Star Wars: The Next Generation

Star Wars: The Next Generation
By:
Carl Olson

   The nerd world is abuzz with the latest news about the future of the Star Wars franchise. Late last year, the Walt Disney Company acquired LucasFilm, the company responsible for all things Star Wars. Immediately following this revelation, plans were announced for a new Star Wars trilogy - Episodes VII-IX. George Lucas, series creator, reportedly will have little involvement with this new trilogy. Fans have had mixed reactions over this bit of news. Some are glad, citing the movies Lucas did not direct, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as the best films in the series. Others have expressed concern that the series could potentially turn into something completely different from any vision Lucas might have had for his world. At the end of the day, fans everywhere are holding their breath, waiting to find out the what will happen to their beloved Star Wars.

  However, the Star Wars franchise just might have a new hope. Disney has announced that director J.J. Abrams is set to direct Episode VII. This is not the first time Abrams has been brought in to an already well-established series. Abrams has garnered acclaim from critics and fans alike for his successful reboot of the Star Trek franchise as well as bringing new life to the Mission Impossible film series. He is well known for his ability to pump adrenaline into the action-oriented moments and his skill at displaying emotion and sincerity in the characters of his woStar Wars: The NextStar Wars: The Next GenerationStar Wars: The Next GeneratioxdGenerationrks.

  What is most interesting is that arguably the two most popular and well-known sci-fi franchises, Star Wars and Star Trek, are now in the hands of one man. Often times, the two fandoms have been somewhat at odds with each other - with die-hard fans claiming their series' superiority over the other. What could this new common thread mean for those series' purists? With the next generation of Star Wars films tentatively set to begin release in 2015 and the next Star Trek movie out in May of this year, perhaps extremist fans will finally be able to find common ground. Only time will tell. The only certainty is this: J.J. Abrams holds the fate of both the force and the federation in his hands.