The first Star Wars movie and its best TV show prove that the franchise can’t stop one major mistake

Star WarsThe first movie and its best TV show can and should teach Lucasfilm a valuable lesson. When the first Star Wars Movie, later retitled A new hopePremiered, it was groundbreaking in several aspects – the special effects, the score, the direction, the iconography, and more, created an experience unlike any seen on the big screen before. This innovative film launched one of the most successful media franchises of all time, and while the franchise is still thriving today—financially, certainly—there’s no denying that, creatively, Lucasfilm and Star Wars Have been struggling to stay afloat.

The Star Wars Fandom has never been more divided; The division may even be worse nowadays than when George Lucas Star Wars Prequel trilogy was released first. The criticism began with the sequel trilogy, The Book of Boba Fett Obi-Wan Kenobi, the acolyte, And more often went beyond the benign criticism and instead crossed into hateful, dangerous territory. While Star Wars has made valiant efforts to be more inclusive and try new stories – The acolyte is a prime example – the franchise is arguably too reliant on fan service. This has, unfortunately, set Star Wars Up for failure.

No one wanted a new hope, or Andor, before they were made

One of the reasons A new hope was so successful because George Lucas and his team had a vision and wanted to realize it. No one “asked” for it, but they did it anyway, and the result was one of the most iconic and successful films ever made, something no one had ever seen before. A new hope Proves success isn’t just about “giving the audience what they want,” but about taking creative risks and telling a story simply because you believe in it. The same can be said about such as Andr.

Despite Rogue One: A Star Wars Story‘s critical and billion-dollar success, no one thought they needed a prequel about Cassian Andor, let alone a two-season show. And yet, although no one “wanted” this show, it turned out to be Star Wars Best TV project yet. It’s a great show that happens to be a Star Wars Show too. Tony Gilroy and the rest of the cast and crew have a vision for a gritty, realistic, thoughtful series about the horrors of the Empire and the sacrifices made by the Rebellion. The results speak for themselves.

The legacies of these projects prove that they are worth doing

A new hope And AndorIts successes prove that these projects, despite its risks business-wise, are absolutely worth doing. Star Wars In total would not exist today A new hopeAnd Andor has shown audiences that Lucasfilm and Star Wars are capable of creating a television experience that doesn’t just rely on nostalgia and the legacy of the Skywalker saga. There’s nothing wrong with creating shows that combine those two elements, of course, but if Star Wars Wants to continue expanding, it needs to be willing to take more risks.

Star Wars needs to continue the daring projects

Since the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars StoryAnd Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars Had a hard time securing a new theater room. Hopefully, the four upcoming Star Wars Movies currently announced will indeed make it to theaters, but it’s hard not to feel like Lucasfilm is a little scared. The first movie set to be released is The Mandalorian & GroguAfter all – an exciting prospect, but an undeniably safe one, given the relative success of The Mandalorian Sub-franchise. Will audiences really feel like they’re having a new experience?

Meanwhile, Only one movie on Star Wars‘ Theater Slate promises an experience like the one provided by A new hope: James Mangold’s Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi. Where the other three upcoming films are all related to stories already in existence, Dawn of the Jedi Will instead dive into galactic and Jedi history, exploring the Force like never before. This is uncharted territory – since the movie is set 25,000 years before the Skywalker saga, there is no prior story to adhere to. Anything goes, and that makes this project an incredibly intriguing prospect.

The acolyte was also a step in the right direction, as it explored an era previously only seen in books and children’s television, and it introduced some interesting new concepts. However, the pushback the show received – some of it warranted, much of it not – led to it being the first live-action Star Wars show to be officially cancelled. It is difficult to say whether this is due to real low viewership or the great reaction to the series, but in any case, the audience should hope that it will not cause Disney and Lucasfilm to look at these daring projects differently.

The Mandalorian was a daring project when it was first released. Set in a new era and focused on completely new characters, the show felt fresh and exciting and like the beginning of a new chapter. That chapter is now spun out into a massive over-arching narrative, however. While the story is still undeniably fun and compelling, it’s clear Star Wars Once again needs to try something new and perhaps most importantly, unexpected – it cannot rely on the Skywalker saga and The Mandalorian Forever.

Upcoming Star Wars movies

• The film that launched the Star Wars franchise, Episode IV – A New Hope tells the story of Force-sensitive Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who longs to leave his home planet of Tatooine to fight the evil Empire. After inheriting his Jedi father’s weapon, a lightsaber, Luke sets off under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) with smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to join the Rebellion and face the evil Darth Vader.

• Diego Luna stars as Cassian Andor in Andor, a Disney+ exclusive series set five years before Rogue One. The series follows the titular character as he transitions from a humble thief to a revolutionary icon of the rebellion against the Empire. Cassian, a man who tries to stay out of confrontations after the destruction of his world, is stuck in the main conflict as he usually slots in the role of ​​leader. Andor will explore the days of the Rebellion and highlight pivotal events in the Star Wars franchise prior to the construction of the Death Star.