Fanboys Anonymous

This and R2D2 are all we have so far

Virtually no information has been officially confirmed about the upcoming Star Wars film, so much so that we don't even have a title to call it outside of Episode VII. As with casting decisions, plot ideas, and nearly everything else, the name of the film has been subject to countless rumors and unreliable reports.

Factoring in all of those rumors and the speculation that each fan can mull over in his or her own mind, what do you think the title should be?

For those keeping track, three of the titles that have been rumored are A New Dawn, Rise of the Jedi, and Return of the Sith.

My personal point of view is that each one of those is awful. It could be worse, sure, but it could be significantly better, and as a Star Wars fanboy, I'm not willing to settle.

All three of these titles fail on two levels to me:

1. They include words that are heavily overused in titles right now: dawn, rise, and return. I'm surprised "Age of ___" hasn't been rumored, since we're getting Avengers: Age of Ultron and Transformers: Age of Extincton.

2. They're far too similar to previous titles. There's a pattern that George Lucas established with his titles, which I think should be respected, but that doesn't mean you should have extremely little creativity in choosing your options.

The first film of each trilogy (episodes I and IV) has been patterned to describe a person or thing. A New Hope and The Phantom Menace identify a noun and a plot point that influence the rest of the films in their respective series. The second film of each illustrates an organization's action (Attack of the Clones and The Empire Strikes Back). The third puts a cap on the events that were building up to a logical end point, with a force-wielding entity establishing itself (the Sith come back and have their revenge, the Jedi return to order).

Yet isn't A New Dawn too similar to A New Hope? Don't Rise of the Jedi and Return of the Sith just sound exactly like Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith?

Although a lot of people would argue that it isn't a necessity to follow this formula at all, I'm one of those writers who thoroughly enjoys structure and references to patterns. If I were in the shoes of George Lucas and someone went against the path that I had laid out before them, I'd be annoyed.

That being said, what would my suggestions be that can fit in with this mold?

Star Wars: Episode VII - A Rising Tide

This is a healthy compromise. If the studios are adamant that "rise" needs to be in there somewhere, it calms their stomachs without flat-out saying "Rise of Jedi" or something. It pays homage to the structure, and it works a pun in there that can be debated for the future. Who was the phantom menace, exactly? Was it the Sith in general or Palpatine specifically? For a while, people thought it was just Darth Maul. Is the new hope Luke or is it that Anakin may turn away from the dark side? Is this rising tide the resurgence of the Jedi Order or is it the new threat on the horizon that abuses the Force for evil purposes?

Star Wars: Episode VIII - Assault on/from the Republic

We've already seen activity from the clones and the empire, so the republic should get the chance to get in on the action in a title. The difference between these two titles is whether or not you want the republic to be on the offensive or on the defensive.

Star Wars: Episode IX - Balance to the Force

I toyed with the idea of A Rising Force for Episode VII, but felt that this was a stronger title. We've already had reference to the Jedi and the Sith, so the natural progression is for the Force itself to get the nod. It also follows the structure of "____ of the _____" to an extent. It can be argued that the destruction of the Sith was the balancing of the Force that the prophecy foretold (and I feel as though that should not be eliminated from the continuity), so there clearly needs to be some kind of a new threat in this next trilogy. We're not going to see Jedi fighting it out with a bunch of normal criminals and that's all. There will have to be some kind of villainous threat connected with the Force that disrupts the balance achieved at the end of Return of the Jedi. What's tough about this is that without the plot details to go from, it's difficult to pinpoint what the endgame will be for the trilogy, so it needs to be built around pure speculation and not much else.

There may be better ideas out there, I'll admit, but for now, that's what I would go with on a blind guess without knowing anything about the current plot or what Disney's plans are for the future.

What are YOUR ideas? Tell us in the comments below!