Eh....if you're looking to totally redesign Dash, Momoa is a solid choice. If you wanna keep him closer to the original design, Chris Pratt would work nicely.

Drogodash or Starlord in Star Wars?

I'm up for lesser known actors to get their shot at Star Wars.

The obvious problem with filming SotE is recasting the multiple characters who are in it. Mark Hamil and Carrie Fisher are not going to be playing 20-something Luke and Leia again.Fun as it would be, they might be better off telling a parallel story in that timeframe as they are doing with Rogue One.

There could be references to the cast of Shadows in Rogue One or any of the forthcoming films to reintroduce/reinvent Legends characters. In the parallel/interwoven films the mouse had the capability to bring in or tweak whomever they wish in addition to introducing new characters.

Should they decide to do something of this ilk in Episodes 8 or 9 it can include the now-aged character and some ret-con flashbacks for their back story. Just look at how Han and Leia have changed from Legends to Mouse-canon.

I might suggest that ol' Dash was compensatin' for something

Essentially, not being Han Solo.

If you've ever seen the Unskippable narration of the opening video of Star Wars: The Old Republic, then you might remember a phrase which stuck in my head from it:

"Quick! Join Not-Han-Solo on the Not-Millenium-Falcon!"

It wouldn't be very hard to do the same basic story, leaving out the 'main characters'. The overall story is the Black Sun organization attempting to gain favor with the Emperor by playing against Vader's search for his son. Obviously Vader doesn't find Luke, so not having Luke in the story isn't a problem. Vader and Boba Fett* can be included easily enough (for obvious reasons). Dash, Leebo, IG-88, and Xixor are new characters.

It wouldn't actually be that hard to do.

* Indeed, it might be in queue, already - the next movie after the standalone Han Solo film is supposedly a Boba Fett film. No word on the period of that one - obviously post-Episode II and pre-RotJ, but that covers a lot of ground...

IG-88 was one of the bounty hunters on the bridge of the Executor. He's definitely not a new character.

I'm not a fan of the book... Or the game... Or the characters... Or much from Shadows of the Empire really.

I guess I did like Boba Fett kicking IG-88's ass over Tatooine.

I'll say the same thing about this I said when people were all "Heir to the Empire should be Episode VII!!!!": Disney didn't pay $4 billion for the franchise just so they could adapt decades-old books that no one cares about aside from a relative handful of hardcore fans.

Dash is just a low-rent Han.

Don't see the huge appeal in adapting everything, just take whatever you want and move along.

They've kept the good bits (the ships and the characters) because they're pretty much baked into the canon now. The story was tossed out along with every other EU story, they'll probably pay some homage when they write new stuff but they'll do their own thing.

Personally, I would of just been happy with a scene in Force Awakens, when the gang arrive at the watering hole to help get BB-8 to the resistance, that Han approaches the bar, notices someone sitting in a small alcove, similar to where Han was sat in ANH, but with a rugged old man, with DASH-ing good looks, sat across from a droid.

Han gets clocked staring, they share a nod, rest of the story continues as normal.

Not only would that of fit thematically into the "Let's just re-do ANH with different characters" set they had going on, but people who knew, would KNOW who that was and it would canonise the character. His ship is already in ANH anyway, we just need some acknowledgement of the pilot and crew.

Hell, I would have been happy with Finn talking to Dash instead of the aliens he was bargaining with and Han commenting on that he can go with anyone, just not that scoundrel.

Finn: "I am getting off this planet and away from the First Order."

Han: "Yeah OK, just not with him, a'right."

Finn: "What's wrong with him, he looks like he can handle himself, says he has a fast ship too."
Han: "Listen kid, imitation is a form of flattery but that guy is just a plain wannabe, trust me, I know."

Just . . . something. . . .

I'll say the same thing about this I said when people were all "Heir to the Empire should be Episode VII!!!!": Disney didn't pay $4 billion for the franchise just so they could adapt decades-old books that no one cares about aside from a relative handful of hardcore fans.

From the Wiki (sources cited there):

The trilogy sold a combined total of 15 million copies. The Secret History of Star Wars by Michael Kaminski credits the Thrawn trilogy with resparking the public's interest with the Star Wars franchise after it had faded following the release of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi in 1983. According to Kaminski, it is possible that this renewed interest was a factor in George Lucas' decision to create the prequel trilogy.[2]

The Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing the Star wars franchise,[3] and also introduced the popular expanded universe characters Talon Karrde, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Mara Jade, and Gilad Pellaeon.[4][5]

In August 2011, the series was voted into NPR's top 100 science fiction and fantasy books (coming in at place 88), as voted on by over 60,000 participants.[6]

I'd be satisfied just seeing Xizor in Rebels. The Black Sun are already canon again, why not da Sheez.

