Star Wars Episode 8 - What comes next? (Episode 7 Spoilers)

[Joe Pesci]

So the majority of this board has probably seen The Force Awakens at least once already. Now the question becomes: where does the story go from here?

Annnnnnd GO.

[Kindly Old Man]

Just a guess:

Three years after the destruction of the Starkiller Base, the Resistance has been driven from their former base  by the First Order. Princess Leia leads a contingent including Finn and Chewbacca in a new base on the icy planet Joth. The First Order Fleet, led by Kylo Ren, continues to hunt for the Resistance’s new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy.

On patrol investigating an asteroid strike, Finn and Chewbacca discover the asteroid is actually a probe droid, which alerts the First Order Fleet to the Resistance’s location. The First Order launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Finn and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca, but their hyperspace drive malfunctions. They hide in an asteroid field, where Finn squees over Leia's stories about defeating the Empire. Ren summons bounty hunters including the notorious Boba Fett to assist in finding the Falcon. 

Rey, meanwhile, tries to convince Luke to train her as a Jedi. However, after seeing how awesome she is, he soon realizes that is is he who needs to become Rey's pupil.

After evading the First Order Fleet, Finn sets a course for Cloud City, a floating gas mining colony in the skies of the planet Bespin hosted by the son of Leia's old friend, Lando Calrissian Jr. Unknowingly, the Millennium Falcon has been tracked by Boba Fett; shortly after they arrive, Calrissian Jr. leads the group into a trap and they are handed over to Kylo Ren. Ren plans to use the group as bait to lure out Rey with the intent of capturing her alive and presenting him to his master, Supreme Leader Snoke. Meanwhile, Rey and Luke head for Cloud City. On the way, Rey teaches Luke and also learns several new languages.

Ren reneges on his agreement with Lando Jr. and takes Leia and Chewbacca into custody. He intends to hold Rey in suspended animation via carbon freezing, and as a test freezes Finn in a block of carbonite. He hands the frozen Finn over to Fett, who intends to leave for Jakku to deliver Finn to Gobba the Hutt to claim a bounty. Calrissian Jr., who was unwillingly forced into cooperating with the First Order, initiates an escape and frees Leia and the others. They try to save Finn but are unable to stop Fett from departing, and flee Cloud City in the Falcon.

Rey arrives at Cloud City and quickly realizes it is a trap. She and Ren engage in a lightsaber duel that leads them over the city's central air shaft where Ren proves to be even less of a match for Rey than in their previous fight. Desperate to convince Rey to join the dark side, Ren reveals that he is Rey's cousin, but everyone knew this already so it has no effect. Rey strolls back to the Falcon, where BB-8 repairs the hyperdrive, allowing them to escape the First Order Fleet and an even more despondent Ren. Also, Captain Phasma is around.

Later aboard a Resistance medical frigate, Calrissian Jr. and Chewbacca set off in the Falcon to find Gebba the Hutt and Boba Fett in order to save Finn. As the Falcon departs, Rey, Leia, BB-8, and C-3PO look on and await their contact.

[Jack Bauer 24]

What about the Supreme Leader?

[Kalbear]

So the majority of this board has probably seen The Force Awakens at least once already. Now the question becomes: where does the story go from here?

Annnnnnd GO.

Gotta mark this as spoilers for ep7.

[The Mance]

Just a guess:

Three years after the destruction of the Starkiller Base, the Resistance has been driven from their former base  by the First Order. Princess Leia leads a contingent including Finn and Chewbacca in a new base on the icy planet Joth. The First Order Fleet, led by Kylo Ren, continues to hunt for the Resistance’s new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy.

On patrol investigating an asteroid strike, Finn and Chewbacca discover the asteroid is actually a probe droid, which alerts the First Order Fleet to the Resistance’s location. The First Order launches a large-scale attack, using AT-AT Walkers to capture the base. Finn and Leia escape on the Millennium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca, but their hyperspace drive malfunctions. They hide in an asteroid field, where Finn squees over Leia's stories about defeating the Empire. Ren summons bounty hunters including the notorious Boba Fett to assist in finding the Falcon. 

Rey, meanwhile, tries to convince Luke to train her as a Jedi. However, after seeing how awesome she is, he soon realizes that is is he who needs to become Rey's pupil.

