Like many fans, I was unsure of what to expect from Star Wars following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm. Would it abandon the spirit of the original trilogy and continue on the odd path set by George Lucas himself? Would it return to that spirit and forge its new path? Or would it return to that spirit AND play it safe to the point where there are virtually no surprises?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens understandably needed to be pretty same-y. It needed to lean into why we, as fans, love Star Wars to begin with. Give us the familiar with hints of a new adventure to come. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, in my opinion, took the next logical step of forging new territory, leaving us in potentially-unknown, exciting territory for the last film.

And The Rise of Skywalker? Well, let’s just say it pretty much checks all those boxes I figured it would check when Disney first acquired Lucasfilm. Palpatine back? Check. Main character related to big bad? Check. Obligatory baton-passes? Check? Too many Force Ghosts? Check. Nonsense Force mumbo jumbo in the third act? Check. Basically a crap ton of Death Stars? Check. Redemption for big villain? Check.

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Now, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t hate the film. On the whole, it was fun to watch, albeit pretty darn silly at times (at least to me). It’s clear that J.J. Abrams knows what audiences want and leaned into that for the third film. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is something of a culmination of all my worst fears. It’s a film that leans into the most predictable fan-fiction-esque theories on the web. It’s a film that almost feels as though its plot points were cherry-picked from a survey of “most-liked fan theories.”

Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If the Audience Rating on Rotten Tomatoes is any indication, this is exactly the kind of film fans wanted, but it’s hard for me not to at least pour out one for the Episode IX that could have been. The film that built off of its predecessor rather than spending time and effort re-answering the questions that were already answered. The film that took risks and helped forge a new path for the franchise as a whole.

At the end of the day, I understand why Lucasfilm did it. They have fans to please, and these fans made it clear what it is they wanted. They don’t want to be surprised or challenged, but instead want the story to maintain that feel-good nature they got when they first entered a galaxy far, far away years ago. 

Between that and the success of The Mandalorian, it’s clear that the path forward is in heavy archetypal storytelling, and given that’s how this franchise started out, I suppose it’s fitting. A bit boring for me from a storytelling perspective, but fitting.

What do you think? Do you agree with me on this one? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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