Star Wars’ Thrilling New Trailer Proves It’s Time to Recast the OT Heroes, And Fast

As more and more Star Wars projects come out each year, the one thing that seems to be untouchable is the casting of the heroes from the original trilogy. That’s understandable to most longtime fans because Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford are so iconic and beloved. They are all pop culture staples who helped define what Star Wars is and what it means for so many people, so seeing anyone else step into their shoes could feel odd. The three legendary actors were brought back for Disney’s sequel trilogy, and it made sense because they were all the appropriate age to portray their characters as elders ushering in the next generation. However, the deeper the franchise gets into showing what happened in between the original trilogy and the newer films, the more Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo might appear, so it’s about time Star Wars should consider recasting them.

This is especially true after seeing the official trailer drop for Star Wars: Ahsoka Season 2. The storyline the show seems to be focusing on would be odd without one of the original heroes, and recasting the characters is the way to go for the future of the franchise.

Ahsoka Season 2’s Conflict Needs Leia

Judging by the events at the end of Ahsoka Season 1 and the trailer for the upcoming season, a war will be at the center of the story. Although plenty of focus will be given to Ahsoka and Sabine being stuck in another galaxy, Grand Admiral Thrawn will clearly be the main antagonist. He is set to lead the remnants of the Galactic Empire in a war against the New Republic. Thrawn’s a brilliant military tactician, so watching him take part in actual battles should be captivating. However, his facing off against the New Republic means that he should come into contact with Leia.

There is no way to properly tell a story of a full-scale galactic conflict between the New Republic and what’s left of the Empire without involving Leia. This timeframe is at the height of her political power, and the sequel trilogy firmly established her as a founder and general of the Resistance. Meanwhile, novels like Star Wars: Bloodline focus on Leia navigating troubles in the Galactic Senate; all these stories go to show her prominence as a leader, so it wouldn’t make sense to have her absent from a battle against Thrawn and his army.

The sequel trilogy specified that Leia opted to focus on these aspects of her life rather than train as a Jedi, which she did in the Star Wars Legends continuity. Ahsoka Season 2 needs to include Leia in some form if it’s going to make any sense. They must bring in someone to portray Leia because using CGI or something along those lines for full scenes would be uncanny and awkward. It was already weird for a single scene in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and doing it for longer than that would only be worse.

The Original Trio Should Be Recast Whenever They Appear Going Forward

The future of the Star Wars franchise is a bit all over the place right now. While we know about Ahsoka Season 2, Star Wars: Starfighter, and Maul: Shadow Lord Season 2, other projects are in development but unconfirmed. There is talk of Dave Filoni directing a film that ties “Mandoverse” projects together, and if that happens, it likely means more of Luke Skywalker. However, the use of Luke in this era so far hasn’t been great. Fans have complained about the CGI face and de-aging technology utilized to depict him, as it can be off-putting.

People have suggested that the body double for Luke, Graham Hamilton, could take on the role, especially since he’s a Juilliard-trained actor. Others have mentioned Sebastian Stan since he looks a fair bit like Hamill. Meanwhile, Han Solo is a character who hasn’t faced any issues with CGI and was actually recast for Solo: A Star Wars Story. Alden Ehrenreich’s performance as Han wasn’t a huge hit, so it’s understandable why actors might not want to step into these shoes. Truthfully, Ehrenreich was solid, and Donald Glover was excellent as a young Lando. Both options were far better than uncanny special effects.

If Luke, Leia, and Han have to appear in upcoming projects for logical reasons, it would be best to have new actors take on the roles. It won’t be easy, but it’s the best option. Someone new playing Leia in Ahsoka Season 2 would be a great way to kickstart a new era of recasting iconic Star Wars characters.