Ladies I’d Love to See in the A New Hope Anthology From a Certain Point of View
The upcoming anthology from Del Rey, From a Certain Point of View, will tell the story of A New Hope from the perspectives of 40 different background characters. The mind reels at all of the amazing stories that will come out of this new book, and I can’t wait to devour it when it comes out this October.
You could spend an entire weekend speculating on which characters will be highlighted in this book — and what exactly they mean by “background characters” since reportedly one character perspective is Grand Moff Tarkin. What’s great is there really aren’t any bad choices. Will all of the subjects of these new stories be characters we see on the screen? That seems doubtful because it’s so restrictive. Will characters from other new Star Wars movies, TV shows, comics, books, etc. be included? I certainly hope so!
I’m hoping that the characters featured in From a Certain Point of View will be a mix of well-known characters, characters seen in the background of A New Hope, characters that were introduced in other Star Wars stories, and brand new characters.
Since A New Hope is so short on female characters, this anthology is the perfect opportunity to add in a few more female perspectives. Here is a list of female characters who I think would be fun to hear from in From a Certain Point of View.
Leia and Luke’s adoptive mothers Breha and Beru. (One of these ladies has already been confirmed by Del Rey.)
Breha Organa
Leia Organa’s adoptive mother, the Queen of Alderaan, only gets a brief dialogue-free scene at the end of Revenge of the Sith. Not a lot is known about Breha Organa, although she is mentioned in the Princess Leia comic series and a few recent novels. Breha hopefully will have a much larger role in Claudia Gray’s upcoming young Leia novel Leia: Princess of Alderaan.
If Breha were to appear in From a Certain Point of View I’d like it to be at the very beginning – right when Vader boards the Tantive IV. Did Breha know what Leia was up to and the danger she was in? Was there any communication between Leia and her parents after she escaped Scarif? Any more insight into Breha (and Bail) would be welcome even though fleshing out these characters more will surely make the destruction of Alderaan all the more tragic later on in A New Hope.
Beru Lars
Beru Lars raised and protected Luke Skywalker in the remote desert world of Tatooine with her moisture farmer husband Owen. We get a few glimpses of Beru as a younger woman in Attack of the Clones when she first met Padmé and Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi hands Beru baby Luke at the very end of Revenge of the Sith. In A New Hope Beru is also only in a few scenes, but it’s clear that this is a woman who knows things.
Like Breha, Aunt Beru doesn’t last long in A New Hope, so her perspective would also need to happen early. Del Rey has already announced that Meg Cabot will be writing a story from Beru’s perspective that they describe as an intimate character study. I’ll have a hard time not skipping to Beru’s story as soon as I get a hold of this book.
Characters with stories that pre-date A New Hope.
One of Padmé’s Handmaidens
I’m really hoping that there are some WHAT? WHO? HOW? stories in From a Certain Point of View that wow even the most hard core Star Wars fans. My pick for this surprise character is one of Padmé Amidala’s handmaidens. Even though Padmé’s handmaidens didn’t appear much in Revenge of the Sith, in my mind they were still her strongest supporters (as they clearly were in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones). What if one of these handmaidens reached out to Obi-Wan Kenobi after Padmé’s sudden death during childbirth and followed him to Tatooine (or went to Alderaan) as an extra level of protection for the Skywalker twins?
Stranger things have happened in the Star Wars universe.
Mon Mothma
I feel like this one is an obvious choice – as long as the anthology embraces the idea of including characters who were in a different location than the main characters in A New Hope. Mon Mothma was clearly alive during the events of A New Hope, so it would be fantastic to hear exactly what she’s up to during this time in From a Certain Point of View and if her actions influenced any of the events Han, Luke, and Leia face during A New Hope.
Speaking of characters who could have been quite busy during the events of A New Hope . . .
Hera
Hera, pilot of the Ghost from Star Wars Rebels, was at the Battle of Scarif at the end of Rogue One (we even heard her name being called out at Yavin Base). So it makes sense that Hera, and potentially other characters from Star Wars Rebels, would have a story to tell during the events of A New Hope.
