Leave Knights of the Old Republic out of Disney’s Star Wars
No, kids, you can’t watch this.
While this sounds standard enough, it comes with a host of content that might be deemed too explicit or scary for a goodie-goodie company like Disney, who don’t even like smoking in their movies anymore. Sure, some of the TV shows like The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars, and even Rebels have delved into darker territory, but the big-screen efforts have mostly stayed risk-free with what they could show.
That poses a problem since most of the fan speculation has been about a Knights of the Old Republic film series. When Disney announced that Rian Johnson, writer/director of The Last Jedi, would create his own trilogy of Star Wars films, many thought that it would be set in the Old Republic era.
The same was true when Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were granted their own (canceled) trilogy. Naturally, such a vocal demand could send a message to Disney that Knights of the Old Republic should be a film. After all, it may mean big bucks.
Again, though, the company wants people of all ages to enjoy their theatrical efforts; it’s how they make more money to justify their enormous budgets. Sadly, the content within the Knights of the Old Republic games might not be suitable for kiddies.
Nowhere is that more evident than with the villains and their body horror. First, we have Darth Malak, who’s straight-up missing his lower jaw. It’s why he has the metal plate on the bottom half of his face. What some (like me) see as unintentional comedy, others might view as a frightening deformity.
This is nothing compared to Darth Sion. His skin is chipped and scarred; his bones are brittle; his entire body is so irreparably damaged that there’s no reason he should even be breathing. The only thing keeping him together is the Force.
He strengthens his connection to the Dark Side through his own endless pain, and, in turn, this connection keeps him alive. He basically looks like Frankenstein’s monster was pulled out of a crematorium. More to the point, he’ll send kids running out of the theater.
Finally, we have Darth Nihilus, the being described as “more presence than man.” Miraculously surviving a planetwide weapon set off by the Republic, he lost everyone and everything he ever cared for. He awakens with an overpowering hunger, and he satiates that hunger by draining the life and Force energy from those around him. He’s cryptically explained to be a wound in the Force, a gaping hole that will never be filled.
He might wear a mask, but we don’t even know if there’s a corporeal being behind it. On top of that, he speaks an indeterminate language in a demonically raspy voice reminiscent of a Dementor from Harry Potter. Those aspects alone rob you of the human element, playing on your natural fear of the unknown. If the filmmakers go all the way with his powers (reducing people to lifeless husks), then you can kiss any marketability goodbye.
Then again, what do I know about what kids these days can handle? A lot of parents let their children use iPhones and play M-rated games. A scary Star Wars flick could be a walk in the park.
Unfortunately, Disney might not see it that way. Keep in mind, this is a company that now prohibits smoking in their movies. More directly, they discontinued any merchandise relating to Princess Leia’s slave outfit from Return of the Jedi, preferring not to acknowledge such a risqué moment in the franchise’s history.
Do you really think that they would be comfortable with the subject matter in Knights of the Old Republic? Even if they did bring these concepts to the big screen, the darker elements would likely be neutered beyond recognition.