George’s son Jett (a phrase we wish we could write more often) was spilling the beans recently on a few interesting tidbits surrounding the new Star Wars trilogy, and how Papa Lucas was going to get around to that third trilogy all by his lonesome well before Disney stepped in.

According to Jett, George was doing his research and preparing to get Episode VII underway a whole year before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney:

“We knew probably a year prior he had started writing and king of researching, starting his whole little process. About halfway through that process was when the idea of selling to Disney came up.”

Jett says Lucas was really torn on whether or not he wanted to give up Star Wars, which is hardly shocking, knowing how carefully Lucas has controlled the franchise from day one. It does prompt that “alternate universe” mindset knowing that more Star Wars was always in the cards, regardless of who would helm it.

And for those who thought he was out of the picture now that Disney was in charge? Think again. Jett says that Lucas is talking to director J.J. Abrams about the film all the time. Which is… also not surprising.

We can already see where this is going, can’t we? Years from now everyone will be picking apart Episodes VII-IX—what went wrong, what went right. And everyone is going to want to know what parts Lucas had a real hand in, where he tried to put his foot down, etc. No matter how these films turn out, everyone will be curious about how much power Lucas had in their making.

Still, it’s interesting to hear what Jett has to say about the whole affair. (Remember how he was all tiny and a child when they filmed Episode I? Does anyone remember that? He got so… adult-ish.) Here’s the video, if you want to check out the rest of the interview: