instagram account. While the specifics haven't been pinned down, a source close to Abrams has leaked the first episode's title: "What if Luke lost his mind instead of his hand?"
We look forward to seeing what this new era of Star Wars has to offer us. To quote Luuke Skywalker "There has been too much blood. Too much death. Too much destruction. The time has come to set the record straight."
Happy April Fool's Day from the team at Dork Side of the Force!