I’ll start this by saying I’m a fan of all of the new star wars content, I love the books, comics, animated shows, and films. I’ve wanted canon content for so long, and here it finally is.Lack of Forward MomentumBut I believe they could be even better. The major problem I’ve found with the non-Skywalker canon is that it has no forward momentum or suspense. The current structure allows for basically no substantive story points that impact the universe other than the next Skywalker film. This is evidenced by lots of great books and comics with individual stories, but none that have a new twist or faction, universe-changing event, etc. Disney has trapped itself with their strategy.Disney went with a twofold plan when beginning the new cinematic Star Wars canon. They would make a new, and final Skywalker trilogy, as well as the “Star Wars Story” anthology films.I don’t think the MCU is a great model, but at least the MCU has what I describe as ‘forward momentum’. There is a ‘present day’. Avengers films generally, and especially Infinity War was a huge success because these characters we have watched for years came together, and had to address something affecting the whole universe. With the Star Wars universe, films like Solo, while entertaining, can’t break new ground because we know where the characters are going, and what’s happening in the universe.(I am not a big MCU fan, but I am referencing it often because there aren’t really many other fandoms in similiar situations.)Can you imagine if Avengers 1 came out, and then LATER Disney released the backstories of Iron Man, and others? We need to learn about the characters, become attached, and THEN see them in action. Instead, Disney is hovering within a 50 or so year period, just filling in plot points that don’t change the overall arch. It is mostly backward looking. There is no suspenseful present tense, beyond the Skywalker trilogy films which will always attract viewers.The Skywalker Story DilemmaThis leads us to a dilemma created by the Skywalker trilogy. If we were in a vacuum, and finishing the Skywalker story, it would definitively end. It would close the loop on the Skywalker family and the First Order/Empire (probably with a victory like in Return of the Jedi).But Disney essentially can’t do that without shooting itself in the foot. They can’t end the star wars saga. So instead, they may introduce a new conflict (or ongoing one) that will allow the Star Wars universe to enter a new phase.If they end the story with a defeat of the First Order and a new conflict is introduced by other canon content, there will be a lack of tension in the ensuing years before this content is released – with fans having no idea where the story is going.In order to perpetuate the franchise, they won’t be able to end the conflict that comes with the Skywalker family. They will allow for a future of conflicts that will expand into the rest of the canon (books, movies, shows, etc.).TrilogiesThe focus on trilogies creates another conundrum – they provide pressure to have a conflict and arc begin and end, in a universe that is expected to go on for many, many years. Will we start to see a bunch of small, unrelated trilogy conflicts within one universe? That seems rather strange.Trilogies are also simply hard to successfully produce. How many successful trilogies have been made? They require great finesse that is extremely hard to come by. When Jackson tried to recreate the LOTR trilogy in the Hobbit, it backfired horribly. A successful trilogy is much more complex than single movie arc.In some ways a trilogy arc is harder than an entire universe-wide arc. For example, when a MCU movie is bad, it’s not a huge deal because the overall story moves forward. Failures can be overlooked. A bad film in a trilogy can poison the entire trilogy’s arc.Lack of PlanningI’m a bit surprised by a lack of larger story vision by the Lucasfilm story group. I love the pieces they give us – but where are the big plot points that shake things up? Beyond Rebels, which I thought did a good job of fleshing out the nature of the force, we aren’t seeing any creative, big moves.The most disappointing thing that’s happened since the new canon was released, was learning that Disney hadn’t planned the arc of the new trilogy, but allowed each director to tread their own path. I like both TFA & TLJ, but they missed a huge opportunity.Lots of the canon is hinting toward something serious happening in the Unknown Regions– Palpatine, Thrawn, and many canon books take place in the outer rim, and they hint at the darkness in the force there. I believe this could hold the future of the franchise, but it’s unclear. I hope we are hit in the face with a huge story shift with a new faction, or unknown Sith beyond the outer rim, etc. One of the most interesting pieces of Star Wars canon right now is the question posed by the end of Rebels – when Thrawn & Ezra are thrown into the unknown regions, and we don’t know where, or what’s happening. This is an example of an exciting, forwarding looking plot move.Word that Star Wars Story movies are on hold for the time being is great news to me – let’s allow the creative minds to set up a new, ongoing world that holds suspense, rather than revisiting characters we already love, as entertaining as their stories are.These are my thoughts, I’m looking forward to hearing if you agree, or want to share your own opinions. via /r/StarWars https://ift.tt/2I91nX2
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