The multiverse is all the rage right now. Marvel just dipped its toe into the concept with Spider-Man: No Way Home. And with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, they are going in full throttle. DC has had a multiverse forever in the Arrowverse, but the upcoming Flash movie is also dealing with it. And Star Trek will soon have two different Spocks—one in the Kelvin timeline, and one in Strange New Worlds. Even non-franchise films like Everything Everywhere All At Once are going full multiverse. But what about the galaxy far, far away? Star Wars could easily enter the multiverse too.
The truth is, they’ve actually done it before. Back in the early 2000s, Dark Horse Comics created the Star Wars: Infinities series, which told multiple What If…?-style stories about the established Star Wars canon. Some stories gave alternate scenarios as to what would happen, like what if Darth Vader turned to the light side. So why not bring back the concept back for a TV series? Because Star Wars: Infinities is ripe for an animated series.
Imagine a series where a character, perhaps one we already know like Rey, discovers the World Between Worlds. That concept was introduced in Star Wars: Rebels. This gateway hub gives access to different times in the galaxy. But it could just as easily give glimpses into other realities, where history played out very differently than the one we remember. Here are just some of the multiversal scenarios that a Star Wars: Infinities animated series could tackle.
What if Luke Was a Prince and Leia Was a Farmer?
The Skywalker twins could not have had more vastly different childhoods. Luke was a farmer on a remote planet and Leia was a princess on Alderaan. But what if Bail Organa had adopted Luke, and instead Leia lived with the Lars family on Tatooine? Prince Luke Organa might have joined the fight against tyranny as a young teen, while Leia would have had to wait for the call to adventure. Honestly, we just want to see Leia Skywalker wasting time with her friends at Tosche Station. Or maybe bullseye a womp rat or two.
What if Anakin Had Not Chosen the Dark Side?
In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker makes the fateful decision to sever Mace Windu’s hand, allowing Darth Sidious to murder him. The event completes his turn to the dark side. But what if the better angels of Anakin’s nature prevailed, and he’d chosen to help Mace? Would Palpatine have died? Or would he have escaped, leaving a small Jedi Order, including Anakin, Mace, and Obi-Wan, to fight the new Empire? In this scenario, Padmé would have lived too. This might be the most fascinating concept to explore in a Star Wars multiverse.
What if Kylo Ren Turned to the Light After Killing Snoke?
In a very pivotal scene in The Last Jedi, after Kylo Ren kills Snoke and fights side-by-side with Rey, we think for a few moments that he has turned to the light side. But we learn that he is just fulfilling the Sith code, killing his master, and taking control. But what if he actually had turned to the light? A universe where Ben Solo joined his mother’s resistance against his former armada might have seen the galaxy take a very different turn. Leia might have forgiven her son, but would the galaxy at large be okay with a war criminal at their side? Lots of potential for juicy drama here.
What if Luke Died on Hoth?
As every fan knows, Luke almost died on Hoth in a wampa attack in The Empire Strikes Back. Luckily, his good buddy Han finds him, and the rest is history. But what if Luke died there? A version of this scenario occurred in The Empire Strikes Back: Infinities. Not only would the Battle of Hoth have played out differently, but Yoda would have then taken on Leia as “the last hope” of the Jedi instead. And her confrontation and relationship with Vader might have gone a different way. Especially as Vader tortured her on the Death Star, and allowed Alderaan to die. She might not have been as willing as Luke to try to turn dear old dad to the light side. And the galactic civil war may have had a different ending.
What if Qui-Gon Lived and Obi-Wan Died?
Qui-Gon Jinn was, in many ways, the perfect Jedi. More in tune with the Living Force, and less strict about outdated Jedi dogma. It’s why he wasn’t on the Jedi Council. Our man was just too ahead of his time for it. Anakin might have become a very different Jedi had Qui-Gon trained him as he was meant to. But what if Obi-Wan died in the duel with Darth Maul and not Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace? Would his trauma at losing his Padawan change him, and made his training of Anakin different? Or would the duel on Mustafar now be Anakin vs. Qui-Gon? A living Qui-Gon might have changed the course of the galaxy.
What if Finn Discovered His Force Sensitivity Earlier?
In The Rise of Skywalker, we learned that Finn discovered his Force sensitivity. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, as he held his own with a lightsaber battle against Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens. And was able to break his stormtrooper programming. But what if he realized his Force sensitivity much earlier, and wasn’t critically injured by Kylo? We’d love to see a universe where Rey and Finn trained under Luke together, with perhaps each of them having very different approaches to Luke’s situation.
What if Ahsoka Never Left the Jedi Order?
Towards the end of the The Clone Wars animated series, Ahsoka makes the fateful decision to leave the Jedi Order. This means she is not with her master Anakin Skywalker at a time when she might have been able to sway him from going down the path of the Sith. So what if she had chosen to stay? Could she have prevented Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader from happening? Or would the duel on Mustafar have been Obi-Wan and Ahsoka teaming up against their Padawan/master, respectively?
A Star Wars multiverse is full of endless possibilities. All of these scenarios are just the tip of the asteroid-sized iceberg. There are enough pivot points in Star Wars history to fuel several seasons, and several universes of multiverse tales. The question is, how long is Lucasfilm going to wait to show us with a Star Wars: Infinities series? We hope it’s not too long. We’re dying to see all the possibilities of a Star Wars multiverse.
