Futurism logo

Can We Tone Down the 'Star Wars' a Bit?

'Solo: A Star Wars Story' might have proven what we've been fearing.

By Kory GloverPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like

Solo was an odd experiment from the Disney and the Star Wars universe. Granted, the character of Han Solo quickly became a favourite among fans for his down-to-earth personality and the fact that he was the only "normal" main character in the saga.

The big pull of Han Solo's character was that he was a completely normal man who was recruited into an adventure that involved space wizards, over-throwing government and saving the universe. Solo was the only one people could really connect with because he was the one character most like us. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we needed to know his entire backstory.

While the response to the new Solo movie hasn't made anyone give up on the franchise, it has garnered a big "meh" from critics and audiences alike, which isn't a good thing. No matter what your feelings were about Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, you had an emotional response coming out of the theatre. Whether you love, hated, despised or praised the previous movies, you still had a big reaction to them. No one is having that reaction to Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The best response people are giving this movie is that it was either "fun" or "better than expected" and the worst responses people are saying is that it was "ultimately pointless." No matter which family you're in, it's important to acknowledge what this movie may of proved.

Just because a character becomes popular, doesn't mean they should become the focus of a movie. Just because we connect with a character, doesn't mean we need to know everything about that character. We didn't need to know what Han Solo was doing before Episode 4, we didn't need to know how he obtained the Millenium Falcon or how he met Chewbacca. We can put that story together in our heads from their interactions and characters in previous movies.

Disney is doing the exact same thing with Lando Calrissian. Donald Glover's performance as Solo's old buddy was one of the more praised aspects of the film and they've already announced that they're in the planning process for a Lando movie. Oh, come on, this is starting to feel like Disney is throwing wet napkins at the wall and seeing what will stick.

Do we really need a Lando movie now too?

Which leads to the conclusion that Star Wars simply doesn't work as a shared universe story like the Marvel Cinematic Universe does. Say what you will about the MCU and their saturation of superhero movies for the past few years, but they have discovered a formula that works.

Marvel Studios has practically mastered the shared universe formula of intriguing story-telling, foreshadowing popular characters and eventually having a big movie where everything comes together. Marvel Studios has obviously laid out a plan for the franchise and it constantly shows year after year.

With Star Wars, there doesn't seem to be any larger, grand plan. Just nerdy table scraps of what Disney thinks fans will enjoy. Star Wars has always worked as a space-opera, telling a coherent story in the span of three movies. No one was demanding that Han Solo's story be told, no one was demanding to know how the plans to the Death Star were stolen. We could've put those stories together ourselves.

When it was announced that a new Star Wars movie was being released back in 2015, people went nuts for the trailer and the movie sold incredibly well. Why? Because the franchise felt like seeing an old friend again, a friend that you had a bit of a falling out with back in the early millennium but have finally buried the hatchet.

But now, Star Wars is becoming that friend you see too often and tries way to hard to hang out with you and be besties with you. Force Awakens and Last Jedi were great, Rogue One was a decent attempt and Solo is becoming the moment where you're trying to duck out of the party before he sees you.

Let's not let Star Wars become boring and saturated; let's let it stay as that friend we knew a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

star wars
Like

About the Creator

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.