I tend to agree with your point about Skywalker-centric stories. Though to your point about de-canonization of the sequels being silly and pointless - if they don't do that, doesn't that mean Disney is either a) forced to ignore that era indefinitely, or b) forced into unpopular creative constraints if they want to tell stories between Episodes VI and VII? Wouldn't de-canonization offer the chance for them to move onto other corners and characters of the Star Wars universe and tell new stories as you suggested?
Just ignore whatever isn't essential to the film.
To take the idea of "
The Dirty Dozen in space" concept of imagining a take on some older work in a
Star Wars setting (because I'm not creative enough to actually come up with something truly original off the fly), and just looking at my collection for ideas:
...
A corrupt but vaguely sympathetic business executive is using ex-Imperial mercenaries to protect his big project on the outskirts of civilization, and the leader of those mercenaries brutally murdered someone close to our mysterious protagonist during the war. The protagonist, who is fundamentally moral but clearly on the wrong side of the law, seeks revenge while the mercenary leader terrorizes a family who are in the way of the big project. In the end, the mercenary leader is killed, the family survives, and the protagonist gets their revenge.
Once Upon a Time in the West in space.
You don't need to use any established characters, you don't need to care about post-Empire galactic politics or the Jedi or the First Order, and you don't have to set this anywhere that has been shown before. Space Westerns are probably overdone, particularly in
Star Wars, but you just have to make it good and people will come.
...
How about a
Star Wars noir film that also pays homage to
Blade Runner?
Star Wars even already has established examples of clones used for slave labor. It'd be too close to have a hard-boiled private eye chasing ex-clones in the future, but maybe you can build something off that. Again, you don't need any established characters or locations or storylines to build towards, as long as you resolve the character's stories within the film.
...
Perhaps a Hitchcockesque "ordinary person in the wrong place at the wrong time" story? Take an ordinary nobody, have them be mistaken for someone else, witness something they shouldn't have witnessed, or run into a creepy person with a serious problem, throw them into danger as a result of this unfortunate accident, and have them find a way to escape? If you want, you could tie them into something grander, but you don't have to.
...
Basically, you don't have to "decanonize" anything (which is a pointless exercise). You don't have to include or reference anything that doesn't fit within or isn't relevant to your film. Just ignore it and write a good film that is self-contained.