It would seem very odd (and forced) to now plug Hera into the final space battle to destroy the Death Star, but then again it seems odd that Hera wasn’t there in the first place. Of course this is what happens when you expand a universe and add in new characters. But this isn’t really a problem – it’s much more of an interesting opportunity for a new Hera story. I’m guessing one of the authors of From A Certain Point of View has come up with a fantastic reason Hera ISN’T at the Battle of Yavin, and I look forward to reading all about it if this anthology decides to embrace stories that parallel the events from A New Hope.
Characters deleted from A New Hope.
Camie Loneozner
Camie Loneozner was Luke’s female friend who appeared in a deleted scene at Tosche Station in Tatooine. Camie would be an easy character choice if an author was interesting in writing from the perspective of a young Tatooine resident who had not already joined the Rebellion (like Biggs Darklighter).
Jenny
A scene cut out of A New Hope shows Han Solo sitting with his arm around a woman named Jenny in a booth at the Mos Eisley Cantina. This woman was known as Jenny (which was the name of the actress). Was Jenny Han Solo’s current girlfriend, partner in a deal, someone he just met at the bar? Whoever Jenny was she could certainly give a little insight into Han Solo and Chewbacca and increase the overall intrigue of the Cantina. The new Han Solo movie will of course be telling the greater back story to Han Solo – but why not get a glimpse of Han Solo’s life right before he met Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi in this anthology.
Women in the background.
There literally aren’t a lot of women in the background of A New Hope. (I spent a considerable amount of time looking for them). But there are a few ladies we see on the screen who could have interesting stories to tell.
Tonnika Sisters
The Egyptian looking ladies who are sitting at the bar at the Mos Eisley Cantina are the most obviously female customers present. There is a brief reference to one of these sisters in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode “Lightsaber Lost” (one of the sisters was wanted for murder) and these sisters had a much fuller background story in some now-Legends books and card games. I’d be surprised if these ladies don’t have a story to tell in From a Certain Point of View.
Female Stormtrooper
Only a few stormtroopers speak in A New Hope. And none of them have female voices. But there’s no reason to believe that there aren’t any female stormtroopers working at the Death Star or other Imperial outposts. I’d be interested to read a story from the perspective of ANY stormtrooper in From A Certain Point of View male or female. Hopefully we will get to hear from more than one of them.
And if we can’t read about a lady stormtrooper can we at least figure out who the women is on the left (above) with the nice outfit is?
Or maybe who the blonde woman with the crimped hair is (below) at the Mos Eisley Cantina?
Characters that have already been added to the story told in A New Hope.
Evaan Verlaine
Evaan Verlaine was introduced in the 2015 Princess Leia comic series as a Y-Wing pilot who survived the Battle of Yavin. As I discussed in the breakdown of all the women in A New Hope there are no visible female pilots in this scene. But that didn’t stop the creation of Evaan’s character, and I hope that doesn’t stop her from appearing in From a Certain Point of View.
We’ll all have to wait until October to see which character perspectives will be among the 40 in From a Certain Point of View. Who would you like to see in this anthology?
- Two New YA Novels About Inspiring Young Women: Blood Water Paint and The Night Diary - March 4, 2018
- Stuck in the Stone Age Wants Kids to Create Their Own Stories - February 22, 2018
- The Evolution of Women in the Star Wars Universe: Rogue One - January 24, 2018
Yes to this entire list! So much yes!
Asajj Ventress, preferably around the time either Narc was killed or when she came to Dooku’s attention.
A Nightsister. Just…NIGHTSISTERS!
Hux’s mother.
Seventh Sister, leading up to her becoming an Inquisitor.
And not sure how it would be best done, but something from the Force spirits’ perspective, the ones Yoda met with in season 5, would be really interesting.
I also just realized this was specifically about ANH, but I still really do want these other ladies to get the spotlight at some point :3