The Epic Continues

❌ "They were very complimentary. They said that the new characters and vehicles were all very "Star Wars-esque" and that they really appreciated the fact that we wanted to keep this going, but they were just not ready to pursue that kind of thing."

- Mark Boudreaux

The Epic Continues was a planned 1986 extension of Kenner's "Power of the Force" action figure range. It was to extend the story of Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance beyond Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and would introduce a new villain, Atha Prime. Several prototype action figures were produced, along with numerous items of concept artwork, but The Epic Continues was never put into production.

Concept
In 1984, Kenner employee Mark Boudreaux and his design team began brainstorming ways to extend the Star Wars line, hoping to prolong the inevitable falloff of interest in the brand due to the lack of a new film installment. Previously, the company had enjoyed success with their line of Mini-Rigs&mdash;small vehicles inspired by, as opposed to based on, other vehicles appearing in the films. The Mini-Rigs were Kenner's first foray into the realm of original material, and had been created to fill in the gap between the relatively cheap action figures, and the relatively expensive film-based vehicles.

Kenner's designers would often tinker with existing toy vehicles, modifying them in a kitbashing process. Out of one of their kitbashing sessions came the idea to create a range of entirely new figures for a toy line to be released in 1986. The line would feature original characters and vehicles that feasibly could exist within the Star Wars universe. In addition to this, they formulated an original plotline involving their characters that would continue the Star Wars story on after Richard Marquand's Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The new plot line would involve a new enemy, Atha Prime, terrorizing the galaxy in the wake of Emperor Palpatine's death.

Characters and droids
The Kenner designers utilized a number of different methods to present their ideas to Lucasfilm Ltd. This included black-and-white sketches, hand colored drawings, and physical prototypes that they had photographed. Several of the figures in the proposed lines were modifications or extrapolations of existing figures. Han Solo was redesigned with new, more "heroic" attire, while Luke Skywalker was given lightweight fencing armor, apparently worn by training Jedi Knights. One of the new "hero" figures was to be the Mongo Beefhead Tribesman, who was one of the few to be actually made into a prototype. The prototype was a kitbashed one&mdash;made up of a modified Quarren's head, an Ithorian's arms, and 4-LOM's chest harness.

In an attempt to push the Star Wars saga in a new direction, Kenner created Atha Prime&mdash;a genetics master who had orchestrated the Clone Wars. To accompany Prime, they also designed the Clone Warriors. In the way of characters affiliated with the Galactic Empire, the designers decided to re-introduce Grand Moff Tarkin, who had been apparently killed at the conclusion of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. They had failed to create a figure of Tarkin during the original Star Wars run, and intended to rectify that for their new line.

A variety of droid figures were proposed for the line, including a black Imperial Sentry Droid, much like R5-J2 from Return of the Jedi. For new droids, three Imperial Attack Droids, designated A, B, and C, had prototypes made. To join Atha Prime's faction, the pilot droid Blue-Four was also designed.

Vehicles and playsets
For new vehicles to go with the line, Kenner created a variety of prototypes and designs based on or inspired by the craft seen in the original trilogy of Star Wars films. These toys would be categorized into two price ranges, labeled "low priced vehicles" and "deluxe vehicles." Boudreaux kitbashed the Tandem X-wing, which was inspired by the "lumbering World War II airplanes." The ship was painted in negative colors to those of a standard T-65 X-wing starfighter, despite Boudreaux's admission that there was no need for a night fighter in space. To accompany the Millennium Falcon toy that had been produced in years prior, a Milennium Falcon Cargo Handler was designed, and could be attached to the bow of the original toy. As a play on the Star Destroyer design from the original trilogy, concept sketches were made of the Annihilator, a large mobile command base for Atha Prime and his Clone Warriors. The design consisted of two Star Destroyers essentially mated together, one on top of the other. The Apex Invader, a personal vehicle designed for Prime, would have been able to attach to the top of the Annihilator. Other spacecraft making their way into the lineup would be the pre-existing TIE Bomber and T-65 X-wing starfighter.

