Now that Lucasfilm's first Star Wars spin-off film, Rogue One, has gone over $1 billion at the box office, it's clear the non-episodic films are a winning strategy. The current schedule has Star Wars alternating between episodes and spin-offs with Episode VIII: The Last Jedi in 2017, Han Solo in 2018, and Episode IX in 2019, with no further releases officially announced at this point.
More than likely, the next movie announced will be another spin-off movie for 2020. It was originally rumored that the next non-episodic film would be the Josh Trank directed Boba Fett film, but there has been no news since Trank left the project, leaving that spot completely open.
The Star Wars universe is all well connected, and events not shown in the films have always been teased through seemingly throwaway dialogue or other references. As such, there are many stories that are already canon that have yet to be depicted in any book, comic, cartoon, or movie that would make great spin off films. Here's 17 Star Wars Spin-Offs That Are Already Canon.
17. Kenobi
This might be one of the very first ideas to gain traction with fans after Lucasfilm announced its intention to do Star Wars spin-off films, and fans only got more excited by the prospect over time with Ewan McGregor teasing his willingness to return to the franchise (even lending his voice to The Force Awakens).
The biggest problem with a Kenobi movie is that there’s no clear allusion to any events worth telling during his exile on Tatooine. The Star Wars comics have already featured his encounters with Jabba the Hutt’s thugs in his early years, and Star Wars Rebels has tipped its hand to show that season 3 will round out with Kenobi vs Maul, but there’s still a massive chunk of time unaccounted for in the 18 year gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It might be a more intimate and less action packed story than his rematch with Maul will undoubtedly be, but it’s also an opportunity for Star Wars to explore a brand new genre.
16. Armageddon, But With Jedi
This event is briefly referenced in Chuck Wendig’s novel, Star Wars: Aftermath. While scant details are provided, the legend is that a massive meteor is headed toward the Mid Rim, threatening to carve a path through several systems. A great number of Jedi unite and combine their powers to break up the giant rock, but several Jedi sacrifice their lives, or their minds, in the process.
This story takes viewers back to a period in history never before touched by a Star Wars movie, allowing them to see a Jedi Order that’s presumably not yet prideful and arrogant as we see in the prequels. The process of having so many Jedi come together to learn and practice the proper technique would be fascinating in how it adds to the lore, and the act itself would be the most significant display of the Force in all of Star Wars. Also, it’s basically Armaggeddon, but with Jedi.
15. Siege of Mandalore
It’s referenced several times in Star Wars Rebels, and very briefly depicted in the Ahsoka novel, but has yet to show up on screen. After Maul took over Mandalore with the Shadow Collective - the largest criminal conglomerate ever - Anakin and Obi-Wan are sent to end the occupation. Ahsoka had left the Jedi Order, but they bring her along anyway. Right before the attack begins, Anakin and Obi-Wan are called to immediately return to Coruscant, because Chancellor Palpatine had been kidnapped by General Grievous. In their stead, Ahsoka is entrusted trusted with Captain Rex and the 501st battalion to take on Maul and the Shadow Collective.
A stand alone cinematic Star Wars story featuring the Seige of Mandalore would have Ahsoka Tano, clones, Maul, and Mandalorians. That combination alone would make for one of the most epic Star Wars movies ever. The battle would also be a massive encounter taking place in a city, making it the first time the action in a Star Wars movie is full on urban warfare. On top of that, it provides an excellent opportunity for Lucasfilm to take audiences back to the prequel era in a way that might leave a better taste in the mouths of prequel detractors than the original prequels did.
14. Jedi vs Sith War
Not much is known about the Jedi Sith War in current canon other than the fact that it happened, the Sith constructed massive superweapons, and there was a major battle on Malachor (and Takodana). The war took place over a thousand years before The Phantom Menace, so it would feature a whole new aesthetic, possibly significantly influenced by the Knights of the Old Republic games, and it would be well before the Sith rule of two, meaning armies of Jedi could face off against armies of Sith.
