Have we been seeing too much of the galaxy far, far, away?
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away,Star Warswas an event.
Star Warswas a property that always seemed to be much bigger than it actually was. Up until 1999 we only had threeStar Warsmovies to contend with and even after the prequel trilogy ended in 2006,Star Warsstill felt small to me. It was a continuous story about the Skywalker family, the rise and fall of Darth Vader, and how a tiny little rebellion was able to change the fate of the galaxy. Sure, Star Warshad a few film and TV spin-offs from its inception untilRevenge of the Sithlike the Ewok movies and the Holiday Special, but those were always small, niche little offerings. Hell, some of the most hardcoreStar Warsfans I know have never even seen the Ewok movies (and for good reason).Star Warsalways felt contained. Commercialized, but it never felt malicious.
Fast forward now to 2018 andStar Warsis an entirely different beast. It’s still a massive, multi-billion dollar franchise, but now it’s backed by the House of Mouse. With Disney at the helm of the franchise, it’s pretty clear to see that they’re makingStar Warsinto THE mega franchise, more-so than before. Oh sure,Star Warswas no stranger to merchandise, video games, books, and parodies outside of the core movies, but those expanded universe entries always felt a bit more chaotic and fresh. Any creator could come in, create a story in theStar Warsuniverse, and see if the ideas could stick with the fans. It’s from the extended universe that we got Grand Admiral Thrawn,Knights of the Old Republic, and Dash Rendar; characters and stories that are beloved by hardcore fans. When Disney took control of the franchise, one of their first actions was to nullify all of the expanded universe elements that they didn’t like, stifling the history of one of the most influential series in geekdom.
Now before we go any further, I just want to make one thing perfectly clear; I don’t hate the sequel trilogy thus far. I can say thatThe Last Jediwas definitely underwhelming and has a lot of problems when you begin to examine it in detail, but it was still a decent experience. Personally, I really likeThe Force Awakensand I consider it one of the best films in the franchise. On televisionStar Wars Rebelshas been some of the bestStar Warswe’ve seen in recent memory as well.
With the backlash toThe Last JediI think that people are all too eager to make the connection that criticism to modernStar Warsis a validation that Disney is doing a terrible job and they’re worse than George “Kids-Will-Totally-Love-Jar-Jar-Binks” Lucas ever was. Disney isn’t ruining the franchise. IfStar Warscan survive midichlorians it can survive anything. Disney is making competent films, but they’re definitely cheapening the IP with all of their projects.
Disney has had a problem recently of not knowing when to stop with their franchises. They’ll find something that’s a success and milk it for all it’s worth. In the span of three years since the release ofThe Force Awakenswe’ve hadRogue OneandThe Last Jedipremiere withSolocoming out in May, not to mentionStar Wars Rebelsconcluding its four season run in March. So that’s fourStar Warsmovies and an animated series in three years, compared to the prequel trilogy’s three movies and a Cartoon Network animated series that tied in to the trilogy over the span of seven years. Not only that, but Disney has announced thatRian Johnson will be making his own trilogy,the creators ofGame of Throneswill work on another trilogy, the spin offs will most likely continue with a rumored Boba Fett movie, and Disney has plans forseveral newStar Warsshowsto most likely air on their upcoming streaming service.
So in total we have nine upcoming movies, at least two spin-offs, several TV shows, and that’s just of what we know. There may, and most likely will be, more projects announced in the coming months to capitalize on the franchise’s recent resurgence. You may have noticed that I’ve neglected to talk aboutStar Warsvideo games and books, but that’s for a good reason. In the realm of video games,Star Warsnever really went away. Gamers have had classicStar Warsgames on most major consoles, whether it was piloting a snowspeeder on Hoth inShadow of the Empire, platforming on the SNES trilogy, shooting your way to galactic conquest inBattlefront 2(the good one), or being an action badass with OP force powers inThe Force Unleashed.Star Warsfound a home with gamers and has always had a home there, so moreStar Warsvideo games don’t surprise me at all. I mean, it is surprising that they’ve morphed into whatever the hellBattlefront 2was, but that’s a whole other topic.
As for the expanded universe books, they’ve just transitioned to another form of books; comic books. Marvel is now publishing a huge amount of comics under theStar Warsbanner and while I personally haven’t read any of them, people that have told me that they were perfectly fine. They’ve expanded on previous established characters in an organic way that I’ve heard very little complaints.
But the movies? I can’t help but feel like the franchise is about to become over-saturated with installments that fans aren’t really asking for. It’s the difference betweenThe SimpsonsandFuturama. Both are beloved animated series from Matt Groening, but both have completely different public perceptions.The Simpsonsis a massive franchise that is still going strong after nearly 30 years, but fans will tell you that the show reached it’s peak back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s and has no relevance anymore.
On the other hand,Futuramawas never as big of a success, having only eight seasons and four straight to DVD movies, but I will argue that the fan base behind that show is much stronger thanThe Simpsonsis now.Futuramareruns air constantly on Cartoon Network and each episode offered something fresh and different from what was airing at the time. Even when it went away for nearly a decade, you could argue that the show was even better once it came back, giving the creators time to work on new ideas, new concepts, and let a new generation of fans come in not only from a network shift, but from a new crowd of younger fans entering the picture. I can only speak from personal experience, but my first exposure to the franchise was picking upBender’s Big Scorefrom my local Best Buy back in 2008.
The point is that the franchise that took some time off is in a far better place than the franchise that just kept trucking along without a break.The Simpsonsused to be such a beloved show that defined 90’s America, but now it just seems like a relic that has run out of ideas. Who can say that they actually cared aboutThe Simpsonsfor the past decade with the exception of theTreehouse of Horrorepisodes? New writers are brought on, they rehash old plot points, try and make the series connect with a new audience, but it’s clear that the spark has gone. I fear that Disney’s doing the same thing toStar Warsthat Fox did toThe Simpsons.
Now maybe this is me just being paranoid. Maybe I’m worrying over a franchise that’s going through a new renaissance and is breathing new life into the sci-fi community. Maybe all of this worrying will be for nothing. I mean, if all of these new projects are great and at worst okay, we still have more good than bad, right?
But remember what I said at the beginning thatStar Warswas an event? It was a defining moment for different generations. Gen Xers had the original trilogy to watch, they took their Millennial children to go see the prequel trilogy, and now their detergent eater kids are seeing the sequel trilogy. But what comes after that? There will never be a lull if Disney has their way.Star Warswill stay in the cultural discussion every single year with no break in the action, just more movies.
I can’t tell if Disney is being greedy by milkingStar Warsfor all it’s worth, or if they’re scared that if they don’t use their new crown jewel wisely it’ll lose value. It’s probably a little bit of both to be honest. Disney wants money and they want to strike while the iron is hot. Except the iron never cooled.Star Warsfans never went away. Children were still exposed to the original trilogy and the prequels while demanding new Storm Trooper action figures from their parents. Those same parents probably relish talking aboutStar Warsand buy all of the games, or the books, or the new Blu-Ray releases that Disney puts out.
Star Warsisn’t going to go away anytime soon. It’s going to become the spaceSimpsons. It’s going to keep making an obscene amount of money for Disney, but as time goes on it’s going to lose that spark that made it so special. Maybe in five years I’ll have to take it all back when I see a spin-off movie about the Bothans stealing the plans for the new Death Star and I’ll call it the greatest movie of all time. But I highly doubt it. I want to be proved wrong, but that’s pretty unlikely.
The Force will be with us always. Congrats to us…?
