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Star Wars ' late movies and display have been too focused on explainingStar Wars . The Disney era of theStar Warsfranchise has visualise both big hits and crowing misses , but the dealership ’s obsession with unsex perceived plot holes or connect dots in canon is undermining its ability to tell refreshing stories .
The George Lucas era ofStar Warstransformed Hollywood with some of the most innovative and popular movies in history , but the franchise has always been a magnet for divisive feeling . From ill about the Ewoks defeating the Empire inStar war : Return of the Jedito Lucas ' numerous change to the original trilogy re - releases to the divisive reaction to the prequels , there ’s always been a public preaching about whatStar Warsis think to be , and now Disney face many of the same problems Lucas did , but for totally different reasons .
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While George Lucas was frequentlycriticized for straying too far from what audiences wanted , Disney’sStar Warsis heavily rooted inStar Warsitself , with movies and show that strive to recapture the flavor audiences aim from the more popular elements of Lucas’Star Wars , while avoiding the less pop elements . A sealed amount of nostalgia , self - references , and attachment to canon should be expected from any franchise , but Disney and Lucasfilm ’s fixation on fixingStar Warswill only make the franchise feel small and less relevant in the tenacious political campaign .
Disney’s Star Wars is Trying Too Hard to “Fix” Star Wars
After Disney acquired Lucasfilm and announced plans to make moreStar Warsmovies , opinion began to whirlpool about what those movies should be . The prequels had grown a bit in popularity , but one of the loudest opinions was that Disney should is the chance to abandon the prequels . Others wantedmore prequel contentthanks to the popularity of Lucas’Star state of war : The Clone Warsanimated serial , while those most hung - up on the prequels even propose remaking them all together to " fix " the account they believe Lucas ruin .
Star Wars : The Force Awakenskicked off the Disney era with marketing underline how the film would make people feel like they were watching the original trilogy again , repeatedly highlighting the role of practical effects ( despite an abundance of digital piece of work ) in what could well appear to be hide condemnations of the prequel trilogy . The movie terminate up drawing literary criticism for a plot that was too exchangeable to previousStar Warsmovies , and even the initiative line matt-up like a prequel jab , designedly or not , with Lor San Tekka ( Max von Sydow ) telling Poe Dameron ( Oscar Isaac)“this will begin to make thing right,“as he handed him a map to find Luke Skywalker .
The attitude thatStar Warsneeds to be fixedor explained , has permeated most of the movies and show made in the Disney earned run average ofStar Wars . Rogue One : A Star Wars Storyarguably string that needle the good because even though its premise go like the poster kid for this unfavorable judgment , being set in the middle of intimate event in intimate fix with appearance from familiar characters , it kept all that in the fringe , focalize on a story primarily about new characters with connective tissue serving chiefly as the backcloth . Star Wars : The Last Jedialmost wear its desire to fixStar Warson its sleeve , from Luke toss the Skywalker saber over his berm to Kylo Ren urging Rey ( and the consultation ? ) to"let the retiring die,“to the " Broom Boy " scene feeling like an open chemical reaction to musical instrument digital interface - chlorians and the estimate of the " opt One " and the Skywalker bloodline .
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Solo : A Star Wars Story , the biggest corner authority disappointment of the Disney era , had a mess become for it , but ultimately finger like its story was drive by a checklist of things that needed to be explain about Han Solo like how he beat his name , how he met Chewie , how he met Lando , how he made the Kessel Run , how he acquired the Millennium Falcon , why C-3PO says the Falcon has"the most peculiar dialect,“and etc . The ultimate consequence of this approach isStar war : The Rise of Skywalker , amovie that should have been the grand conclusion of a nine - part saga , a trilogy of trilogies , but felt mostly interested withfixing complaint aboutThe Last Jedi , making nostalgic references , and resolving fan theories .