In fact, this movie could even be The Rule of Two: A Star Wars Story, meaning it would follow the war through to the collapse of the Sith when Darth Bane goes into hiding to form the rule of two. Even though it would take place so far from everything else on the timeline, showing the perceived defeat of the Sith by the Jedi and the creation of the rule of two would effectively set up events where they pick up in The Phantom Menace with the Jedi Order, who have grown negligent, and Palpatine, the culmination of generations of the rule of two.
13. The first Mandalorian Jedi
As was recently revealed on Star Wars Rebels, Sabine Wren’s ancestor, Ta Vizsla, was the first Mandalorian Jedi and creator of the one of a kind lightsaber, the darksaber. The brief depiction of the events in the Rebels episode ‘Trials of the Darksaber’, shows a time that looks very medieval, with Ta Vizsla looking like a knight in his Mandalorian armor, and the darksaber is like excalibur.
As yet another story opportunity set during the days of the Old Republic (and not the last one, hint hint, Lucasfilm), Ta Vizsla’s story has the potential to be an epic fantasy tale like something out of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, only in a Star Wars setting with lightsabers and Mandalorians.
With the darksaber now playing an important role in both The Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows, showing the creation of the blade would also be a great way to round out that part of the story.
12. Bad Batch
After the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, The Clone Wars animated series was cancelled. While some completed episodes were compiled for release as a partial 6th season on Netflix, there were still several stories that never got completed. Lucasfilm would eventually release the unfinished story reels on StarWars.com, but, while the voice actors had mostly completed their work, the animation was still very rough and incomplete.
One of these stories has Captain Rex team up with a group of defective clones that had experienced “desirable” mutations from the original Jango Fett template, calling themselves the “Bad Batch”. Bad Batch would be a great way to get the clone wars onto the big screen in live action form, because the mutated clones would mean the main cast doesn’t depend entirely on Temuera Morrison (or whoever they recast as the clones) and CGI. Bad Batch would be like the Dirty Dozen or Expendables of the Clone Wars, showing the elite squad going on a covert mission behind enemy lines.
11. Cad Bane Trains Boba Fett
Boba Fett only a had a few seconds and a couple lines of dialogue in the Star Wars original trilogy, but he made a big splash, becoming one of the most popular characters in the franchise. George Lucas then brought Boba into the prequels as an unaltered clone of Jango Fett, giving fans a glimpse of his early life, but little else, as his story comes and goes with Attack of the Clones. It isn’t until The Clone Wars animated series that fans begin to see how he transitioned from young man into ruthless bounty hunter, but the episodes where he truly learns to be the Boba Fett from the original trilogy were some of the stories lost with the cancellation of The Clone Wars.
The arc would have seen the bounty hunter Cad Bane taking Boba under his wing to groom him into the “no disintegrations” Boba we all know and love. While a spin-off movie telling this story would be exciting for fans, it almost wouldn’t be fair for Boba Fett, who’s likely to get upstaged in his own movie by the awesomeness that would be Cad Bane in live action.
10. “That Bounty Hunter We Ran Into on Ord Mantell Changed My Mind.”
The original trilogy is full of seemingly innocuous lines of dialogue that, upon closer examination, turn out to packed with background story, as seen with how Rogue One evolved out of a single line in the opening crawl of Episode IV. One story that looks ripe for adaptation is from a line in Empire Strikes Back. Han is trying to leave Echo Base and Leia says “I thought you had decided to stay,” to which Han responds “Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind."
Since our very first introduction to Han Solo, he’s had bounty hunters after him to collect what he owes Jabba the Hutt - that’s what causes him to fry poor Greedo. This line suggests he had an encounter that made him decide to finally pay the piper, telling General Rieekan “if I don’t pay off Jabba the Hutt I’m a dead man.”
Obviously Harrison Ford couldn’t return to the role for this film, but it could easily be done in a few years when Alden Ehrenreich looks closer to Ford’s age in Empire. It could even be a sequel to the Han Solo movie.