After evading the First Order Fleet, Finn sets a course for Cloud City, a floating gas mining colony in the skies of the planet Bespin hosted by the son of Leia's old friend, Lando Calrissian Jr. Unknowingly, the Millennium Falcon has been tracked by Boba Fett; shortly after they arrive, Calrissian Jr. leads the group into a trap and they are handed over to Kylo Ren. Ren plans to use the group as bait to lure out Rey with the intent of capturing her alive and presenting him to his master, Supreme Leader Snoke. Meanwhile, Rey and Luke head for Cloud City. On the way, Rey teaches Luke and also learns several new languages.

Ren reneges on his agreement with Lando Jr. and takes Leia and Chewbacca into custody. He intends to hold Rey in suspended animation via carbon freezing, and as a test freezes Finn in a block of carbonite. He hands the frozen Finn over to Fett, who intends to leave for Jakku to deliver Finn to Gobba the Hutt to claim a bounty. Calrissian Jr., who was unwillingly forced into cooperating with the First Order, initiates an escape and frees Leia and the others. They try to save Finn but are unable to stop Fett from departing, and flee Cloud City in the Falcon.

Rey arrives at Cloud City and quickly realizes it is a trap. She and Ren engage in a lightsaber duel that leads them over the city's central air shaft where Ren proves to be even less of a match for Rey than in their previous fight. Desperate to convince Rey to join the dark side, Ren reveals that he is Rey's cousin, but everyone knew this already so it has no effect. Rey strolls back to the Falcon, where BB-8 repairs the hyperdrive, allowing them to escape the First Order Fleet and an even more despondent Ren. Also, Captain Phasma is around.

Later aboard a Resistance medical frigate, Calrissian Jr. and Chewbacca set off in the Falcon to find Gebba the Hutt and Boba Fett in order to save Finn. As the Falcon departs, Rey, Leia, BB-8, and C-3PO look on and await their contact.

I don't buy it.  Where does BB-8 get these amazing mechanical skills from?  We haven't seen any programming or upgrades or anything to suggest that some random droid could just know how to fix a hyperdrive like that.  

[Fez]

Not sure about the exact story structure, but some specific beats I think are:

Luke will primarily be a Yoda-like figure and not in the movie too much (As that interview with one of the writers said, the problem with Luke is anytime he's on screen no one cares about the main characters anymore). I think he'll have one really badass moment though, near the end of the movie, and that he won't die.

Leia will have a lot of screen time (although not quite as much as Han did in VII) and while I don't think she'll die, her situation at the end of the movie will make it pretty clear she won't have as a big a role in IX. And then in IX I think Luke will a decent amount of screen time. There is the issue I said above, and the writers will need to work really hard to get around around, but its the end of the trilogy of trilogies that's the story of the Skywalkers, he has to play a major role. Also, its my thought that each of the big 3 will shine in one of the new movies; VII was obviously Han, and I think Leia will be VIII, and Luke gets IX.

There will be a big, semi-evenly matched space battle between the Resistance and the remains of the Republic Fleet vs. the First Order. If its early in the movie, the Resistance/Republic wins, if its the climax, the First Order wins. This is the Empire Strikes Back of the trilogy after all.

Oscar Issac will have screen time comparable to Finn, now that he's been elevated from 'offed in the middle of Act I' to 'one of the new big 3'. It also helps that he's now a much bigger star and favorite of the critics than he was when VII filming started 18 months ago.

Rey will almost exactly follow Luke's path from Empire Strikes Back.

Kylo Ren will kill General Hux at some point. Probably won't be a major point, but just feels really likely.

Lando will briefly show up and completely steal his main scene.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

I'm thinking that they'll actually deliberately make quite a different movie to ESB, given the reaction to TFA being very similar to the first film. I do think it will end with the First Order on top, however.

[Kalbear]

My suspicion is that whatever criticism that it has is going to be drown out by it making a billion dollars in 12 days.

[RumHam]

I think it's too late for reactions to TFA to majorly influence Episode VIII. The script is already written, they've even shot a few scenes I think. I wonder when we'll get a title announcement. 

[Jabronius Maximus]

I'm optimistic that Rian Johnson can make a follow up that's better than VII. This is assuming he's not completely reined in by JJ and Disney. 

