“I am your Father.”
At the heart of the Star Wars movies, there has always been the complex and interesting relationships between the characters. At first, there was the hint of a love triangle between Han, Leia and Luke. Then, Leia and Luke were revealed to be siblings. While Han and Leia fumbled with acknowledging their growing affection for each other, Darth Vader dropped his paternal bombshell on Luke. But, this emphasis on connection goes much further than that – encompassing the prequel movies, too. Beyond the Anakin/Padme love story, we saw the historical links between Yoda and Chewbacca, Chewbacca and his people, Obi Wan and Anakin, and Obi Wan and Yoda – all of which lends itself perfectly to the exploration of a wider cinematic universe.
But, first and foremost, we can expect this strong relationship-based thread to continue to run through the story and, however many spinoffs we eventually see, Episode VII is next for release. It is fairly safe to assume that the movie will introduce our beloved characters and explain – to some extent – what has happened in the intervening years, and how their connections have been affected. This will then inform the action moving forward. What have Han, Leia and Luke been up to? It’s anyone’s guess.
– Sarah Myles