Star Wars VII: Essential Characters And Who Should Play Them – PART I
Its no secret that with the announcement of Star Wars Episode VII the universe is bursting with who were going to see on the big screen. At this point in the game every single tidbit of information should be taken with a grain of Naboo sea salt. Although its been confirmed Michael Arndt has been chosen to write the screenplay for Episode VII and Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg will be on board for Episodes VIII & IX, the verdict is still out on who will helm the directors chair for the filming of this undoubtedly most anticipated movie of 2015. There has also been continuous speculation on the characters we will see inhabiting the Star Wars universe in this up coming film. The theory right now is that we will see the return of Han, Leia and Luke portrayed by the original actors themselves. Billy Dee Williams has also now appeared within the rumor mill of possible return actors to once again portray Lando Calrissian. If this is in fact the case and we do see the return of original cast members reprising their roles, the films will have to take place 30-years after the events of Return of the Jedi in order to correlate with their real life aging. That brings us to this first edition of this Fantasy Casting series for Star Wars Episode VII: as an avid fan of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU), there are countless characters that I would love to see and feel deserve their day in the twin suns (Tatooine reference anyone?). Because I am speculating that we do see a return of the original cast members, I am leaving them untouched in a re-casting debate. Heres how this works: Each week I'm going to introduce Star Wars EU characters up for discussion: some ranging from well known characters to some other not so well known characters. Im sticking with characters that were introduced in the EU novels only. These characters may have made appearances in other media material but Im only counting those that were introduced via book media as qualifiers or have predominately occupied that realm. Im also basing my actor selections on the assumption that we are seeing a story a number of years after Return of the Jedi and not during events right after the last film. An example would be characters that were originally introduced when they were younger or shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi but have aged as years have gone by in the EU. Some selections may line up better than others in regards to continuity and age but that will be up to the screenwriters to hash out. So, without further ado, lets engage the hyperdrive and make the jump to lightspeed!
1. Jennifer Lawrence - Jaina Solo
Who: Jaina Solo is the daughter of Han and Leia. Post Return of the Jedi, Han and Leia would go on to get married and give birth to three children. Jaina would be the oldest with her twin brother Jacen and they would have a younger brother named Anakin. Jaina is a pivotal character in the EU and could easily be incorporated as a strong potential female Jedi lead, something we have yet to see. Shes essentially a female version of her father Han Solo and has been a huge part of the EU for a long time. Jaina's character brings strength but incorporates a lot of conflict as well with who she is and the galaxy she lives in Actress: After the success of the Hunger Games and X-Men: First Class, Jennifer Lawrence has burst onto the scene as a strong young actress. The Hunger Games franchise is hers much like the Harry Potter franchise became Daniel Radcliffes. Lawrence is young enough that the Star Wars universe could really make her career pop and she's no stranger to working with writer Michael Arndt who had a hand in writing the next film in the Hunger Games series, Catching Fire. If she were entrenched long term and brought this iconic character to life, she very well could become an iconic character much like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have. What better way to pass the torch of Skywalker/Solo than to a female Jedi lead of Lawrence's caliber?