Disney and Star Wars

Like most fans, I’m still reeling from today’s news. For a lot of us, if not all of us, this was a complete surprise. While it was no secret that George Lucas hadn’t been involved in a lot of Star Wars dealings, i.e. the EU, Lucas had always been a constant for us. He was a figure that we loved, that we hated, that we had mixed feelings about, but there he was. He presence was large and his shadow loomed over Star Wars, even if he didn’t keep up with it day-to-day. There was always talk between fans about what would happen when Lucas died because we knew that was the only time that someone else would be in control. Star Wars remained Lucas’ baby. Add that to the fact that he is in no need of money, and most of us couldn’t conceive of Lucas every giving up the rights to it.

Yet here we are. People complain that a big corporation like Disney is now in charge of our beloved saga. Sorry to spoil it but Lucasfilm was a corporation, but I understand it was our corporation. Disney is now the third wheel in what has always been a private relationship between us and Lucasfilm. I don’t know what this will mean for Star Wars. I’m hopeful that Disney will do right by the characters and stories we love, that they will do right by the fans, but who can tell yet? This is day one in what will be a very long journey.

This brings me to the new trilogy. Never in my lifetime did I expect to see a new trilogy. The idea of a third trilogy is as old as Star Wars itself. It seems mythic at this point. There’s a lot of speculation of what will the new films be about. What will this do to continuity? Will we have to live with retconning or multiverses? Maybe. We just don’t know yet. I’m incredibly skeptical of what a new film will mean, as well as the quality of a new trilogy. We have learned to be skeptical of what we might have previously embraced. We’ll just have to see what news we’ll get in the next few days and weeks, and hope against hope that these new films will live up to our expectations, and that Disney will remember fans who’ve been with Star Wars for years and years.

We all love Star Wars , and we love it a lot. If we didn’t, then none of us would care this much. There have been disappointments in the past. Some of us will miss the Lucas’ presence. All we can do is follow Star Wars where it goes and hope for brilliant new stories from a galaxy far, far away.