STAR WARS: George Lucas' Original Sequel Plans Included Maul, Luke Training A New Generation Of Jedi, And More

It feels like the Star Wars sequels will continue being as divisive as the prequels, but George Lucas' ideas for Episode VII onwards are bound to create some discussion. Find out more after the jump...

By JoshWilding - Nov 10, 2020 04:11 AM EST

Filed Under: Star Wars

Following the negative response to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Disney has got Lucasfilm to return to the drawing board when it comes to the franchise's future on the big screen.

Now, it seems the plan is to move on from the Skywalker Saga, and there are many fans out there who believe the studio made a mistake by not borrowing some of George Lucas' ideas for the sequel trilogy. There are also plenty of people who were relieved that didn't happen, though, but some new details have now been revealed about his take on Episode VII and beyond.

In a page shared (via Reddit) from The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III 1999-2005, it's revealed that Lucas considered having Maul serve as a lead villain in his sequels, with Darth Talon taking on a Darth Vader-type role. Luke Skywalker was going to focus on rebuilding the Jedi Order, while Leia Organa was set to eventually become Supreme Chancellor.

It makes for interesting reading, and while there's nothing to say this would have been better than what ended up in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker, it's intriguing!

Ultimately, it feels like Lucas borrowed many of these ideas for The Clone Wars, and Dave Filoni definitely took some inspiration from what we read here for Star Wars Rebels. Check it out below:

r/StarWarsLeaks - George Lucas wanted Maul has the big bad guy of the Sequels, this is from the new book Star Wars Archives Episode 1-3 The Prequels with new interviews from Lucas

Click on the "Next" button below to see how each
Star Wars movie compares on Rotten Tomatoes!

11. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Score: 51%

Rotten or Fresh? Rotten

Critics Consensus: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker suffers from a frustrating lack of imagination, but concludes this beloved saga with fan-focused devotion.

What a disaster. In an effort to please everybody, director J.J. Abrams pleased pretty much no one with this rushed, messy finale to the Skywalker Saga. Kylo Ren got a decent enough ending, but beyond that, characters were mostly underserved, and the return of Emperor Palpatine was majorly botched. The franchise deserved better, so these reviews are by no means a surprise!

10. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Score: 52%

Rotten or Fresh? Rotten

Critics Consensus: Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters, The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy -- albeit visually dazzling -- start.

In many ways, The Phantom Menace is treated too harshly, but it was as disappointing an opening chapter for the prequels as The Rise of Skywalker was a finale for the sequels! There's an awful lot here that does work, and it's hard not to be grateful to the movie for introducing us to characters like Darth Maul and Qui Gon Jinn who have been explored in greater depth since.

9. Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones

Score: 65%

Rotten or Fresh? Fresh

Critics Consensus: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones benefits from an increased emphasis on thrilling action, although they're once again undercut by ponderous plot points and underdeveloped characters.

Arguably a worse film than The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones wasted far too much time on exploring Anakin Skywalker's romance with Padmé Amidala (CGI fruit!) and setting up a conflict which would only ever be touched on in an (admittedly stellar) animated series). There were some highlights - like Yoda seeing some action - but they weren't frequent!

8. Solo: A Star Wars Story

Score: 70%

Rotten or Fresh? Fresh

Critics Consensus: A flawed yet fun and fast-paced space adventure, Solo: A Star Wars Story should satisfy newcomers to the saga as well as longtime fans who check their expectations at the theater door.

Another Star Wars movie that gets a bad rap, the only thing really wrong with Solo was how badly marketed it was! It definitely wasn't the strongest origin story for the iconic smuggler, but there were a lot of surprises here, with Darth Maul's return one of the biggest in the franchise's history. Honestly, it's worth the price of admission for Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover alone.