It’s funny how when someone states that they’ll be ‘open’ to your ideas concerning something that YOU created and that YOU know intimately that it usually translates to ‘you got paid, now disappear’ is what they really mean. Bob Iger of Disney might not admit to such a thing but it seems that this has been the case and what lies between the lines as Kyle Morris of ScreenRant might agree. Once Disney finally took over Lucasfilm and gained complete control of Star Wars through some clever wording and dealing, George Lucas was basically treated like a tagalong that had no business being there any longer. Anyone else wondering why a collective groan went up when Disney purchased Lucasfilm? A lot of us, especially dedicated fans, had a good idea of what was coming. Star Wars has never been so violent and over the top that it could be called a scifi horror movie, but it’s never been without some violence and a bit of controversy throughout, and that was what made the movie interesting.
Ignore box office numbers at this point since quite honestly the vast reaction to the last two movies makes it apparent that people were willing to give Disney the benefit of doubt when purchasing their tickets to see them. Of course we wanted to see the movies, it’s Star Wars for crying out loud. Of course we’re going to go back and see if the next movie is any good, it’s STAR WARS. That’s the hypocrisy of this franchise after all, a lot of us might complain and stew about what Disney is doing with the whole thing but we’re not so jaded yet that we’re going to give it up entirely. But did Disney make a huge mistake in not utilizing Lucas’ vision and sticking with the story? That’d be a definite and resounding YES.
Everyone has their own vision and their own direction, right? That’s easy enough to respect and it’s easy enough to say. But another thing that’s easy to say is what Philip Bates of Make Use Of has said, the fans deserve better. That’s right, the fans, y’know, the people that buy the merchandise, that go to the movies, that make this whole endeavor worth it since it’s their money and their interest that’s making it possible for the franchise to keep going. Disney has managed to muck up Star Wars in a big way and one of the only possible reasons it’s still allowed to do so is that people are still paying for it since the upcoming generations either don’t know any better or just don’t care. Without taking the advice of Lucas, and definitely moving away from the expanded universe AND making it non-canon (way to go Disney) they set off on a course that’s located in the same galaxy but has somehow just cut out years of history that could have made this franchise into something that would leave us all wanting more like salivating dogs being fed one morsel at a time.
Seriously, if you’ve ever read the books that are now considered non-canon you’d know that there are galactic civil wars, old enemies that pop up from time to time, new alien species that continue to threaten one system or another, plagues that were confined to one planet but are attempting to spread, issues with the Jedi and Sith that continually arise, stories upon stories that could have been utilized and, with Lucas’ help, probably created even more buzz and more excitement than The Force Awakens could ever dream of. The fact that Han and Leia had three children in the books, that Luke had one love interest after another until he met Mara Jade and married and eventually had his own child, were story lines that could have kept people interested for years and kept the edge that Star Wars has been known for throughout all this time. And there’s no forgetting the Yuuzhan Vong war, which enveloped the entire Star Wars universe as a race of aliens that were immune to the Force and possessed biotech that could devastate on a planetary level. Cripes, how did Disney say no to these possibilities when there was so much money to be made? The Mouse House is either slipping under Iger’s leadership or has gotten so fat already on the profits they’ve chewed up from everything else that they must have missed this.
There’s actually a hope that one day Disney will either wise up and simply redo Star Wars, a horrible though but necessary it seems, or relinquish control back to Lucas or someone that can right the ship and make it work again, but don’t hold your breath on that. As you can already guess Disney is going to hold onto their properties until every last nickel is squeezed from them. Hopefully at that point Star Wars is still worth enough to save.
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