After watching his incredible cameo in Rogue One and reading Marvel’s new Darth Vader comics, I wondering whether Disney and Lucasfilm should start working on the Sith Lord’s standalone film.
Darth Vader is easily one of the most recognisable villains in history. I’m not entirely sure whether George Lucas really knew what he had created when he came up with the Sith Lord, but he’s now one of the most notorious villains in pop culture history. The character’s recent appearance in Rogue One has merely reaffirmed this fact and has demonstrated that fans want to see more from the one they call Darth Vader.
Before Rogue One, we hadn’t seen Vader on the big screen since his brief appearance in Revenge of the Sith, and the less said about that the better. However, his mythos has been expanded upon in Marvel’s recent Darth Vader comics and the animated TV show, Star Wars Rebels. We’re starting to see an even more brutal side to the character than ever before, which is why I think that the third Star Wars standalone movie which has been rumoured to be happening should be a standalone Darth Vader movie.
Darth Vader in Star Wars Rebels
Your master has deceived you into believing you can become a Jedi.
If they were to do a Darth Vader standalone movie, I honestly believe that it should be R-rated in order to do the recent comics, and the character, justice. I’d understand if the higher ups at Disney and Lucasfilm were a bit trepidatious about going down that path, but as we saw with Deadpool, people will go to see R-rated movies in their droves. Star Wars’ main fanbase is now much older, and would be willing to see more adult Star Wars movies. Rogue One is the closest we’ve ever got to this, but if Disney and Lucasfilm were to greenlight a Vader solo movie, they would have to consider making it for an older audience, since it would cover some very dark themes.
Not only that, but Disney could get a very talented director to come in a direct the picture. I recently wrote an article on 5 directors who should direct a Star Wars movie, and in that list was James Gunn who has a background in horror (Slither, he wrote Dawn of the Dead and the upcoming horror flick The Belko Experiment), and he understands how to direct science-fiction action movies (Guardians of the Galaxy anybody?). He’d be a perfect fit for this material, and I’m sure he’d be interested in the project. Not only that, but they if they are thinking of doing a standalone Vader movie, they’d better do it sooner rather than later in order to get James Earl Jones to voice the character again. He’s not getting any younger.
Kylo Ren with Darth Vader’s helmet in The Force Awakens
Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish, what you started.
James Gunn isn’t the only person who could direct a Darth Vader movie, but he’d certainly be on Disney’s radar. There are plenty of other directors who could do it, 10 Cloverfield Lane’s Dan Trachtenberg would be an interesting choice for instance. I would like to see Disney explore other areas within the Star Wars universe that aren’t connected to the previous films, but a Vader movie would make more sense to me than a standalone Boba Fett movie. Although I’d also love to see a Dredd style movie with the infamous Star Wars bounty hunter instead of Karl Urban’s Judge Dredd.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is currently in cinemas right now, so go and check it out!
I want to see a standalone Vador movie. Enough said! Let’s make this a reality!