They've said it'll be an original story, no Thrawn trilogy (thank god)

I think your metaphoric scenario of your high school love coming back in town is spot on.

This is how I would describe my feelings about it:

Imagine your dream girl moves in next door, during your freshman year of high school. You become friends, then best friends. One night you guys are hanging out, then you kiss, and then you loose your virginity together. From then on you're inseparable, and everyone comments about what a great couple you make. But then during your senior year she starts to change. She tries LSD for the first time, and wants you to try it, too. She says it will take you places you've never been before. All of sudden, its like she's not the same person; dressing differently and hanging out with a different crowd. Finally you catch her making out with a college guy at a party, and you call it quits. You go your separate ways after graduation. Years later you come home after having other life experiences, and life is good. You still remember her fondly, maybe looking at her picture occasionally, but you've moved on. Then all of a sudden some crazy rumors start flying around, that she is back in town. Some say she got beaten up by her last boyfriend, some say she worked as a stripper for awhile, but the biggest and loudest rumor is that she wants to see you.
SO... I feel like I'm about to get in the car and drive to one of our old make out spots to meet up with her, and there are equal possibilities of her being beautiful like you remember her,  she wants to make amends, and hump your brains out, OR she could be scarred up, on the run from the cops, and wants to con you for drug money. Yeah, that about sums it up.

Good episode, weird scenario. It's weird how much of my childhood Disney now owns. Their original animated films they actually made, then they bought the Muppets, they bought Pixar, now Star Wars and Indiana Jones... They just need Ghostbusters and it's all there.

Something that I haven't seen a lot of discussion on, and it wasn't addressed in the episode; Disney owns Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light and Magic now. What, if anything, does this mean for them?

And you guys joked about Lucas finding out he has cancer and trying to sort everything out before he dies... But is it just me, or does he seem really off in that Future of Star Wars Movies video Owen shared?

wait... is Leia is now a Disney Princess?

Ok. I know there’s an overwhelming amount to talk about when it comes to this craziness...but I’d like to address only one thing: Who should/will direct the next Star Wars.

The 3 most names that immediately come to mind: Joss Whedon, JJ Abrams, and Brad Bird.

Joss is already doing Avengers 2, which honestly I feel is a production that “needs” Whedon more to be successful. I could name several people (I am, in fact) that could handle a good SW movie, but I’m not sure I think anyone other than Whedon could pull off Avengers 2. I want them both to be good, so that's a sacrifice I might be willing to make. (ducks)

Abrams has the ST franchise already, and I’m not sure his “feel” meshes well with the actual Star Wars universe, no matter how similar Star Trek (2009) is to the Star Wars formula. I just don’t see it happening without the idea being a “revamping” of SW, which I don’t think is what Disney will be aiming for.

One fun thought: If Disney does take this down the Bond/Potter road, constantly changing directors and tone, then I could easily see both Joss and JJ doing SW movies down the road…and how exciting is that possibility?

For Episode 7 though, Brad Bird seems to be the favorite in my mind. He’s established himself as a great live-action director, is already in-house for Disney, and his background at Pixar lends itself well to the “tone” SW would likely be going for. If I was in the meeting, he’d be the name I’d go for if Joss didn’t have time (likely) and the pie-in-the-sky name I’ll drop later doesn’t work out.

Mentioning Avengers above, let’s not forget Jon Favreau could be on the list as well. Similar to Whedon/JJ, he’s sort of got his corner of the universe, so I’m not sure the odds. I’m also not sure if he’s as capable as others on the list, but it’s worth tossing his name out as a possibility since he’s definitely got big-budget-action on his resume.

Next up, Matthew Vaughn. Seems like a good backup option if Brad Bird doesn’t work. Solid and safe.

Ok. So. Pie in the sky time…

Peter ‘Effin’ Jackson. The Hobbit is done filming, in post, and there’s nothing on the immediate horizon for him. If what I read is true, and there is already a story framework in place for a full trilogy of 7/8/9, how about reintroducing a new generation to Star Wars with the most epic Space Opera ever. Go big or go home. Clearly he has the ability, in character, action, and technological experience (not to be overlooked). Disney could use Jackson to firmly establish the universe, then transition to the “Bond” style movies afterwards, building on that foundation.

Quick note on something I heard on the intermission…Rian Johnson. Sorry, no. He’s great, and Brick is one of my Top 3 favorite movies of all time, but he doesn’t do action well. He’s a film-noir guy at heart, building tension/suspense – think of the shootout or chase scenes in Brick. In interviews he talks about how he wanted to ground Looper and its action sequences with a very tangible/real feeling – that’s not SW. I’d rather him work on character pieces that will keep me on pins and needles, rather than directing space battles.

Lastly, I assume Nolan’s name has to be in the hat simply because he’s Nolan. He’s obviously a solid director, but the larger-action scenes of Dark Knight & Inception really felt like they got away from him a bit. I’d worry that something as large and fantasy based as Star Wars wouldn’t be something he’d be great at.

Oh oh, and also Gore Verbinski. He’s got the family-friendly-action cred and Disney in from Pirates. I should write more, but if the script is there I think he’d be up there on my list…Rango being a better example of what I’d hope to see.

From those listed, my hopeful order:

Jackson, Whedon, Bird, Verbinski, Vaughn, Abrams, Favreau, Nolan, Johnson

Ope, yeah. Forgot about Verbinksi. He's probably a very likely candidate.

Or if they want to shake things up, how about Howard Shore? A lot of his music is up to John Williams' standards, but he has a pretty different feel.

Hahaha, Teague, I respect you (you certainly know your way around music much more than I do),
but you're right that we'll never agree on this one.

I'm prepared to change my mind if I hear a large-scale, thematic, memorable, sci-fi/fantasy score from the man, but so far it's all been disappointment. Star Trek, John Carter, Super 8, all duds.

I've said it before, Giachinno is a brilliant composer, but he can't write "big" music to save his life, he's great for thrillers and mid-scale stories, but not the guy you want on Star Wars.