I'll say the same thing about this I said when people were all "Heir to the Empire should be Episode VII!!!!": Disney didn't pay $4 billion for the franchise just so they could adapt decades-old books that no one cares about aside from a relative handful of hardcore fans.

but in the case of Shadows of the Empire, and Heir to the Empire.... these are BIG books with a significant following. Heir to the Empire even had a video game and whole line of toys. It was as big in it's time, as the Clone Wars was a few years back. And they obviously ARE interested in keeping these stories closer to the forefront as evidenced by the Rebels Season 3 trailer, which features both Thrawn AND a YT-2400. They aren't going to re-tell the same stories word for word, but they are still bringing a lot of this stuff back.

So while Disney didn't buy Star Wars exclusively for the EU, that certainly was a PART of what they bought and they aren't going to throw it all away. Imagine how you'd feel is Disney threw out Episode 4 and declared it was no longer canon, and people were saying things like "Disney didn't buy Star Wars so they could re-live the glory days of Stormtroopers bumping their helmets on the door frames".

Eh....if you're looking to totally redesign Dash, Momoa is a solid choice. If you wanna keep him closer to the original design, Chris Pratt would work nicely.

Drogodash or Starlord in Star Wars?

I'm up for lesser known actors to get their shot at Star Wars.

Fair. There is probably a lessor known actor out there we just don't know about that would totally nail Dash. People like Pratt are just the familiar faces that have done something similar before, which is both good and bad.

I think this would be awesome...if they kept the best parts from the book in the movie (not limited to, I'm thinking, of Vader's attempts to heal himself and the battle at the Vergesso Asteroids) the movie would be great. SotE is one of my favorite EU books. It added depth to Vader's character, I think.

However, Luke has his green lightsaber (he builds it during the course of the book) and if I remember correctly there is also reason to think he didn't build it until he arrived at Tatooine prior to ROTJ as there are deleted scenes in ROTJ of him apparently finishing his lightsaber there.

I suppose that could be easily rectified but that's at least one issue (of a few, I am sure) that would have to be addressed.

Who gets to decide what the best parts are?

The book is still in print, why would they re-release it?

Maybe alter details that wouldn't fit anymore (can't think of any, but there might be some), and slap a "It's Canon!" sticker on it.

That sounds terrible. Might as well just start totally over. Use some creative freedom.

I'll say the same thing about this I said when people were all "Heir to the Empire should be Episode VII!!!!": Disney didn't pay $4 billion for the franchise just so they could adapt decades-old books that no one cares about aside from a relative handful of hardcore fans.

You're assuming no one cared. Judging by the response Thrawn is getting the EU was loved.

I'll say the same thing about this I said when people were all "Heir to the Empire should be Episode VII!!!!": Disney didn't pay $4 billion for the franchise just so they could adapt decades-old books that no one cares about aside from a relative handful of hardcore fans.

From the Wiki (sources cited there):

The trilogy sold a combined total of 15 million copies. The Secret History of Star Wars by Michael Kaminski credits the Thrawn trilogy with resparking the public's interest with the Star Wars franchise after it had faded following the release of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi in 1983. According to Kaminski, it is possible that this renewed interest was a factor in George Lucas' decision to create the prequel trilogy.[2]

The Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing the Star wars franchise,[3] and also introduced the popular expanded universe characters Talon Karrde, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Mara Jade, and Gilad Pellaeon.[4][5]

In August 2011, the series was voted into NPR's top 100 science fiction and fantasy books (coming in at place 88), as voted on by over 60,000 participants.[6]

The trilogy still sells well now. I doubt any disney canon book will ever get close to those sales numbers.

The book is still in print, why would they re-release it?

Maybe alter details that wouldn't fit anymore (can't think of any, but there might be some), and slap a "It's Canon!" sticker on it.

That sounds terrible. Might as well just start totally over. Use some creative freedom.

I feel the same about Shadow of the Empire. As far as I know, it does contradict any of the new stories, and it does a good job bridging The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It gives us a great story about core Star Wars characters and introduced us to some cool new guys.

While what I said before was stated cynically, I think it could be a good thing to bring back Shadows of the Empire. It's a good story and has a lot of nostalgia for people. As someone who read and played Shadows of the Empire as a kid, I would love to see it returned to its previous place in the canon. Could Disney make something else good in its place? Probably. But with so many stories and characters removed from canon, it's nice to get some back.

Dash Rendar

Should be played by Kevin Michael Costner