Veteran Star Wars voice actor Sam Witwer revealed new details about the canceled The Force Unleashed 2 sequel during an online event.
During a recent live stream celebrating The Empire Strikes Back’s 40th birthday, actor and Star Wars aficionado Samuel Witwer went on air to look back on the film, and to share some interesting information about the abandoned sequel to The Force Unleashed 2.
Let's do something like this tonight. https://t.co/AlxMtlYNT6
— Sam Witwer (@SamWitwer) May 21, 2020
The sequel that never was
The experienced voice actor opened up regarding the unreleased sequel, talking about how developer LucasArts had big ambitions for the game’s story-line.
Warning! Spoilers ahead!
For those who don’t remember, The Force Unleashed 2 ended on quite a cliffhanger. Starkiller bests his master, the legendary Darth Vader, and cuts off his hand. The villain is later shown being brought to the Rebel forces.
Planned as a direct sequel to the second game, The Force Unleashed 3 was supposed to pick up right where its predecessor left off. According to Witwer, it would later be revealed that the entire events of the first and second installments were staged by Vader the whole time.
Talking on IGN's latest Working From Home Theater, actor Sam Witwer discussed what another Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game would have looked like. https://t.co/jTwABObsLc pic.twitter.com/UgknUQNPkC
— IGN (@IGN) May 22, 2020
“Like he was toying with Luke, The Force Unleashed 1 and 2 games were all about Vader toying with Starkiller,” mentioned Witwer.
There would later be another confrontation between the two where none of the powers Starkiller used to take down Vader before would work anymore.
When Starkiller asks how the villain is managing all of it, Vader simply reminds him that he is the Dark Lord of the Sith, which would mark the end of the sequence.
Whether or not this was truly LucasArts’ plan for the series, we’ll never know. But with Sam Witwer being such an integral part of The Force Unleashed franchise, it’s fairly likely that there’s some truth to it.
Reasons for the cancelation of The Force Unleashed 3
In 2013, Witwer and Star Wars writer Haden Blackman unveiled Lucasfilm’s plan to develop The Force Unleashed 3 for the Wii U, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Unfortunately, those plans never came to fruition on account of Disney purchasing Lucasfilm and subsequently closing down LucasArts.
The Force Unleashed 2’s mediocre reception by fans and critics didn’t help either, as the game was panned for failing to live up to its predecessor in every way. Some critics went as far as calling the sequel a “cash grab.”
Star Wars The Force Unleashed was one of the greatest Star Wars games ever. No doubt. Star Wars The Force Unleashed 2 was such a BIG letdown https://t.co/HvCL3HSnGY
— Will Frye (@willissfrye) January 24, 2020
In 2015, Blackman mentioned that The Force Unleashed 3 would have been less linear than the previous installments in the series and would have Starkiller and Darth Vader team up to face a new threat involving the infamous Emperor Palpatine.
Witwer’s voice acting career in Star Wars
Samuel Witwer got his first Star Wars gig playing the voice of Starkiller—the protagonist of the two The Force Unleashed titles.
He would go on to voice several characters in the Star Wars animated series, including Emperor Palpatine and the fan-favorite Darth Maul.
Image courtesy of SobControllers/Flickr