Luke Skywalker Rumored To Build New Jedi Academy In Star Wars: Episode VII

Rumors abound of the Disney-appropriated Star Wars: Episode VII with fans and critics across the galaxy speculating what the new film could be about. With Palpatine defeated, Vader redeemed, and the Empire in tatters, what could Luke Skywalker do in a new Star Wars film? It seems the answer is teach.

In a Reuters article about the Guatemalan temple where George Lucas filmed parts of Star Wars, the writer mentions:

Yavin 4 and the rebel base return to the Star Wars plot in the forthcoming Episode VII, announced in October by the Walt Disney Co, in which Skywalker comes back to the planet to build a Jedi Knight academy.

Whether or not this tidbit of news is true or in any way official is still up in the air. But the plot details should be immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the Expanded Universe canon. Kevin J. Anderson penned a trilogy of novels called The Jedi Academy Trilogy in 1994, featuring Luke Skywalker’s attempts to revive the Jedi Order. The novels also starred the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun, as well as a cast of new Jedi trainees, and a massive superweapon known as the Sun Crusher. The novel trilogy was later retconned with I, Jedi, introducing the character Corran Horn.

Using the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV as a basis of a new trilogy also makes sense from a film perspective. It would let the new films introduce a new cast of heroes (Corran Horn? Kyle Katarn, anybody?) while simultaneously allowing for the possibility of retaining Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher in smaller or cameo roles. Exar Kun — if done correctly — makes for a villain with enough sinister history to match Vader and the Emperor (and if not, at least Count Dooku).

Of course, this could all be misdirection in part of LucasArts and Disney or a serious case of media misinformation, but at this point in Star Wars: Episode VII‘s production, fans (myself included) will snatch up and gobble up any sort of news or hints regarding the movie’s plot. And, if the new trilogy were to go the way of The Jedi Academy Trilogy, it’s got the potential to be a reboot worth seeing. Maybe.