Star Wars and The Perils of Fandom

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

I recently saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and I’m still unpacking my reactions to the film. There are a lot of thrilling moments, and writer Chris Terrio and director J.J. Abrams provide long-time fans with a bunch of cameos and callbacks in this last chapter in the “original” nine-chapter saga that was begun by George Lucas in 1977. But after seeing the movie, it also got me thinking about fans, and their love-hate relationship with the films, TV series or books that they’re fans of, whether it’s Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel superheroes, or James Bond. When I saw the original Star Wars on the big-screen back in 1977, I was captivated by the unique way Lucas combined the excitement of old-fashioned adventure serials, science fiction, and fantasy, while adding a dose of mysticism and philosophy to the mix. I loved the movie, and couldn’t wait for more adventures featuring these now beloved characters.

Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars Chapter IV: A New Hope) went on to become the most successful movie of all time, and of course, it spawned two sequels. The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. When Empire premiered in 1980, audiences were shocked and surprised when the identity of Luke Skywalker’s father was revealed. Many fans picked apart the clues and inconsistencies between the original film and Empire, noting that Lucas (despite insisting otherwise in interviews throughout the years) couldn’t have planned this from the beginning, and that he was changing things as he went along. Many fans also decried Lucas’ habit of tinkering with the films themselves, changing them slightly (and in some cases not so slightly) upon their re-releases over time, including the infamous “did Han or Greedo shoot first?” debacle. Fans have debated these issues with the original trilogy ever since.

After the release of Return of the Jedi in 1983, we didn’t see any new entries in the Star Wars cinematic saga until the highly anticipated release of The Phantom Menace in 1999, which kicked off the “prequel trilogy” aka Chapters I-III of the series. While the films featured dazzling special effects and some thrilling moments, long-time fans complained about cardboard characters, the tone of the performances and the general direction of the story. A trilogy that should have charted the powerful and emotional journey of Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader didn’t have the impact it should have for many viewers, thanks to their perceived shortcomings of the films. Despite these complaints, the movies made a ton of money, and brought many younger fans to the Star Wars universe, I have a friend who mentioned at the time that his kids loved these movies, the way we loved the original trilogy. Still, these “prequels” left a bad aftertaste for a lot of long-time fans, and other than some animated series and other spinoffs, the screen went dark again in the Star Wars universe for a while.

Then in 2012, it was announced that Lucas was selling the rights to Star Wars to Disney, and a new series of films was planned, including Chapters 7-9, which would finish off the original nine-film saga. J.J. Abrams (Lost, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek) was brought on board to write and direct, and The Force Awakens was released in 2015. Simultaneously a love letter to the fans and an expansion of the universe, the film was a phenomenal success, leading to a sequel, The Last Jedi, in 2017. Then the hardcore fans went ballistic again. Writer-director Rian Johnson put his own stamp on the saga, changing some plot threads and pointing the saga in a more downbeat direction (much as The Empire Strikes Back had in 1980) and drew the ire of fandom. