3 Star Wars Visions Stories That Deserve Their Own Show After The Ninth Jedi
A member of the Hollywood Creative Alliance, Chicago Indie Critics, Online Film and Television Association, and the Internet Film Critic Society, George has covered major industry events as credentialed media, including D23, CinemaCon, SXSW, Fantastic Fest, Star Wars Celebration, Tribeca Festival, and more. He also regularly writes reviews and contributes articles to ScreenAnarchy, BRWC, Film Obsessive, TV Obsessive, and Under the Radar. George's work has been featured in various esteemed publications, including the BBC, Associated Press, Forbes, and The New York Times.
This week, the world of Star Wars: Visions expands with the first full-fledged, long-form addition of the series. Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi is the first series in a new initiative from Disney and Lucasfilm that will expand beloved shorts from existing volumes of Visions into an entire show.
“The Ninth Jedi” was among the most acclaimed shorts of Star Wars: Visions Volume 1 when it debuted five years ago. The short from Production I.G. and writer/director Kenji Kemiyama garnered praise for its shocking reveal and unique approach to lightsabers, which change color to reflect a person’s alignment with the Force.
The story of Lah Kara continued last year when “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope” debuted as part of Star Wars: Visions Volume 2. But just a few months earlier, executive producer James Waugh announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan that this would not be the last the world sees of Lah Kara, Margrave Joro, and the others.
Waugh confirmed that Star Wars: Visions Presents would be a new line of shows dedicated to fleshing out specific shorts from previous volumes of Visions. “The Ninth Jedi” was selected as the first short to be expanded and receive the Visions Presents treatment, but there are a number of other shorts that would similarly make for fantastic standalone seasons of television.
The Duel
The very first short of the very first volume of Star Wars: Visions remains one of the series’ finest installments. The short from Japan-based animation studio Kamikaze Douga entirely reimagined the style and feel of a Star Wars story by having its setting resemble feudal Japan and employing a high-contrast black-and-white aesthetic and film grain.
The Akira Kurosawa-inspired short was phenomenal to say the least and introduced audiences to The Ronin, a lone wanderer wielding a striking red lightsaber. The success of “The Duel” led to The Ronin’s backstory being further fleshed out in Ronin: A Visions Novel by Emma Mieko, a Marvel Comic, and a follow-up animated short titled “The Duel: Payback" in Visions Volume 3.
“The Duel: Payback” offered a glimpse of what a continued story about The Ronin could look like. Although aspects of his history as a Sith hunter are known, there is still plenty of room to build his character out further. He carries a scabbard lined with red Kyber crystals collected from all the Sith he has slain, each of which could be explored in an episode of a full “The Duel” show. Or perhaps Kamikaze Douga continue what they did in “The Duel: Payback” by adding new villains and allies to the mix, in addition to exploring The Ronin’s complicated relationship to his inner darkness.
Screecher’s Reach
Irish studio Cartoon Saloon engineered one of the darkest installments of Star Wars: Visions in the form of “Screecher’s Reach” in Volume 2. The short follows Daal, a young girl who travels with her friends to explore a legendary haunted cave known as Screecher’s Reach. There, she encounters a terrifying ghost, forcing her to tap into the Force to defeat it. The short concludes with the reveal that the ghost was a test for Daal designed by a Sith Mother, who arrives in a ship and takes Daal away as the youngster decides to leave her miserable workhouse life behind in favor of embracing her dark potential.
Perhaps more than any other short of Star Wars: Visions, “Screecher’s Reach” feels tailor-made for a full-fledged series or, at minimum, a follow-up short. The story ends on such a surprising, yet devastating note as Daal chooses the path of the dark side and the Sith without realizing the likely consequences that are to follow.
These consequences, however, are not explored in “Screecher’s Reach.” The ominous, fascinating Sith Mother figure only appears briefly, taking Daal away aboard her ship. But questions remain as to what happens next for Daal. Does she become a Sith apprentice? Does she soon realize the grave mistake she made in following a Sith lord? A series expanding the story of “Screecher’s Reach” could certainly answer these questions.
The Elder
Japanese animation studio Studio Trigger created one of the most underappreciated and overlooked Star Wars: Visions shorts with “The Elder.” The short, which was the seventh episode of Visions Volume 1, followed Jedi Master Tajin Crosser and his padawan Dan G’vash as they face off against an ancient, duel-wielding former Sith lord on a remote planet.
On the surface, “The Elder” tells a fairly routine Star Wars story about a Jedi Master and his apprentice teaming up to fight a Sith, but there is much to appreciate about the work Studio Trigger did with the short. Tajin Crosser, voiced by David Harbour in the English language version, possesses a calm and warmth that harkens back to Sir Alec Guinness’ Ben Kenobi and Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn. Crosser’s relationship with his eager padawan Dan contrasts the self-destructive and isolated nature of the Sith lord they face, who is as creepy as he is formidable.
The lightsaber duel with the three characters is superbly choreographed and previews what Studio Trigger could do with more combat sequences if given the chance to expand “The Elder” into a full show. Themes from the short, including the way time erodes power and how community triumphs over solidarity, are introduced but not fully explored, leaving the door open for a subsequent story to give them the time and attention they deserve.