Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm and started producing Star Wars content like there’s no tomorrow, Lucasfilm has been experimenting with a few different genres: The Mandalorian is a revisionist western, Rogue One is a spy thriller, and The Book of Boba Fett is set to be a revenge-driven spaghetti western. One genre that could really bring a fresh perspective to the Star Wars universe is horror.
The Star Wars universe is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, rife with nefarious baddies and cold-blooded killers. It would make the perfect setting for an interstellar horror movie – and Marvel is setting a precedent for that to happen. Marvel has hired Sam Raimi, the legendary filmmaker behind The Evil Dead, to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as the MCU’s first full-blown horror film, so there’s precedent for Lucasfilm to produce a Lovecraftian cosmic horror movie set in the Star Wars universe.
There are a number of genres that it’d be fun to see the Star Wars franchise explore – a neo-noir set on the streets of Coruscant or a gangster epic set in the criminal underbelly of Tatooine or a political thriller set on the floor of the Galactic Senate could all be interesting – but one genre that Lucasfilm has left entirely untapped (save for a couple of surprisingly unsettling episodes of the animated series) is horror. Looking at the Star Wars universe through the lens of the horror genre could be the perfect way to translate H.P. Lovecraft’s infamously unadaptable vision to the big screen.
Cosmic horror is one of the trickiest horror subgenres to pull off effectively. From Event Horizon to In the Mouth of Madness, Lovecraft-inspired cosmic horror movies tend to bomb both critically and financially. However, it can be done. A couple of great recent examples include Annihilation and Color Out of Space, which brought their speculative worlds to life with disturbing imagery and intriguing mysteries.
In a galaxy far, far away, no one can hear you scream. There have always been jump scares in the Star Wars saga, from the Tusken Raider popping out to attack Luke in the Tatooine desert to the Wampa jumping out to attack Luke on the snowy plains of Hoth, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to bring a horror sensibility to the franchise. In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar Jar are attacked by a gigantic fish, only to be saved when an even more gigantic fish eats that one. This is a fictional universe crawling with terrifying, bloodthirsty monsters. And the Sith Lords are even scarier than the alien beasts. Darth Maul looks exactly like the “lipstick demon” from Insidious.
For Colin Trevorrow’s ultimately unproduced version of Episode IX, the Lucasfilm concept art team had a lot of fun designing Palpatine’s master Tor Valum, who Kylo Ren was going to track down. Tor Valum was described in Trevorrow’s script (co-written with Derek Connolly) as a 7,000-year-old Lovecraftian beast. The darker corners of the Star Wars universe where these characters are lurking would make the ideal setting for a spooky intergalactic adventure.
From Sith cultists to the Zillo Beast, there are a bunch of elements from the Star Wars universe that Lucasfilm could use as the basis of a horror movie set in Lucas’ curious, pulpy universe. Hollywood is filled with masterful horror directors with both a sharp command of cinematic tension and a confessed affinity for the Star Wars franchise, like James Wan and Guillermo del Toro, who could helm such a project. Raimi himself could even helm a Star Wars horror movie after he’s done giving Marvel their first horror movie with Stephen Strange’s adventures in the multiverse. His groundbreaking Spider-Man trilogy proved his ability to faithfully adapt a beloved existing I.P. while bringing plenty of his own unique flair to the table.
Kevin Feige has confirmed that Deadpool 3 is the only R-rated MCU effort on the horizon, so Doctor Strange 2 will probably be rated PG-13 like the rest of the franchise’s big-screen outings. But PG-13 horror movies like The Others and A Quiet Place and Raimi’s own Drag Me to Hell have proven that well-directed horror cinema doesn’t need an R rating to be genuinely scary. The R rating allows for gratuitous bloodshed, but if anything, that detracts from the effectiveness of the terror. What really makes a horror movie work is its command of suspense. Jaws is one of the scariest movies ever made – a thriller that Hitchcock would’ve been proud of – and it’s rated PG.
DC’s own horror-oriented project, Aquaman spin-off The Trench, was recently shelved, but Marvel is keeping the prospect of horror blockbusters alive with the Sorcerer Supreme’s next on-screen adventure. If Marvel finds success with Doctor Strange 2’s foray into family-friendly frights, then Lucasfilm should seriously consider following suit and bringing a healthy dose of fear and dread to a galaxy far, far away.