4. Josh Hutcherson - Ben Skywalker
Who: Last edition focused primarily on the Solo children. Now its time to bring up the son of Luke Skywalker. Ben Skywalker, smartly named after Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi, was born during the New Jedi Order era books. Although the Solo children factor in strongly to the heritage of the Skywalker name, Ben is the one that will ultimately carry the torch for the family name. Since the Star Wars story is the telling of the Skywalker family, a passing of the torch from Luke to his son could be a crowning achievement in the franchise. Theres also potential for an amazing dynamic between Ben and his cousin Jacen: two Jedi from the same family that take two different paths that meet at a head. When George Lucas had originally planned to do a sequel trilogy to the original, it was believed that he had the idea of passing the torch to the next generation. With Lucas still on board as a consultant of sorts, its easy to assume that much of his influence will be incorporated into the new trilogy and a lock that we see a son of Skywalker introduced and playing a concrete role. I also believe that instead of blowing up the EU theyve spend years constructing, they will incorporate elements from that universe into the movies. Lucas has endorsed the EU and it would down right silly if they took away its legitimacy with new films. Actor: The reason I chose Josh Hutcherson as the heir to Anakin and Luke is because he is a young up-and-coming actor. Although I fail to know a lot about the Hunger Games world, Ive heard a lot of positive criticism directed towards Hutcherson and his portrayal of Peeta Merllark. Although I havent read the books, I did see the movie and enjoyed the part that he played in it alongside Jennifer Lawrence. If you took the time to read Part I, I referenced Lawrence as a potential fill in as Jaina Solo, Ben Skywalkers cousin. Although Jaina is a bit older than Ben, the two actors obviously will have on screen chemistry together even though in the Expanded Universe they are essentially on different journeys. Up to this point, Hutcherson has proven to show a good amount of on screen ability and he is at the perfect age to portray a role with an older Luke Skywalker and possibly carry the torch of not just the Skywalker name but the franchise itself.