The Mandalorianwas a hit for exchangeable reason asRogue One : A Star Wars Story , setting the story in a familiar universe , but introducing grapheme and events that did n’t swear out to merely flesh out the backstory of the largerStar Warscanon , at least initially . When season 2 ofThe Mandalorianarrived , the turgid canyon connections continued to grow , impart in Ahsoka Tano and tying Groguto the prequel era , but even that was still mostly fresh story territory until it introduced Luke Skywalker . It makes common sense for Luke to be seek out Force - sensitives like Grogu , but the way Luke was introduced feel a lot like areaction to complaint about Luke ’s depiction inThe Last Jedi , compounded by the fact that they did n’t even cast an actor to start the role of original trilogy - era Luke and or else create a digital translation of new Mark Hamill . This same issue persist inThe Book of Boba Fett , where Luke and Grogu had no genuine association to Boba Fett ’s story , and Luke ’s dialogue was essentially a remix of original trilogy quotes render by AI based on samples of Mark Hamill ’s articulation .
Disney Learned The Wrong Lessons From Star Wars Backlash
That ’s not to say the DisneyStar Warsmovies did n’t do anything fresh or imaginative for the enfranchisement . Star Wars : The Last Jediis an interesting case of Lucasfilm taste tobreak away from the shadow of George Lucas’Star Wars , but in its attack to pushStar Warsforward , it was firmly rooted in the past , defining itself in opposition to what came before instead of actually moving beyond it , all while resetting the galaxy the same intimate Rebels vs. Empire situation Disney thought fans require more of . Subversive storytelling is n’t inherently a job , even a lot of Lucas’Star Warswas subversive , butThe Last Jedi ’s subversionbordered on ego - aware at times , with real - populace perceptual experience of the franchise throw as much influence onThe Last Jedi’scharacter decisiveness as pastStar Warscanon .
Ironically , Disney learned the wrong deterrent example from the backlash toStar Wars : The Last Jedi , and rather of really comply through on Kylo Ren ’s plea to let the past tense perish , Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalkerwas totallyre - engineered to serve as a course correction , meaning all three subsequence trilogy movies were design on some level to"make thing right"to anyone overturned about something from a previous movie . When storytelling decisions are influenced by public perceptions of the franchise or else of what ’s better for the story itself , it undermines the play and engrossment by making the flick find more like it ’s a part of the treatment than a piece of art or amusement .
Disney’s Focus on Explaining Star Wars Misunderstands George Lucas' Approach
George Lucas ' constant tinkering with the original trilogy andexpansion of the prequel earned run average withThe Clone Warshas been characterized as the franchise creator set about to explainStar Warsand " fix " complaints about thing like the prequels , but success in that area was an unintended consequence . His changes to the original trilogy films have notoriously drawn ailment from fan , but that never deterred him . He had the resource to make most whatever changes he wanted and had all over control over re - releases , turn down to eject remastered interpretation of the original theatrical cuts ( which apparently exist ) despite popular demand . The prequels are a standardised level . audience wanted something that felt more like the original trilogy , but instead , Lucas birth somethingaesthetically and tonally dissimilar from the original trilogy , doubling down on the approach for the whole trilogy despite scathing reviews and fan outcry .
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All six LucasStar Warsmovies only had gloomy to humble budgets for their times , but still pushed technological bound while also play with an inventive approach to fib structures and genre . The Disney subsequence trilogy is visually telling and innovative in many ways , but they also had much higher budget relative to Lucas ' motion picture and , as Lucas himself noted , the sequel trilogy does n’t did n’t do anything new , anchoring themselves in the original trilogy ’s aesthetic with loop on authoritative blueprint like stormtroopers , TIE Fighters , and X - Wings . Star Warshas always been self - referential ( even more so if you buy intoStar WarsRing Theory ) , but Lucas was still push the level and engineering onward to new sensible horizon . The prequels could have been a simple paint - by - number approaching , but Lucas colored outside the lines a lot , much to the mortification of some critics and audience segment . Most of the braggart plot degree were well - known inevitability , such as Anakin becoming Darth Vader and the cost increase of the Empire , but he was also knock for give curveballs at the traditional knowledge , such as musical instrument digital interface - chlorians the choose One vaticination , totally recontextualizing Vader ’s role in the original trilogy .
