Disney holds the rights to Star Wars, and under its ownership, we’ve seen more content for the franchise than when Lucasfilm was running it on its own. The House of Mouse is efficient in making sure it gets talent from around the globe to deliver fans plenty of new Star Wars movies and shows. There are many great minds working on the franchise that will hopefully propel the world well into the future, but eventually, the temptation to revisit what worked before can always overtake decision-makers.
It may take decades, but it's easy to imagine Star Wars will eventually end up rebooting the Original Trilogy. Hell, there are even reasons to do it now, though the insane backlash for even suggesting it will likely keep reboots of Episodes IV-VI well into the future. Having said that, I do believe that day will one day come and have some reasons about why it would make sense.
There’s A Lot Of Content From The Prequel Era And More That The Original Trilogy Doesn’t Address
Unlike most franchises, Star Wars’ oldest works are what is chronologically considered the midpoint of this universe. It’s even gotten pushed further forwards in the timeline, as new works like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, certain animated adventures and The High Republic Works continue to flesh out everything that came before. We get a lot of additional information and more opportunities to spend time with beloved characters who aren’t around after the Original Trilogy, but that comes with a cost.
Every time something happens in these new works, it seems like there’s always a discussion of whether or not this contradicts or causes issues with the original movies. It’s even led to a debate on whether or not saving Luke from Emperor Palpatine was truly enough for Darth Vader to balance the scales against all his horrific misdeeds and become a Force Ghost. There are many more examples of things like that, and spirited debates about them are still happening every day on the internet.
One thing that would end those arguments is rebooting the original Star Wars trilogy in a way that organically works in all the works of the Prequel Trilogy and before that in an organic way. After all, if there are already discussions happening now about inconsistencies or issues with works contradicting the OG trilogy, imagine what it’ll be like a decade from now. A decade beyond that, and I think the problem will be unavoidable.
Star Wars Has Already Made Tweaks To The Original Trilogy
It’s not so hard to believe Disney will ultimately reboot A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, especially when thinking about the number of alterations that have been made to the movies over the years. Some of these changes are small, but others, as many are aware, are much bigger. Even the most casual of fans are aware of the classic “Han shot first” controversy, and there are many other moments that have either been added or removed from the movies over the years. George Lucas was fine with changing moments that fans felt integral to the story and hasn’t changed his mind about reverting even some of the most controversial decisions back to the way they were.
When the creator of a franchise has made changes to their original work on the level that George Lucas has, it sets a precedent. Now Disney presumably has the power to make those changes or even retool what we know as the Original Trilogy completely. Technically, that could inevitably revert Han back to shooting Greedo first, but it could also add some things to the movies that definitely weren’t there before. As an example, perhaps we’d see Poe Dameron’s parents as key members of the Rebel Alliance.
It sounds like a massive change, but this is the same franchise that added Joh Yowza to Jabba’s Palace to spice things up a bit. I guess there’s an argument to make that more tweaks could be made to the trilogy, but at what point is it just easier to remake these movies entirely? This might be a better question: at what point do the changes become so numerous that people actually agree a remake is necessary?
Many Classic Movies Get Remakes
Hollywood loves nostalgia, as do audiences. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t see some of the most beloved franchises get a never-ending number of sequels or reboots that fundamentally change the franchise as a whole. Some are well-received and others not so much. Some studios want to give a formerly beloved franchise a chance at a new life (like The Munsters) and try to mix things up in a way that reinvigorates interest in the franchise.
Star Wars isn’t necessarily in a position where it needs to completely re-write the Original Trilogy because a bulk of what exists connects to everything that came before and after. As mentioned, though, there are more inconsistencies that occur with each new show that comes along, which does create a need for some other tweaks. It’s also only going to become more apparent as time goes on how dated the franchise looks, as classic as it is.
Because these original Star Wars movies are still relevant decades later and could last long before the lives of many of its fans, the odds feel high that Disney might eventually pull the trigger on a reboot. It might come well beyond any of us are alive, but with the trajectory planned for the Star Wars franchise, the odds feel better than not that someday, somehow, the original trilogy will be rebooted. The good news is that for anyone who might be upset by reading that, is that there are no current plans to reboot the Original Trilogy, and it’s hard to imagine there will be for some time.
Anyone who has a Disney+ subscription can check out the entire Skywalker Saga on the Mouse House's streaming service. As of this writing, the Original Trilogy is only as altered as the latest update, so feel free to watch that and wonder if the day for a reboot will ever come.
