The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Disney Refused to Make

When The Walt Disney Company purchased the Star Wars franchise in 2012, fans immediately asked a simple question: Would the studio adapt the single most beloved continuation of the Original Trilogy?

The Thrawn novels, written by Timothy Zahn, have long been hailed by fans as the true Star Wars sequel trilogy. Beginning with Heir to the Empire, Zahn’s novels revived the franchise in the early 1990s and introduced Grand Admiral Thrawn, the only villain from outside the films to rival Darth Vader for infamy.

Those books offered what Disney desperately needed back in 2012: a tested story with widespread fan approvl.

Instead, Disney erased the whole Expanded Universe and launched a new trilogy beginning with The Force Awakens. Initially greeted with scattered, nostalgia-driven applause, TFA is now regarded as even worse than the intentional lore desecration of The Last Jedi and the cinematic spaghetti that was The Rise of Skywalker.

Despite early financial success, enthusiasm for the new trilogy died quickly. Box office totals declined from one installment to the next while fan sentiment degraded into open hostility.

But what if Disney had instead adapted Zahn’s trilogy?

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