George Lucas has opened up (very slightly) about his plans for a Star Wars sequel trilogy, and it contained creatures that fed on The Force. When Disney acquired Lucasfilm, George Lucas stepped away entirely from the franchise. The Star Wars creator will occasionally chime in about bits of Jedi lore, but otherwise he's completely hands off when it comes to the sequel trilogy and Star Wars' new spin-offs.

Yet there once was a plan for Lucas to create his own sequel trilogy. Lucas' original goal was to finish the Star Wars prequels, and then continue the story with a sequel trilogy, but that never came to pass. Few people know what Lucas' sequel trilogy looked like, other than Mark Hamill, but details from the writer/director have recently been discovered. It all sounds rightfully (and maybe delightfully) insane.

On Twitter, comic book artist Livio Ramondelli found a pair of quotes from George Lucas talking about his future Star Wars plans in the companion book for AMC's James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction TV show. Lucas describes his vision thusly:

[My sequel trilogy] were going to get into the microbiotic world. But there's this world of creatures that operate differently than we do. I call them the Whills. And the Whills are the one who actually control the universe. They feed off the Force.


It's a rather small description of what would've, obviously, been a rather huge story. Yet from the sounds of it, it seems rather than ignoring the controversial midichlorians, which the current sequel trilogy has, Lucas was going to double down on them hard. During The Phantom Menace, Qui-Jon Ginn explains to Anakin Skywalker that every Force user has midichlorians inside of them. The amount of midichlorians determines their connection and ability to use the Force. The explanation was rightfully hated as it took away some of the mysticism of Star Wars, and it just sounds very, very silly. Yet it appears that Lucas had many more plans to explore the scientific side of Star Wars.

Interestingly, the Whills haven't been completely exorcised from Star Wars canon. The Journal of the Whills was mentioned in the novelization of The Force Awakens, and Rogue One's Chirrut Îmwe (played by Donnie Yen) was a Guardian of the Whills. There's little concrete known about the Whills. However, they do seem to be more like a religion or devotees to the Force. The Whills are a people or an ideal that people follow. They're not, what Lucas seems to be describe, which are omnipresent, possibly omnipotent, microscopic creatures who treat the Force as their lifeblood.

Star Wars has always been a franchise that has leaned more toward fantasy than science fiction, despite its space setting. Star Wars is pulpy and fun. Everything doesn't require an answer. The Force doesn't need to be explained, it's just the Force. Lucas' plans for the Whills could've been interesting, or they could've made everyone long for the days of The Phantom Menace and its never-ending discussion of trade negotiations. However, as crazy as Lucas' plans for his sequel trilogy sound, it is vaguely depressing that the man who created Star Wars will never get to finish Star Wars. Lucas' Star Wars would've been unlike anything in the current trilogy, and it might've been awful, but it would've still been George Lucas' own story.