Giant Freakin Robot

In the wake of Disney’s announcement that there will be a series of stand-alone Star Wars movies, speculation has run rampant about who, what, when, where, and every other variable. Yesterday the predominant news was centered around a young Han Solo and Boba Fett each getting their own film. While either one or both of those would kick a lot of ass (don’t we all wonder what a young Han would be like?), we, as a fan base, may have gotten ahead of ourselves.

This sounded like a fairly solid deal, but now Deadline reports that it is anything but. Their unnamed source says, “Nobody knows when these movies are even coming out. Right now, people are just kicking around ideas. Which is why you hear it’s Yoda one day and a young Han Solo another. It’s all in early development right now.”

This doesn’t necessarily mean that baby Han and solo Fett won’t each get their own story, but it does seem that those are just two of many possibilities being considered. The whole point of the article is that nothing has been decided yet, and that nothing is set in stone.

Now that the dust has finally settled and we know that J.J. Abrams is going to direct Star Wars: Episode VII for Disney, we can move on to other things, like wild, unsubstantiated casting rumors. Here’s one for you: a report states that Fringe star John Noble is up for the part of a villain in the next chapter of franchise. Who knows if this is legit, or if it will turn out to be real, but you could do a hell of a lot worse.

John Noble may play a bad guy in Star Wars: Episode VII

An Australian radio host named Jo on Fox FM said that she “has it on very good authority that Aussie actor John Noble will be appearing as the villain.”

Since Disney made it official, that they would be developing stand-alone Star Wars movies, there have been some rumors about what these movies would entail. We’ve heard about Zack Snyder’s, now debunked, stand-alone film based on Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, a possible Yoda-centric film, and Robert Rodriguez’s Han Solo movie. Now it appears that Disney and Lucasfilm are in the early stages of developing a (sort of) prequel film that would follow the adventures of a young Han Solo and a stand-alone Boba Fett movie.

According to Entertainment Weekly, both projects are currently being developed and are “still very early in the process and, well, the deal could always be altered further.” There is heavy speculation that the Han Solo adventure film would take place sometime between the 20 years that separates Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Considering Harrison Ford is 70 years old, Disney would have to cast a younger actor to play Han Solo in these movies. Any suggestions?

As for the Boba Fett film, it seems like this movie could take place sometime between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. Honestly, a Boba Fett movie where he escapes from the Sarlacc pit would be a better idea. It could also be a somewhat remake of Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours. There was no word whether or not director Joe Johnston would be involved with the Boba Fett film. Johnston was the original designer of the Boba Fett armor and he’s been very vocal about making a stand-alone Boba Fett movie.

It’s a safe bet that that majority of our readers love Star Wars. Even the most shell-shocked among you are at least somewhat intrigued by the prospect of new films (as part of a new trilogy, or as stand-alone features) exploring this particular far, far away galaxy. There’s a ton of minutia in George Lucas’ beloved space opera, and for every planet visited, there are tons place, trade routes, star systems, and more that are mentioned offhand.

Now some enterprising fanatics have taken all of that information and used it to create an extensive map of the Star Wars universe. Check it out below, or click here to see a bigger version, one you can actually read.