“There are a few significant things that happen in Han
Solo’s life, like acquiring a certain vehicle and meeting a certain Wookiee
that will happen in this film. But you will also discover how he got his name.”
—Bob Iger, Disney CEO on the new Han Solo Movie
There are questions you'd probably rather never know the answers to. Since
Disney’s 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm, we have seen a push for new films, toys,
games, and other sellable items (hello Star Wars CoffeeMate Coffee Creamer).
At first, admittedly, I was incredibly excited. A chance for new Star Wars
movies? Perhaps an Indiana Jones movie if we are lucky? New video games and
clothes? Even a Star Wars Universe at Disney World?! Hell yes. However, with
this new parent company looking to make a return on their $4 billion investment, we
are seeing some things that I think could taint the Star Wars universe, just
like what has happened with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
When Iron Man came out, followed by phase one of the MCU, I
was ecstatic. Comic books were cool again and I was able to see some of my
favorite characters on the screen. Since then—and wow does Iron Man’s release in 2008 feel like a lifetime ago?—we have been stormed with a
ton of movies, and not all of them have been great. The over-saturation of MCU
movies has made me not care about what’s coming out next. I didn’t
care to see Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, or Guardians of the Galaxy until nearly a
year after each had come out (ok, so GOTG was really good, but the other two
weren’t). Age of Ultron was so meh that I recommended to friends to
just wait until it’s inevitable release on Netflix to watch it. Civil War was ok but was overall just a little too
try hard for my taste. And, do we need to talk about how the Thor franchise
has gone? I’m so sick of these movies that I really don’t even care about Spider-Man: Homecoming this summer (and I love Spidey so much
that I wore a costume under my normal people clothes from the ages of four to
six)!
Could this be what Star Wars is headed for? I’ve been told
that we can expect a Star Wars release every December for the “foreseeable
future.” Isn’t there something intrinsically wrong about that? Wasn’t part of
the beauty of Star Wars in the unknown? We got six movies in 38 years. Now
we are going to have six new movies in six years. The above Bob Iger
quote about Han Solo is precisely what I’m concerned about. I love Han, but I’m
happy with his story as it is. I’m ok knowing that he somehow got the Falcon
from Lando, that he and Chewie are pals, and that his name is Han. I don’t
need to know more.
I began to notice this trend after Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I realized how sad I was learning that the Death Star was purposefully designed to blow. I enjoyed the mystery of asking that question as a child. I’d seen Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope probably over 60 times since I was about five years old and I thought about why the Death Star was designed the way it was for most of those years. It was a sad moment for me to realize that there was a definitive answer and that I’d never be able to wonder about it or have a debate about it with someone.
I also feel like the Star Wars universe is going to dilute
itself and stop telling good stories. Disney and Lucasfilm are teaming up to
make new stories, but they are clearly fan pandering stories. Look, I am as
much or more of a critic of the prequels than most, but why are the new films
so clearly organized to distance themselves from them? Say what you will about George Lucas and the prequels (they are pretty low quality movies) but he made
them because he wanted to, not to make a return on investment. Why are they
only going back to the original trilogy? Why are we not making more efforts
towards the expanded universe like the Old Republic? Ultimately, this is going
to lead to more origin stories and sequels, nothing new that can really pique
our interests. Even Rogue
One, the Star Wars franchise's supposed first stand alone film, was really
just more of the same. We saw cameos of neat things (BLUE MILK ANYBODY?) and
got an answer to a burning question and/or plot hole depending on your view of
the Death Star. Ultimately it was story that didn't really add much and
didn’t give us dynamic characters. The final trilogy of the Skywalker Saga (Episodes
VII-IX) is sort of giving us that, but it’s really just a continuation and it
will burn out after IX.
Ultimately, my fear is that Star Wars is going to spread
itself so thin and make so many films that we don’t care about that it will
both tarnish its legacy and burn fans out. I never thought there would be a day
where I didn’t care about MCU movies coming out, but I don’t care anymore.
Here’s to hoping Lucasfilm and Star Wars don’t make the same mistake.
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