When Disney bought Lucasfilm Oct. 30 for $4.05 billion and announced plans to release at least three new "Star Wars" films, beginning in 2015, the Internet was more panic-stricken than C-3PO planning a birthday party for Luke Skywalker.

Creator George Lucas will likely only have a limited role in the three new films, as he seems content to pass the light saber on to a new generation of directors and writers, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially considering the almost universally reviled prequel films. Lucas doesn't have the best track record with his fans for being kind to his own source material.

Lucas biographer Dale Pollock assures Disney will almost certainly be using Lucas's outlines for the next three films. "Writers will absolutely take his outline. That's in part what Disney bought," he said. And while no one outside of Lucas and Disney know the plans for the three future films, we can't help but wonder, WWTD? What Would Thrawn Do?

Sci-Fi author Timothy Zahn popularized the so-called "Expanded Universe" of "Star Wars" with The Thrawn Trilogy back in 1991, a series of novels about Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia set five years after the end of "Return of the Jedi." The books became surprising bestsellers, and ushered in a new generation of fans for the epic saga.

According to Zahn, he was "briefed" on Lucas' plans for sequels years ago and how the Thrawn books would fit in. "The original idea as I understood it- and Lucas changes his mind off and on, so it may not be what he's thinking right now - but it was going to be three generations," said Zahn to Entertainment Weekly.

"You'd have the original trilogy, then go back to Luke's father and find out what happened to him [in the prequels], and if there was another 7th, 8th, or 9th film, it would be Luke's children. The Thrawn Trilogy really would have fit into the gap," the author said.

Zahn's trilogy, which began with "Heir to the Empire," gets its name from the new villain at its core: a blue-skinned, red-eyed Imperial general, Thrawn, who reconstructs The Empire from the remains of Vader and the Emperor's evil army after the two are killed in "Return of the Jedi."

"It could be an entirely new storyline, but if he picks and chooses bits and pieces from the expanded universe, we'd all be thrilled to death," said Zahn.

While nothing is for sure with the future "Star Wars" films, and no one from Disney or LucasFilm has commented on the treatments they plan to use, Zahn says its totally possible they could be using his books as source material without his knowledge. The films are a franchise which he doesn't own, thus, LucasFilm owns his books; they don't have to tell him if they want to use parts of, or even his entire story.

"It certainly could be happening," Zahn said. "They have no obligation to touch base. As with any other franchise, once we write something, it's owned by Lucasfilm, as it should be. It's their property."

He's been surprised before. "I've had conversations with friends over the years and they'd say, 'Oh, Thrawn is in a new video game,' and that would be the first I heard about it. So they could film the whole Thrawn trilogy without me ever knowing until I sat down in the theater!"

Disney reportedly has a "very lengthy treatment" to begin the development process for the new trilogy, according to the company's CFO Jay Rasulo, and at least one of the films will likely be released in 3-D, a prediction that anyone who's been to theaters in the last two years could have easily made.

Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company plans to release a new "Star Wars" film every two to three years after "Episode 7."

"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see 'Star Wars' passed from one generation to the next," said Lucas, the 68-year-old chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm.  "It's now time for me to pass 'Star Wars' on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that 'Star Wars' could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime."