I'm sorry I'm a little late on the bandwagon, and I've already posted a Dear JJ Abrams letter to literally every other social media website there is, but this one's new, and this one's very heartfelt.
Here there be spoilers, in case you haven't seen the 15 year old film.
Dear JJ Abrams,
You know what Star Wars is really about? Making an incredible amount of money while giving your fans an incredible amount of badassery. You know what would complete both of those criteria AND be incredibly fun to produce? A QUI-GON AND OBI-WAN MINISERIES.
Now hear me out. Qui-Gon Jinn (played originally by professional badass Liam Neeson) was seen throughout the first half of The Phantom Menace, which is historically dated to be about the year 32 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin, the dating system used by the Star Wars fanbase), and Qui-Gon gets chopped in half halfway through, thus ending his life. But did you know that Qui-Gon was SIXTY GODDAMN YEARS OLD? That's right. Qui-Gon Jinn, according to Wookieepedia, was born in 92 BBY. We see a few weeks of his sixty years of ass-kicking. You, Mr. Abrams, can change that.
The first bit of untapped miniseries material would be his childhood, of course. Like many characters from the franchise, Jinn's entire history has been largely pieced together through various fan-fiction accounts in the Extended Universe (EU). Born on an unidentified world, Jinn's ability to use the Force was noticed at a very young age, and he was sent straight to the Jedi Academy on Coruscant, where he personally trained under Master Yoda. When he was eight, he would sneak back into the classrooms to continue training after classes, which is where he met the soon-to-be Librarian Tahl. Tahl and Qui-Gon retained their friendship throughout most of their lives. Bam. Supporting characters *and* cameo appearances already. This series could cover the two's training as children (from age 8 to 10, possibly further covering his later training under Count Dooku). Since Qui-Gon was a child, Disney could make this miniseries showcase the child-friendly side of Star Wars and stop producing PG-rated feature films.
Later on, Jinn discovers a force-user named Xanathos and brings him before the Jedi Council. The council has their doubts, but decide to let Xanathos prove his ability and sends him with Jinn and a couple other Jedi to his own homeworld. There, he is expected to end his father's tyrannical rule over the planet. Unsurprisingly, he instead joins his father, who Jinn then kills. Xanathos uses his father's ring to brand himself and swears revenge. Bam. Nemesis for future endeavors.
If neither of those tidbits interest you, Mr. Abrams, then I have one more idea that's sure to sell: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's BUDDY COP SERIES.
What are the Jedi but religious superpolice to the galaxy anyways? The Jedi have always been known as peacekeepers and helping hands to those in need. Well, in 44 BBY, Yoda encourages Jinn to try this whole Padawan thing again. He reluctantly agrees, and Yoda drags him to an exposition event similar to the one Dooku discovered him at. There, a thirteen year old boy named Obi-Wan Kenobi brutally beats another boy in a mock-lightsaber battle. Yoda mentions that the boy showed promise, but Qui-Gon refuses to train the boy due to his arrogance. Later, he is given orders and shipped out to the planet Bandomeer, and who just so happens to be on the ship? That thirteen-year old Kenobi kid, who's been sent on some BS mission to review agricultural guidelines. Kenobi ultimately abandons his own job and helps Jinn with his more interesting job of fighting off some MOTHER-LOVING SPACE PIRATES. After this, the two go back to the council, Obi-Wan gets approved as his apprentice, and they go off to FIGHT MORE MOTHER-LOVING SPACE PIRATES. Oh, also the Off-world Mining Corporation, which is owned by no other than Xanatos, the arch nemesis. The series writes itself.
So, as my closing argument for the miniseries, I just want to say that you've got potential banter between maverick Jedi Qui-Gon and oddball badass Obi-Wan, you've got potential love interests (at one point Obi-Wan almost gets married), you've got one of the most evil bad guys of all time, you've got an entire Galaxy of which less than 300 planets have been explored, and you've got Disney ready to produce. Please, give us a Qui-Gon miniseries.