9. “Many Bothans Died to Bring Us This Information”
Some people were really confused upon learning that there were no Bothans in Rogue One, mistaking the theft of the first Death Star’s plans with the events Mon Mothma describes in Return of the Jedi when she says “many bothans died to bring us this information.” It doesn’t specify whether the aforementioned “information” acquired by the now dead Bothans is the actual battlestation plans, or the intel tipping them off to the Emperor’s presence on the Death Star (or both), but it’s still integral to the Rebel Alliance’s decision to attack the second Death Star, resulting in the most devastating defeat for the Empire.
The Bothans are known to the galaxy’s super spies, running the Bothan Spynet, so a movie centered around this mission could be basically a Mission Impossibly movie set in Star Wars. While the inclusion of a Death Star and the predetermined fate of the team hanging over the movie may make it feel very much like a retread of Rogue One, a stronger emphasis on the spy aspect and the exclusion of a major battle could make this movie a great great heist thriller.
8. Battle of Tanaab
This comes from another throwaway line in Return of the Jedi. Han is ribbing Lando over his promotion to general before the Battle of Endor, and Lando says “Someone must have told them about my little maneuver at the Battle of Taanab.” Again, not a whole lot is known about the Battle of Taanab, some recent resources suggest it was a battle set sometime during the events of the original trilogy in which Lando helped defeat a pirate fleet over the planet Taanab, but it has yet to get a depiction, so the events are basically completely flexible.
Since Donald Glover was cast as a young Lando Calrissian, this seems like a perfect way for him to get additional attention in this universe. Assuming Glover is popular with audiences in the Han Solo movie (which isn’t much of a stretch to assume), it could be great to see him and his trusty pal Lobot set out in their own stand-alone movie that covers Lando’s “little maneuver at the batte of Taanab.”
7. Kylo Ren’s Fall
With 35 years of history between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, fans are still missing chunks of context for the new Star Wars trilogy. It’s revealed that Luke took Ben Solo as his apprentice and trained him to become a Jedi until Ben turned on Luke and his students, joining the First Order under under the name Kylo Ren, and earning himself the name “Jedi Killer,” but the details of this fall are still up in the air.
While some of that story is bound to be referenced during The Last Jedi and Episode IX, that doesn’t mean this tragic tale doesn’t deserve its own movie. Unfortunately, it’s probably not possible to produce until after production is completed on Episode IX due to conflicts with Mark Hamill and Adam Driver’s production schedule, but recasting classic roles is an inevitability for a franchise this big anyway, and Alden Ehrenreich will break that ice in 2018.
6. Darth Maul, The Shadow
Darth Maul’s death at the end of The Phantom Menace was initially viewed as a wasted opportunity. Between the intense character design and acrobatics of Ray Park, Darth Maul could have grow into an impressive villain by the end of the prequel trilogy. Fortunately, it turns out that he survived his encounter with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and years later, with new mechanical legs, he creates a criminal Empire to take over Mandalore.
Things don’t turn out exactly as he planned, though. Darth Sidious kills brother/apprentice, Savage Opress, and his mother, the Dathomirian Witch, Mother Talzin, then Ahsoka Tano leads a clone invasion force to defeat his Shadow Collective at Mandalore.
After that, Maul is nowhere to be found until almost 15 years later when Ezra discovers him on Malachor where he’s seeking a Sith holocron. It appears he’s been busy, as he also has a hideout on Dathomir full of old artifacts. The Inquisitors also refer to him as “the shadow,” so it’s clear he was up to all sorts of mischief like some sort of former Sith Indiana Jones, occasionally scrapping with Inquisitors while seeking a way to get revenge on the entire galaxy, and that sounds like a great movie.
5. Yoda, Clones, and Wookies vs Trandoshans on Kashyyyk
Another story lost in the cancellation of The Clone Wars involved Yoda and some clones helping the Wookiees fight off their mortal enemies, the Trandoshans. This story would highlight why Yoda is such good friends with the Wookies in Revenge of the Sith and show a lot more Wookiee warfare, which was unfortunately brief in Episode III.
