Thrawn Trilogy Author Says Star Wars Sequels Should Be Family-Oriented Storyline

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With the news hitting that Disney is acquiring Star Wars from George Lucas and that Episode 7 is planned for a 2015 release, fans can’t help but wonder what the next Star Wars trilogy will bring.

Eight years following the Return of the Jedi, a series of novels was released, The Thrawn Trilogy, that was set five years later.

The novels quickly made their way to the best sellers list and were adapted into a popular comic book series from Dark Horse Comics called Dark Empire.

So with news of the new Star Wars trilogy slated for 2015, 2017 and 2019 — would Timothy Zahn’s novel’s be the focus?

We’ve already heard that no, none of the comic books or novels will be used, because quite frankly, they aren’t part of the Star Wars universe, and the next Star Wars movies are said to feature an all-new original story as well.

George Lucas has made this quite clear in interviews, and Zahn confirms as well.

“The books were always just the books,” Zahn told EW.com.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that was always (or perhaps still is) the case as Zahn says The Thrawn Trilogy was going to fit in somewhere.

“The original idea as I understood it— and Lucas changes his mind off and on, so it may not be what he’s thinking right now – but it was going to be three generations. You’d have the original trilogy, then go back to Luke’s father and find out what happened to him [in the prequels], and if there was another 7th, 8th, or 9th film, it would be Luke’s children. The Thrawn Trilogy really would have fit into the gap,” Zahn said.

As EW notes, some of what Zahn had written in his series of novels did become Star Wars canon, with appearances and references in the prequels. Zahn goes on to say that not only would he would love for his books to have a place in the Star Wars movies, but as the series is so beloved by fans, they would to.

“It could be an entirely new storyline, but if he picks and chooses bits and pieces from the expanded universe, we’d all be thrilled to death,” Zahn said.

While the writer, who also has more Star Wars novels coming out soon, has apparently nothing to do with the new Star Wars movies, Zahn does offer up his take on what direction the new trilogy should take, one more family-oriented than the predecessors.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:3817:]]“I’d like to see the original characters in perhaps smaller roles, handing the mantle of adventure to the next generation. Luke would be like Obi-Wan, but not quite the same because he will have raised his children and Obi-Wan was more standing off, watching and protecting.

“I’d love to see a good father-son, or mother-son, or daughter story. I’d like to see family. We haven’t seen a lot of good family stuff in Star Wars. A lot of it has been dysfunctional, and driven by somebody else. Anakin was a slave and manipulated all his life. Luke and Leia never knew each other…

“Some family interaction would be something different for the new movies to do – against the backdrop of excitement and adventure that forms the basis of Star Wars. There are a lot of directions you can go with the Skywalker families and really kick some serious butt,” Zahn offered.