My main issue lies with Finn. Given his state at the end of TFA, he's not in a position to offer much help. Of course, time can pass in between movies which means he'll be healed up and ready to go. But what role will he play? Rey seems to have taken the Luke/Han role, being a Jedi and Chewie's mate, Poe is the badass ace pilot, Leia is of course the General, Ben is the complex villain. If I had to venture a guess he'd turn out to be a light side force user as well - maybe a Jedi, but not as powerful as Rey. 

Of course he could also just fade into the background while the others carry the story. That'd be disappointing to me, because I really liked Boyega's performance and chemistry with the rest of the cast. I hope he still has a large role to play, but that'll be for Johnson to decide.

[Martell Spy]

My main issue lies with Finn. Given his state at the end of TFA, he's not in a position to offer much help. Of course, time can pass in between movies which means he'll be healed up and ready to go. But what role will he play? Rey seems to have taken the Luke/Han role, being a Jedi and Chewie's mate, Poe is the badass ace pilot, Leia is of course the General, Ben is the complex villain. If I had to venture a guess he'd turn out to be a light side force user as well - maybe a Jedi, but not as powerful as Rey. 

Of course he could also just fade into the background while the others carry the story. That'd be disappointing to me, because I really liked Boyega's performance and chemistry with the rest of the cast. I hope he still has a large role to play, but that'll be for Johnson to decide.

 

I don't think he'll fade, even if he doesn't become a Jedi. He'll likely end up as some kind of Resistance leader. Someone will have to take over as the older generation dies out over the war.

[Corvinus85]

Considering the rumored casting call for a leading woman who may be Finn's love interest in VIII, I'm thinking he will hook up with Lando's daughter.

[Fez]

 

I don't think he'll fade, even if he doesn't become a Jedi. He'll likely end up as some kind of Resistance leader. Someone will have to take over as the older generation dies out over the war.

Yeah, I think he'll end up in charge of Resistance ground forces. That way all fronts are covered and each of the three main characters is doing something different during the ensuring films' climaxes; Poe flying, Finn fighting on the ground, and Rey doing something or other special.

I just wonder if they'll end up in some sort of love triangle. I sure hope not. But if they do, I hope its at least handled like it was in the OT; where its mostly in the background doesn't lead to any real tension between the characters (although hopefully its not resolved by having two of them being revealed as blood relatives).

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

Article regarding Rian Johnson and his potential plans for Episode VIII...

 http://www.vulture.com/2015/12/huge-potential-star-wars-episode-viii-rian-johnson.html#

 

And Abrams expresses regret at not directing next film...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/12/22/why-j-j-abrams-now-regrets-deboarding-the-star-wars-chair-before-episode-viii/

 

 

[Jaxom 1974]

Other than Rey training with Luke, what's the main story thrust? Short of starting with the Empire template of a Resistance in the run from a First Order that has little business being an effective force after the destruction of the Starkiller...

 

Is Snoke looking for Luke still? Is that even a plot point any longer? 

 

I'm interested in where it goes simply because they've boxed themselves in a corner with the way things were left at the end and the general lack of information on the state of the universe as a whole...

 

[ab aeterno]

Article regarding Rian Johnson and his potential plans for Episode VIII...

 http://www.vulture.com/2015/12/huge-potential-star-wars-episode-viii-rian-johnson.html#

 

And Abrams expresses regret at not directing next film...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2015/12/22/why-j-j-abrams-now-regrets-deboarding-the-star-wars-chair-before-episode-viii/

 

 

It's the right movie to take some bigger risks on, IMO. Now that TFA has set some solid groundwork, re-energised the franchise and reassured the fan base (on the whole,) there is a lot more scope to do things differently. Even if it doesn't fire on all cylinders, people will still go and see it and the next one for the conclusion. If TFA had misfired it would have put the entire trilogy on the back foot.

Considering the rumored casting call for a leading woman who may be Finn's love interest in VIII, I'm thinking he will hook up with Lando's daughter.

Let's just go all in and have him hook up with Lando.

[Corvinus85]

Other than Rey training with Luke, what's the main story thrust? Short of starting with the Empire template of a Resistance in the run from a First Order that has little business being an effective force after the destruction of the Starkiller...

 

Is Snoke looking for Luke still? Is that even a plot point any longer? 

 

I'm interested in where it goes simply because they've boxed themselves in a corner with the way things were left at the end and the general lack of information on the state of the universe as a whole...

