Worlds of What If: A Series of Video Game Alternate Histories

[Mr Khan]

Salnax said:

Mr Khan said:
Marginally related, but the big "what if" i've been puzzling out, is:
What if the Star Wars films had been made "in order"? E.g. the original trilogy was episode I, II, and III, and then the new trilogy was 4, 5, and 6?

This is assuming that only the general plots stay the same for both: e.g. episode I is about finding Anakin and encountering a mysterious evil of the Sith that seems to be stirring up the corrupt but otherwise peaceful alien groups in the galaxy, and that it wouldn't be the exact same thing, due to budget and technology and Lucas having less direct creative control.

Interesting thought. I can think of a couple of historical changes, both to the movie and to our culture.

First, I doubt Anakin would have been played by a kid. Instead, he could have been played by the same adult actor throughout the trilogy. Maybe Mark Hamill could have played Anakin? If his real life career is any indicator, he knows how to play both the hero and the villain.

Second thought. The cultural impact of the movie would have been very different. Episodes 4 to 6 were ultimately optimistic, despite the crazy odds and powerful empire. Episodes 1 to 3 were a tragedy. If the movies were just as sucessful as in real life, Hollywood would have been more willing to make films that went outside of peoples' comfort zones.

Third idea: The aesthetics of the Republic. In our timeline, the original trilogy looks all medievel-space-punkish while  Episodes 1 to 3 look smooth and futuristic. Back in 1977, people were just beginning to think the future was gritty, was there was a chance that Star Wars would end up looking aesthetically more like Star Trek. Maybe this would affect other sci-fi films of the era, like Blade Runner.

Numer Quattro. Even if you had the same actors and actresses playing different parts, you'd need a new actor to play Obi-Wan Kenobi. Whoever that guy is gets a free career and a reputation for playing failed mentors.

5. What if the clone wars were radically different? Like, what if the war was regular people vs droids, creating a metaphor for humanity's struggle against the technology they replace? Or regular people vs. clones, bringing in all sorts of new ideas into the franchise.

Item the Sixth. People in this timeline's 2012 will joke about an alternate universe where the crappy episodes 4 ro 6 were made first, laughing about how confused people would be by the numbering system.

My thoughts were somewhat similar, that alternate episode I would have been more or less a stock sci-fi film, just with good and evil superpowered guys running around helping the various sides, with the prophecy about Anakin and the mysterious Darth Sidious being the only sequel hooks. Episode II would be a bit grittier (like episode V in our world) to show the series potential for drama, then episode III comes along, and the fall of Anakin and the Jedi becomes the biggest upset in movie history, leaving the children as a sequel hook (forced in by the studio, maybe? Or just a sign that evil cannot endure forever).

The other question is what 4-6 would have looked like if Lucas had had complete creative control and more money. Hoth would have been traded for Geonosis, for one, being the big huge-scope battle