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While the tale of George Lucas' long-lost sequel Star Wars trilogy is quite well-known, what's perhaps lesser known is that he also had plans for Episodes X-XII in the Skywalker saga. Throughout Lucas' six Star Wars movies, the original and prequel trilogies respectively, it's easy to see how things changed over the course of the story's creation. Lucas decided to make Darth Vader the father of Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, and in the same vein, he also decided to make Luke and Leia siblings in Return of the Jedi, contrary to their kiss in the prior movie.
These changes have a legacy of being some of Star Wars' best retcons, as well as some of the franchise's very best, though they also came from a fatigue Lucas had with his original vision. In this original vision, many things were different from what ultimately came to be. Many know this about Lucas' sequel trilogy, which Disney refused to pursue after purchasing Star Wars from Lucas in 2012, but this isn't the only part of Lucas' vision that wasn't told. There were three more Star Wars episodes, too, and they were a part of Lucas' very first vision.
George Lucas Originally Planned 12 Star Wars Episodes
The Skywalker Saga Had Four Trilogies To Start
Long before Star Wars (later retitled A New Hope) even came to be, Lucas created his initial draft for the story of his universe, which encompassed 12 total movies. As he wrote his story, however, things began to change, and so did the way in which he desired to tell that story - including how many movies he wanted to create. In his original vision, there were only three trilogies, in addition to a prelude movie, an intermission of sorts halfway through, and a concluding movie.
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This prelude movie would be Episode I, taking the place of what is now known as Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. The next three movies would cover the Clone Wars, similarly to how the rest of the prequel trilogy operates in today's Star Wars, and another movie would follow to help transition between this era and that of what ultimately became known as the original trilogy. A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi would then have become Episodes VI-VIII, which are, of course, vastly different from their placement today.
Another trilogy would have followed this one directly, which would have acted as Lucas' sequel trilogy. After Episodes IX-XI, Lucas had room for one more movie, which would serve as the conclusion to the entire saga. This format is quite obviously different from what ended up happening, as those singular placeholder movies - the prelude, transition, and conclusion - never came to pass. Much of this had to do with Lucas getting weary as he finished the original trilogy; it's a miracle that the prequel trilogy even happened at all, given the fact Lucas initially had limited interest in continuing his story.
George Lucas' Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Set The Foundation For His Episodes X-XII
A New Generation Would Come Forth
While the full details of Lucas' initial Star Wars sequel trilogy are unknown, it can be assumed that they were fairly similar to the plans Lucas did end up making later on. In Lucas' sequel trilogy, Luke's mission would be rebuilding the New Jedi Order, while Leia's would be establishing the New Republic. Leia would be a focal point character in this sequel trilogy, as it would eventually be revealed that Leia was the Chosen One after all. This revelation would come to fruition after Leia manages to put down both a stormtrooper rebellion and Darth Maul's criminal coalition.
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It's what was happening in the background of this sequel trilogy, however, that became the basis for Lucas' fourth trilogy. Lucas envisioned his sequel trilogy taking place just a few years after Return of the Jedi, which meant that Luke's students were still very young - and still very much in need of training. In his vision, it took 20 years for Luke to fully establish the New Jedi Order, with Jedi old enough to become Jedi Knights, even Jedi Masters. This would have led into the final trilogy, which still remains largely a mystery.
Everything We Know About Episodes X-XII
What Was The Fourth Trilogy Like?
Aside from serving as the conclusion to the Skywalker saga, not much is known about Lucas' fourth trilogy other than what has been said by Mark Hamill himself. The Luke Skywalker actor was aware that Lucas had plans for four trilogies, and he had even approached Hamill to ask if he had any interest in cameoing in Episode IX to pass the torch to the next generation, and thus the next story. This would have seen Luke acting as an Obi-Wan Kenobi-esque character, building a bridge between the story of Luke and those who would come after him.
If he was still speaking of four trilogies to Hamill later on, however, then it's likely that Lucas developed something closer to his original vision, in having four complete trilogies.
Still, the original development of Lucas' fourth trilogy is that they weren't connected to the Skywalker saga, but rather functioned as stand-alones, much like his prelude, transition, and conclusion movies. Lucas had ideas for a movie centered on Wookiees and another centered on Ewoks, which have since been reflected in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special and the Ewok TV movies from the 1980s. If he was still speaking of four trilogies to Hamill later on, however, then it's likely that Lucas developed something closer to his original vision, in having four complete trilogies.
Either way, it seems very plausible now that Star Wars could be completing Lucas' original four trilogy vision. As news about Rey's upcoming New Jedi Order movie has developed, Daisy Ridley has revealed that things are "evolving" for this movie, likely in the direction of it becoming a more complete trilogy rather than a standalone movie. If this is the case, then Star Wars has the chance to return to Lucas' earliest vision of the franchise, perhaps redeeming itself somewhat from straying so far from what Lucas envisioned in his original Star Wars sequel trilogy plans.
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Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
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