9. I'll Have The Grand Admiral Thrawn, Hold The Ysalamiri
Heir To The Empire was a publishing blockbuster. The three novels comprising Timothy Zahn's original Thrawn trilogy have sold over 15 millions copies. That's a huge accomplishment - even for a franchise as big as Star Wars. I'm currently rereading Heir To The Empire. Revisiting it now, there are a lot of things I like, and some things I don't. But I'll give it this: it's original, it's exciting, and it takes Star Wars in a surprising number of new directions. It's one fan's vision of what they want out of Star Wars. That gives Heir a truly unique sense of purpose. There's a surprising amount of the Star Wars universe created or defined by Timothy Zahn. Some of his original characters, like Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade, are nearly as popular as Han Solo and Boba Fett. Heck, the guy named Courscant. Unfortunately, the prequels have contradicted a good portion of Zahn's ideas (best example: the clones were the Republic's enemy). A screen adaptation would be an opportunity to bring this story back into the fold without taking anything away from Zahn and his work. Thrawn is still one of Star Wars' best villains. He's the antithesis of the emotional, sometimes irrational rapscallions that are Vader and the Emperor. He's cold and calculating, engenders respect from his followers, and is always five steps ahead of the good guys. He reminds me of the Joker in The Dark Knight, the go-to template for any genre film that wants to be taken seriously nowadays. Like Nolan's Joker, Thrawn's plans are amazingly, unbelievably complex, which surprisingly go off without a hitch... unless Luke, Leia, or Han are around, of course. He terrorizes the New Republic with his shock and awe tactics. At the same time, he effortlessly sows seeds of mistrust within The New Republic. Heir to the Empire could easily be retooled to play up those elements. I don't know if we need another Dark Knight or Skyfall at this time, but it's an easy inroad for modern audiences. The Thrawn trilogy would play well on the big screen - but it's better suited for a series of Direct-To-Video releases, where the story can unfold at its own pace. And Disney, can we please ditch
the Ysalamiri? I know it's hard for writers to come up with ways to challenge the Jedi, but producing the narrative equivalent of Jedi kryptonite just makes my geek blood boil.