 

For one, I kinda expect to see some parallelism between Rey's training with Luke, and Kylo's training with Snoke. We haven't really seen how the dark siders do it, other than just them using their emotions of hatred and anger.

In terms of the larger picture, both sides suffered significant losses, but the good guys suffered more losses, because they lost their government and a significant portion of their fleet. The bad guy's loss was only military. And unless the First Order bankrupted itself in building Starkiller, they'll probably recover first. I think we'll see them proceed in a more traditional manner when it comes to warfare, and they will build a new fleet of star destroyers, and invade Republic space - in which case the Resistance's name may become more apt than it really was in TFA, by it being the sole force capable of still opposing The First Order in the galaxy.

I also expect more revelations, and expansion of the universe. Who are the Knights of Ren, and how did they manage to slaughter Luke's Jedi apprentices? Who is Snoke? etc.

On Finn, I already mentioned that I believe he will hook up with Lando's daughter, and hopefully that means Lando returns, too. I think here, Ep. VIII will resemble Empire the most, (along with possible Rey parentage revelations), as in Finn will most likely be pursued by Captain Phasma, whose role will hopefully expand, and maybe some bounty hunters will be involved. 

But with Rian Johnson involved, it's possible it will go into weird, totally unexpected directions.

[Corvinus85]

Let's just go all in and have him hook up with Lando.

Lando: Hello, what have we got here? 

Finn: uhh

Maz Kanata to Finn: You have the eyes of a man who wants to run.

[ab aeterno]

For one, I kinda expect to see some parallelism between Rey's training with Luke, and Kylo's training with Snoke. We haven't really seen how the dark siders do it, other than just them using their emotions of hatred and anger.

In terms of the larger picture, both sides suffered significant losses, but the good guys suffered more losses, because they lost their government and a significant portion of their fleet. The bad guy's loss was only military. And unless the First Order bankrupted itself in building Starkiller, they'll probably recover first. I think we'll see them proceed in a more traditional manner when it comes to warfare, and they will build a new fleet of star destroyers, and invade Republic space - in which case the Resistance's name may become more apt than it really was in TFA, by it being the sole force capable of still opposing The First Order in the galaxy.

I also expect more revelations, and expansion of the universe. Who are the Knights of Ren, and how did they manage to slaughter Luke's Jedi apprentices? Who is Snoke? etc.

On Finn, I already mentioned that I believe he will hook up with Lando's daughter, and hopefully that means Lando returns, too. I think here, Ep. VIII will resemble Empire the most, (along with possible Rey parentage revelations), as in Finn will most likely be pursued by Captain Phasma, whose role will hopefully expand, and maybe some bounty hunters will be involved. 

But with Rian Johnson involved, it's possible it will go into weird, totally unexpected directions.

There were some rumours that either VII or VIII was going to feature Luke and Ren communicating with visions/force ghosts of Anakin/Vader, where Luke would commune with the Anakin Skywalker part and Ren would commune with the Vader part of his mind - IIRC the explanation was that Anakin died before he had fully resolved his issues and returned to the light.

Not 100% sure what I think of this idea, but it would be another occurrence very similar to Bioware Old Republic work.

Lando: Hello, what have we got here? 

Finn: uhh

Maz Kanata to Finn: You have the eyes of a man who wants to run.

"He won't get a scratch."

[Martell Spy]

There were some rumours that either VII or VIII was going to feature Luke and Ren communicating with visions/force ghosts of Anakin/Vader, where Luke would commune with the Anakin Skywalker part and Ren would commune with the Vader part of his mind - IIRC the explanation was that Anakin died before he had fully resolved his issues and returned to the light.

Not 100% sure what I think of this idea, but it would be another occurrence very similar to Bioware Old Republic work.

 

Kinda weird sounding. I was wondering how they are going to handle the whole Kylo/Vader thing later on. Because if one assumes that Vader was fully redeemed to the Light, which is what I had assumed, then it seems clear Kylo has very wrong information about his grandfather's final fate. Which in turn leads to the conclusion that either someone lied to him, or Luke told absolutely no one what happened at the end of ROJ.

It's kind of this big weakness hanging over Kylo Ren in the future. Because at some point he's almost certain to hear the truth and it seems like it could destroy him. (lead to him dying, going back to the Light, or both, because he's basing his current crusade on a big lie)