11 Crucial Things Star Wars Episode 8 Needs

By Jack Pooley / February 26, 2016

By now everyone has seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and there's a pretty good chance you've seen it two or three times going by those stupendous box office figures. With filming now underway on Rian Johnson's Episode VIII, what better time to consider how the movie can follow The Force Awakens' lead, both complimenting its strengths and compensating for its weaknesses? As acclaimed and successful as it was, there is plenty of room for improvement (largely as it pertains to the script above anything else), and with Johnson both writing and directing the new movie by himself, it should result in a wholly consistent vision. That said, hopefully he'll also manage to create a consistent lead from J.J. Abrams' solid groundwork, and if he follows these pointers, from iconic characters who need to return to obvious plot points that should be avoided, then he should be able to deliver a vastly superior effort. Here are 11 crucial things Star Wars Episode VIII needs...

11. Han's Funeral

One of the more vocal complaints about The Force Awakens was that, though Han Solo's death at the hands of Kylo Ren was a shocking and iconic moment, it was then strangely glossed over for the rest of the movie, and not enough time was taken to let it "breathe" and resonate with the movie's characters. Many expected that the film might end with Han's funeral in order to give him a concrete send-off, but instead we can only hope that this has been left for Episode VIII, in order to milk the character's indelible stature that little bit more. A funeral sequence attended by a plethora of main characters would help bring closure to Solo's journey and start Episode VIII, likely to be the darkest of the three movies, off on the right foot.