User blog:Brandon Rhea/Alternative Saga Contest: Guess the new Annikin!

A new year brings a new update on Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One!

I don’t have much to report on the current changes being made to the novel, though. There’s a lot I could report, since I’ve gotten a lot done, but at the same time I’m holding my cards close to the chest because there’s some great (I hope it’s great, at least) new stuff in the story that I don’t want to talk too much about.

So today, what we have here is a blog about The Chosen One that doesn’t impact all that much in terms of what I usually put in these blogs, but it’s fun all the same! This blog deals with a casting announcement, sort of. In a nutshell, Hayden Christensen no longer portrays the character of Annikin Skywalker.

Hayden is a good choice in terms of visual appearance for Annikin, just as he was for the canon Anakin Skywalker, but at the same time I need to really be able to see and hear the character as I’m writing and the acting chops of Hayden never really matched up to what I was picturing in my head. So, I chose an actor who I feel best represents the character and who I can write well for. Who is this actor, you ask?

I’m not telling you. That’s where the fun comes in!

To amuse myself and to give us all something to do, I’m announcing a fun little Alternative Saga contest. Below you will find the updated cover for The Chosen One, but you’ll notice one thing: Annikin’s head is blocked out. That’s where the contest comes in!

If you’re interested in participating, leave a comment on this blog guessing who you think I’ve chosen to portray Annikin. If you guess correctly, I will find a way to reference or portray (albeit in an Alternative Saga version) one of your characters, organizations, planets, etc in The Chosen One. If you have a preference for what you’d want mentioned, say so in your reply. If you don’t want me to do that but still want to guess, say so in your reply so I know not to do so. I’ll keep this up for 1 week, until Wednesday, January 12, 2010, before naming a winner.

This is not an official wiki vote or contest, just something I cooked up, so the voting policy does NOT apply. Anyone can guess!

Here is the cover:



You’ll notice from the previous version a few other changes too (albeit ones that aren’t relevant to this contest). Obi-Wan and Padmé have switched places, and Padmé has a new image that’s more Jedi-like (as she’s a Jedi in the Alternative Saga). Additionally, the body used for Annikin is of much better quality and size than the previous one, allowing Padmé and Obi-Wan to stand behind him a bit (metaphor!) which just makes it look all around better.

So that’s that. I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

Until next time, - Brandon Rhea  (talk)