Darth Hater

It will mean something. Sounds like Disney is going to close Lucus Arts.

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/11/disney-lucasarts/

Many of the current characters can appear in any new movie as a force ghost to later generations. That is how I'd prefer to see them- I want new characters. It would be real easy for Disney to use these next 3 movies to weave classic characters/content into EU concepts that Lucas never did anything with except stupid 'cameo' appearances in I, II, and III. They could jump hundreds of years into the future where perhaps forceusers become more secluded and our main characters rediscover both some of what we know from the classic movies but even more from EU and stuff never exactly explained by either. Lots of options and scenarios- all better than what I can imagine if Disney tried to do thrawn or Jedi Order next. Those movies should be done, but what we need now is a story that ties classic/cannon and EU together for the average fan, not movies that avid EU fans are dying for that the wider fan base might be alienated with if not introduced to the concepts properly.

You know Disney didn't buy Lucasfilm so they could play in a future era barely recognizable as Star Wars though. They did it to bank on the appeal of Han and Leia and Luke. And Han can't be a Force Ghost.

They could easily maintain EU canon by doing what Abrams did with Star Trek and either split the new trilogy into an alternate timeline, or claim that the entire EU exists in an alternate timeline.

Also, Harry Ford came back for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, which required him to co-star with Shia Labouf, so don't rule him out. Carrie Fisher was in the Robot Chicken and Family Guy parodies, so I'd say she could be game too, now that Lucas is in the background. I'm guessing Mark Hamill would be up for anything, but he's looking more like a Hutt than a Jedi Master these days.

As much as I love the idea of seeing the "Thrawn Trilogy", I can't see any way it could be this. Plus, (according to the Steve Sansweet article on StarWars.com) George Lucas has been writing an entirely new story that is post-ROTJ. I assume then that it will be farther into the future as to not completely trample over sll of the EU?... I hope...

I would trust Joss Whedon to do it right, of course JJ Abrams did a good job on Star Trek IMO.

Not sure how much of the EU books you've read, but the storyline is fairly laid out.  Luke, Leia and Han are all in their 60's; so, the story would have to be in the future.

IMO, George would probably F*** Up the storyline anyway.  Don't forget, he gave us a whinny little kid and a stupid gungan. 

Plus to even show any era where the Big Three are the age of their actors, you'd need an entire movie just to recap everything that lead up to said movie. You cannot sum up the 21 years between RotJ and NJO in a single opening scroll.

Exactly.....how can you explain Chewy dying in the opening scroll?!?

Actually you can just by saying 21 years have passed and this is the current situation of the galaxy.

"Twenty-one years have passed. Many Imperial Warlords tried to beat the Rebel Alliance, now called the New Republic, and came close a few times. Once time the Emperor even came back in some clone bodies! Eventually the Empire and New Republic formed a peace treaty. Han and Leia had 3 kids, and got married too! Luke founded a new Jedi Order on Yavin 4 with a lot of people you'll meet pretty soon! Han and Leia's 3 kids all became Jedi! Luke married this chick who used to work for the Emperor and tried to kill him on the Emperor's last orders but got off on a technicality by killing a clone of Luke made from his hand from Empire Strikes Back! Chewbacca hasn't really done anything at all, but he has big stuff coming soon, enjoy the show!"

That right there feels too nerdy for casual fans, and too wordy for an opening scroll.

For years I've fantasized about someone else getting their hands on Star Wars and presenting a new vision of the SW universe.  I hope that Disney keeps in mind the adult audience that originally fell in love with a galaxy far, far away.  I would hate to see the movies made solely with children as the target audience.  I don't expect a rated R movie, but a PG-13 rating would be nice.  They did it with Pirates of the Caribbean.  More than anything I hope the story is emphasized in the new trilogy.  The suspension of disbelief that I feel watching A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back was sorely lacking in the prequels.  Give me a great story and a movie that all ages can enjoy, like The Lord of the Rings for example, and I will be a very happy man.  

Star Wars has always been aimed at kids, you just didn't notice because you were a kid when you first saw them.

By now you're too old to be talked into buying large amounts of merchandise and theme park tickets etc. so don't be surprised when you're not the target audience.

Disney is in the "get 'em while they're young and make money off their parents" business, not the "appease the internet" business.

It's a fair point.

Well, Disney owns Marvel, and latest Marvel movies were not really aimed at kids, all of them were at least PG-13, I believe.

They could just reset the series with new actors (Star Trek did it).  Then they could start with the Thrawn Trilogy, which just happens to kick a lot of ass.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Thrawn_Trilogy