In terms of land vehicles, the designers formulated two landspeeders: the XP-36 and the XP-38, which had been mentioned in A New Hope. The former was intended to be a high-performance, light vehicle, while the latter was a state-of-the-art landspeeder. Another craft inspired directly by the films was a type of T-47 airspeeder modified for use on desert worlds. One toy that was nearly produced was the Scout and Retrieval Vehicle, which could carry damaged X-wings and airspeeders. Working from the All Terrain Armored Transport seen in Irvin Kershner's Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, an "All Terrain Ion Cannon" prototype was made. The design consisted of an AT-AT that had its back and top sheared off, and a large cannon placed in their stead. In addition to the original vehicles, the original Imperial sniper fighter, and the already established All Terrain Armored Transport, T-16 skyhopper, and X-34 landspeeder would be included in the line.

A single playset was conceived for the new line, dubbed "Imperial Outpost." The concept art for the set was designed by Boudreaux, who combined pre-existing elements such as a gun tower from an earlier Death Star playset with the landing platform and bunker complex seen on Endor in Return of the Jedi. In addition to the re-introduction of Tarkin, Kenner proposed a Bantha figure, which they had not produced for the original toy line.

Rejection
The Kenner designers presented their sketches and photos to Lucasfilm Ltd., alongside proposals for figures from the existing films and the two television series', Star Wars: Droids and Star Wars: Ewoks. It is possible that Kenner also intended to have their new plotline accompanied by a third animated series. Notes were also made for two otherwise undocumented vehicles: the Rebel stinger fighter and the DS-2 droid skimmer. While Lucasfilm were pleased with the fact that the toy company had gone to so much effort, they were not ready to pursue co-ordinated attempts to flesh out the Star Wars galaxy beyond the films. In 1986, Kenner's Star Wars toy line would finally come to an end, due to lack of interest.

Plot
Atha Prime, a genetics master and ruler of the dark worlds, has been freed from his exile by Emperor Palpatine's death at the Battle of Endor. With his army of shock troop Clone Warriors, he moves against the Rebel Alliance, decimating planets held in their thrall. They strike from the Annihilator, a city-sized capital ship that attaches to Prime's personal fighter, the Apex Invader. The fighter is piloted by Blue-Four, who doubles as Prime's confidant.

At the same time, the Galactic Empire, headed by Grand Moff Tarkin, makes their own bid for power, using a wide variety of attack droids to do their bidding. Tarkin survived the Battle of Yavin, and chose the wake of Palpatine's death to make his return. They also employ All Terrain Ion Cannons, operate from an Imperial Outpost.

To combat the new threat of Prime, war hero Han Solo and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker are called upon. They are aided in their efforts by the Mongo Beefhead Tribesmen from Tatooine. At their disposal are a wide choice of combat vehicles, such as Tandem X-wings and various landspeeders.

Characters

 * Blue-Four
 * Palpatine
 * Atha Prime
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Han Solo
 * Wilhuff Tarkin

Species

 * Human
 * Mongo Beefhead Tribesman

Creatures

 * Bantha

Organizations

 * Alliance to Restore the Republic
 * Clone Warrior

Locations

 * Tatooine
 * Imperial Outpost

Droid models

 * Imperial Attack Droid A
 * Imperial Attack Droid B
 * Imperial Attack Droid C
 * Imperial Sentry Droid

Weapons

 * Blaster
 * Lightsaber

Vehicles

 * All Terrain Armored Transport
 * All Terrain Ion Cannon
 * DS-2 droid skimmer
 * Scout and Retrieval Vehicle
 * Imperial sniper fighter
 * T-16 skyhopper
 * T-47 airspeeder
 * X-34 landspeeder
 * XP-36 landspeeder
 * XP-38 landspeeder

Starships

 * Annihilator
 * Apex Invader
 * Rebel stinger fighter
 * T-65 X-wing starfighter
 * TIE/sa bomber
 * X-wing (tandem)
 * YT-1300 light freighter
 * Millennium Falcon
 * Milennium Falcon Cargo Handler

Titles and ranks

 * Emperor
 * Grand Moff
 * Jedi Knight

Events

 * Clone Wars