Spoof Wars Episode LXXII: The Approaching Fury was the first of several attempts at a sequel to The Dubious Maneuver that was ultimately cancelled. It was also the first of a two part series that would have formed a trilogy with the original, the other being Spoof Wars Episode XCVI: Revenge of the Jebi. Planning began as early as 2003, and a first draft was partially finished.
Synopsis
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Characters
Only-One Cannotbe
Only-One's part would have evolved somewhat in this film. He was no longer the apprentice, and had already reached master level before Guy-Gone. He would have remained a generally serious character too. Only-One would have had 3 fights - against Duet (training), rematched against Dharth Bob, and against dozens of Tyrannical-Fascist clones. Oddly enough, even though the original Eon Vulture was Duet's small smuggling ship, Only-One would have commanded the Eon Vulture II as a large battleship.
Shawn Duet
Shawn Duet would have had the biggest change, going from a comic-relief sidekick to essentially the main hero. His training as a Jebi would have made him more serious, though still prone to antics, not unlike Anakin in Attack of the Clones. While he would be the central hero, he would have participated in 3 lightsaber fights in this film - against Only-One (as practice), against Dharth Smithius and against Smithius' apprentice - as well as a hand-to-hand fight against Disco Fett. Interestingly, this fight was moved back to The Dubious Maneuver for the Special Edition.
The Dictator
The Dictator's role was pretty much a natural continuation of what was set up in the previous movie - he would have declared himself Dictator and begun oppressing the galaxy. He would have ordered the elimination of the Jebi and the other heroes. In one version of the script, he had one fight in this film - against Dharth Bolshevik/Menshevik - though the fight would have been a short massacre.
Dharth Nader
In this film, Dharth Nader would have been introduced as a seemingly new character, filling the Darth Vader role in the story.
Dharth Smithius
Dharth Smithius was a new Spiff Lord intended to be a parody of Agent Smith from The Matrix. He would have worn a suit and tie, shades and generally appeared more like a businessman than a traditional villain.
Spiff Apprentice
Not much was developed for this character, except that he was an apprentice to Dharth Smithius, and that he would die in his encounter with Duet.
Dharth Bob
Dharth Bob would have re-appeared much like he did in the previous film. He would have donned the same face paint and had very few lines. He would have also still used a double lightsaber. In this rematch, he would have actually won by unleashing the clones and leaving.
Disco Fett
Disco Fett would have made his first appearance in a part very similar to his appearance in the Special Edition of The Dubious Maneuver. His introduction would have been in a bounty hunter lineup scene where he would disintigrate the hunter next to him after Nader says "No disintigrations!"
Dharth Bolshevik
Dharth Bolshevik's return would have served only a small purpose. When it was discovered that the "Spiff Conspiracy" in the previous movie was unclear to most viewers, Bolshevik was written in to explain to his last remaining follower that he was both Bolshevik and Count Dubious and how he was betrayed. He would have met with his twin brother Menshevik to give him some information, then either: 1. Die in a fight with the Dictator, 2. Survive a fight with Nader, or 3. Escape while his brother was mistaken for him and killed.
Dharth Menshevik
Menshevik was only invented as an excuse to have a Dharth Menshevik. He would have either been killed or never seen again (until The Hidden Reprisal).
Constant Death Jebi
The constant death Jebi was a recurring joke character who would have appeared throughout the films after having died, to which someone would comment, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be dead?", which he would remember and then die suddenly, only to reappear again.
Kruge
Kruge would have only appeared in shadows. Referenced in The Dubious Maneuver as the cloaking device salesman, he was intended to be a literal reference to Kruge the Klingon in Star Trek III.
Tarpolin
Tarpolin was to be a new officer character, filling the Grand Moff Tarkin role. He was to be played by Tyler Stacey, who at the time had been replaced by Joseph Consiglio as Typhon.
Guy-Gone Weird
Guy-Gone would have had a brief part at the beginning and then been killed by the opening credits, after which he would rarely appear as a ghost when needed. This was done as a means to allow Matt to be more behind the scenes, directing and producing, and to remove one character he played as he would still be playing the Dictator and Guy-Gone's clones.
Futhorc Haacko
Futhorc would have warned the heroes about the Dictator, and been sent to a torture camp. He would have comedically enjoyed all the forms of torture there, to the frustration of the guards.
Behind the Scenes
Trivia
- According to a recently rediscovered document, aside from the chosen names, several names were considered for both sequels including:
- The Dark Ploy
- The Dictator Strikes Back (similar to the eventual sequel's title)
- The Turning Tides
- The Insidious Gambit
- Advancing Rage
- Ruse of the Jebi
- Demise of the Democracy
- Evil's Redemption
- Wrath of the Dictator
- The Heinous Revolution
- The Terminal Strike
- Revenge of the Spiff (interestingly enough, suggested a good 3 years before Revenge of the Sith was titled)
- Early notes indicate that at one time, Guy-Gone would have sneezed to death.
- More early notes suggest that one plot point would have had former Supreme Pitza Decorum murdered by the Dictator or one of the Spiff Lords.
- The title comes from a book about the Civil War, of the same name, read by most of the crew in high school.
- The main storyline of this film was adapted as part of the realized sequel, Spoof Wars Episode XLVII: The Plot Strikes Back. It was updated to reflect the content introduced in the short films, including the new characters. The biggest change was that rather Duet being made a Jebi, Typhon was chosen instead (due to his new background in Dark Equilibrium), and Rhast now filled the original Typhon role.
- The storyline was also adapted much more closely as the background for the alternate timeline which Guy-Gone Prime came from in Dark Equilibrium. It was closely adapted with the addition of new characters, and with Typhon taking the place of Smithius. The Secret Apprentice also took the similar apprentice role. Because The Plot Srikes Back was also derived from this original sequel, it created an interesting parallel of events, despite what changes there were.