Lucas did n’t change his approaching to the prequels in reaction to audience or critic feedback , keeping Jar Jar Binks in a significant prequel role , doubling down on musical instrument digital interface - chlorians , and maintain the prequel aesthetic . EvenThe Clone Wars , which is oftencredited for " fixing " the prequels , essentially thumbs its nose at canon , introducing Ahsoka Tano as Anakin ’s previously unmentioned Padawan , tripling down on hate prequels elements like Jar Jar Binks and musical instrument digital interface - chlorians , and blowing the conception of the Force widely unfastened with Mortis or the Force Priestesses . The Clone Warsdidn’t get multitude to take account the prequels with reactionary retcons , but by expanding the boundaries of theStar Warsuniverse and report so looker could value the prequels in a new light or else of merely compare them to theStar Warsstories that came before .
Disney Has Lost the Big Picture of Star Wars
Not even the Disney+ shows are resistant . The Mandalorianstarts to stop out of the house of cards , but quickly becomes a lore fomite , fill up in the lacuna between existing stories . The Book of Boba Fettis about an established character , but still had the opportunity to promote in a new direction since almost nothing was known aboutBoba Fett afterStar Wars : counter of the Jediin Disney canyon . regrettably , one of the show ’s biggest criticisms is that it sidelined Boba Fett in favour of servicingThe Mandalorian ’s story . Obi - Wan Kenobihad a standardised opportunity , despite the constraint of Obi - Wan being a hermit on Tatooine ( a planet conspicuously featured in every Disney+Star Warsshow so far ) , but the tarradiddle that takes him off - planet again is about him rescuing the Skywalker home and campaign Darth Vader , simultaneously set about to ransom aspects of the prequels and explicate things about the original trilogy that never needed explaining , such as why Obi - Wan told Luke Vader hit his begetter . This does n’t meanStar Warsshouldn’t even glance in the management of Luke Skywalker , Boba Fett , or Tatooine , as there ’s still plenty of outer space to order tarradiddle in the established sandbox , but it does make the position emblematic ofDisney ’s insisting on retreading conversant dealership soil .
George Lucas did n’t makeStar Warsbetter by going back and define report he already secernate , or using every story to explicate the enigma present by a late narrative . He made it better by continually pushing the story frontwards ( despite hearing demand for the familiar ) , exposing more of the big flick of the galax far , far by . Disney ’s habit of using everyStar Warsstory to explain a gap in traditional knowledge or fix a plot mess or make a conversant canyon reference makes the creation experience low when every story should make it feel bigger . This advance toStar Warsimpacts a telephone number of other creative decisions as well , such as the employment of a digitally quicken young Luke Skywalker forThe Mandalorianinstead of casting a new doer , a decision on the face of it driven by the response to Alden Ehrenreich andSolo : A Star Wars Story . WhenLuke Skywalker is a deeply fake with an AI - generate voicecreated using sound recording of Mark Hamill in pastStar Warsprojects , the story begins to feel more like it ’s more instigate by social media reactions or a checklist of events from a wiki Thomas Nelson Page than it is by Joseph Campbell or Arthurian myth or John Ford westerns or Kurosawa samurai movies or Flash Gordon or any of Lucas ' myriad inspirations .
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Some of the most vulgar sentiments about how Disney ’s should set about the enfranchisement include set phrase like"make it feel like Star Wars"or"recapture that Star Wars magic,“but those phrases can imply drastically different thing to different mass . Star Warscertainly has its iconic touchstones from the lore to the aesthetic to the euphony , but at its nerve , Lucas ' constantlyexpandingStar Warsgalaxycontained the potential for anything to happen . A farmboy can write the galaxy , a contrabandist can win the lovemaking of a princess , and a uprising can shoot down an conglomerate . Luke Skywalker grew up as a nobody on Tatooine , a satellite he describe as being the farthest from a conjectural bright kernel of the cosmos , but each step he take into a heavy world let out something vainglorious than before . George Lucas shaped a fictional galaxy full-grown enough for everyone to find something to do it , and if Disney and Lucasfilm can halt essay to fixStar state of war , they might just recapture thatStar Warsmagic .
Next : How Star Wars Shows Can Rescue The Sequel Trilogy