The biggest hurdle to making this happen in live-action is the fact that the only human characters would be the clones, unless they had any other Jedi accompany Yoda, like Luminara Unduli and Quinlan Vos, who may have been involved in that battle as well. Even so, with so few english speaking characters, it’s a movie that could essentially be something like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but with Wookiees. Either way, this movie would be the best chance Star Wars fans have had yet of getting a good look at the Wookiees and their home planet Kashyyyk outside of the Holiday Special.
4. Kanan Jarrus and Depa Billaba
Kanan Jarrus was first depicted in the novel A New Dawn as a prelude to his appearance as a main character in Star Wars Rebels before also getting his own comic book, Kanan: The Last Padawan. Together, they tell the story of a Jedi student, Caleb Dume, who was chosen as a padawan by Jedi Master Depa Billaba toward the end of The Clone Wars. After Master Billaba is killed in Order 66, the student escapes and goes into hiding, giving up the Force and taking the name Kanan Jarrus, before he meets up with Hera Syndulla in A New Dawn and eventually takes on Ezra Bridger as a Padawan in Star Wars Rebels.
If Kanan gets a spin-off movie, it would make him the first character introduced outside of a movie to appear in a comic, a novel, animation, and live action. Also, seeing Caleb Dume train under Depa Billaba would be a great glimpse into the early stages of Jedi training, which always seem to get skipped in other movies.
3. Order 66
One of the best scenes in the prequel trilogy is the execution of Order 66. The scene shows the clones tragically turn on several high profile Jedi Generals as most of the Jedi Order is wiped out. The only issue is there were 10,000 Jedi in the galaxy at that time. While Order 66 and Vader’s assault on the temple could have taken out a huge chunk of them, there are obviously thousands of Jedi to account for, some of which even remained hidden in a corner of the galaxy.
An entire spin-off movie focusing just on Order 66 and the fate of a few Jedi could be a dramatic addition to the saga. Whether it’s a more intimate chase like The Fugitive, or a grand last stand Saving Private Ryan with Jedi, there’s a lot that can be explored with Order 66.
2. The First Jedi
With Luke vanishing before The Force Awakens to seek out the very first Jedi Temple, and a lot of ancient Jedi concepts resurfacing in Rebels and elsewhere, it would be fascinating to learn the origin story of the first Jedi. This is a story could be quite mythic, almost like a fable, detailing the discovery of the Force and the eventual schism that lead to the formation of the Sith.
With Rogue One delving into things like kyber crystals and the Guardians of the Whills, and Rebels bringing in Bendu, there are a lot of ancient Force concepts that could be greatly expanded by this film, also creating what might be the most unique Star Wars story, possibly being almost entirely devoid of technology, like Apocalypto with Jedi. The highlight of a film like this would obviously be the moment the hero ignites a lightsaber for the very first time. Also, we’re about to get The Last Jedi, and Star Wars has always been about symmetry in story telling.
1. Jedi vs. Mandalorian Wars
One of the Star Wars Legends elements most recently returned to Star Wars canon was the Jedi/Mandalorian wars. In the Star Wars Rebels episode ‘Trials of the Dark Side’, Kanan mentions the war between the Jedi and the Mandalorians to Sabine while he’s training her to fight with the darksaber. Aside from the Jedi being the eventual victors, very little about the war is specified in canon, but plenty of games, books, and comics have featured this period, and they would surely at least be partially used for inspiration.
Fans of the Knights of the Old Republic games are stoked about this tiny moment, because it brings to mind thoughts of Revan, Malak, the battle of Malachor V, and more. With Star Wars Rebels already tip toeing around some of these concepts by including elements like Malachor and Hammerhead Corvettes, it's obvious there's already creative interest in this era. If there’s one alternate era fans would love to see in a new Star Wars spin-off it’s the era that brings Revan to the big screen.
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Which of these is your favorite? Are there any moments in Star Wars you would love to see blown up into a spin-off film? Let us hear about it in the comments!
