As diehard Star Wars fans may know, George Lucas‘ earliest drafts for the original movie’s script involved a higher order of beings known as the Whills. Lucas initially had an idea that the Star Wars saga would be told through the perspective of the Journal of the Whills, a race tasked with writing the history of the galaxy. And according to a newly released book, Lucas had further plans still for the Whills; in fact, they would have been a focal point for his Star Wars sequel trilogy.
Via CBR, Lucas’ comments were taken from an Insight Editions companion to the AMC series James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction. “[The next three Star Wars films] were going to get into a microbiotic world. But there’s this world of creatures that operate differently than we do. I call them the Whills. And the Whills are the ones who actually control the universe. They feed off the Force.”
As far as I've seen, these are the first specifics George Lucas has shared about what his vision of Episodes 7-9 would have been. This comes from @insighteditions awesome companion book to "James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction series" on AMC: pic.twitter.com/Wtlw8zlrqv
— Livio Ramondelli (@LivioRamondelli) June 12, 2018
“If I’d held onto the company I could have done it, and then it would have been done,” Lucas said. “Of course, a lot of the fans would have hated it, just like they did Phantom Menace and everything, but at least the whole story from beginning to end would be told.”
In the new post-Lucas continuity, the Whills have been directly referenced onscreen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus were Guardians of the Whills, a religious order that revered the Force and the Jedi. Of course, these characters certainly weren’t microbiotic lifeforms. Truthfully, Lucas was probably correct about the eventual reaction from fans; it sounds like Lucas’ take on the Whills would have been the midichlorians of a new generation.
What do you think about Lucas’ original plans for the Star Wars sequel trilogy? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Lucasfilm
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