After Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, the Star Wars franchise experienced a soft reboot. With both Legends and canon content available for fans to enjoy, new opportunities arose and unique concepts were developed which could one day inspire incredible big screen feature-length productions.
The comics are a brilliant source to look to when seeking alternative stories to adapt to live-action or animated movies. Yet, there are some comic book narratives from IDW or Marvel in recent years which perhaps wouldn't work. Whether it's the characters involved, the way in which the story works within the medium, or the connection the property has with an audience, it's sometimes a good idea to allow fans to enjoy these tales in their original format.
Doctor Aphra And Darth Vader
Doctor Aphra is one of Marvel's most intriguing new characters. She definitely has a future on screen, but the narrative involving herself and Vader perhaps wouldn't translate too well. Their relationship was a complex one, built up over months of Vader's own comic title.
A long-running story like this would feel rushed and perhaps inauthentic on the big screen. While a TV show would seem better, Vader may also come off as a little less menacing if the story is adapted poorly. The nuance of their relationship perhaps works better on the page.
Maul's Early Years
Darth Maul's own evolution has played out across Star Wars' live-action movies and the animated TV shows. Marvel attempted to flesh out his backstory further though with a series of origin comics based upon the Sith apprentice. One story that stood out was his bid to kill a young Jedi learner.
After being captured by slavers and sold to the highest bidder, Maul breaks out Padwan Eldra Kaitis with the help of some recognizable bounty hunters. This is certainly impressive, but the narrative would fit far better into one of the animated shows. There's likely never going to be a big-screen adaptation of Maul's origins. This concept hasn't played out too well thus far, as seen with Solo.
The High Republic
The High Republic is destined for both big screen and small screen adaptations, that much is clear. However, the stories that the comics are exploring are somewhat on a smaller scale compared to the larger narrative strokes of the novels and supporting material.
There's probably never going to be an adaptation of these particular stories, but instead another tale set within this era of the galaxy. It would perhaps be far more logical for Lucasfilm to have the comics as a supporting side story, linked into the higher-stakes High Republic movies and shows.
Droid Adventures
When the iconic droid C-3PO turned up in The Force Awakens, fans were slightly confused as to why his arm was now red. In a largely forgettable line, the robot mentions that there's an interesting story behind the change in limb — but it looks like that story wasn't intriguing enough for the big screen.
There's an exciting set of events that unfold in C-3PO's own comic book title, which sees a droid sacrifice themselves to save the rest of his group. That same droid donates its arm to C-3PO. Alaas, none of this would make for a thrilling big-screen blockbuster.
Han Solo's "Wife"
The ongoing Star Wars comic at Marvel has explored every inch of the galaxy, although fans never expected Han Solo's former wife to emerge on the scene. Clearly, Solo's life story is a little more complicated than audiences first thought. Sana Starros was the supposed lover in question.
In actuality, the marriage was a sham, as part of a much larger job the two were trying to pull. The soap opera-esque narrative perhaps wouldn't play too well in the movies, although the best part of this is the introduction of Starros, who is an excellent addition to this universe.
War Of The Bounty Hunters
War of the Bounty Hunters is a current ongoing story in the comics, which is acting as an ambitious crossover event for Marvel. The company has created a narrative that involves the transportation of Han Solo after being frozen in carbonite and a wide range of bounty hunters and villains that want control of the smuggler.
It's a sprawling narrative, although one with too many moving components for it to ever translate well to cinemas. It's specifically designed to work within the medium it's created for and probably wouldn't make the jump that smoothly.
The Last Padawan
Kanan Jarrus is well-known to fans for his role in Rebels. His backstory was beautifully presented in his own spin-off comic, showing how his Master was eventually shot down by the Clones during Order 66. Yet, this origin has changed due to the Bad Batch Disney+ show.
With the real continuity of what actually happened in doubt, it would be even more confusing to put a version of this story to the big screen. Perhaps Kanan will appear in a future live-action movie, but when he does, Lucasfilm would do best to avoid any flashbacks to earlier stages of his life.
Raiders Of The Lost Gundark
While the title is certainly witty, there's little that audiences are going to like about this Jar Jar Binks comic if it was ever to be brought to screen. The fact is that this Gungan doesn't really do well in a live-action setting; at the very least the character was further developed in The Clone Wars.
What's more, this comic book story plays into the more childish elements of the character. That's perfect for the target audience of the IDW storyline, yet wouldn't translate all that well to a feature-lenght film.
Rabbit Hunt
"Rabbit Hunt" is one of the many stories which features Jaxxon the rabbit. It seems impossible to ever imagine this strange alien making his screen debut, in live-action or indeed even in an animated setting. Perhaps the adventurer is just too bizarre to utilize properly.
The character actually has quite a long history in the Star Wars universe, even dating back to some Legends material. It was a shock to see Jaxxon brought back into the canon of the current comics, although that is likely where he will now remain.
Grand Moff Tarkin
Tarkin's backstory is definitely a fascinating one. He has been brought into numerous properties, from The Bad Batch and Clone Wars to Rogue One. A full-on film about the character definitely feels doubtful, despite this fantastic comic about his role in the Empire.
The problem is that while Star Wars fans are well versed with the Imperial veteran, mainstream audiences likely wouldn't rush to see the big screen solo movie of the Grand Moff. What's more, there's actually not too much new ground to cover considering his multiple appearances in recent years.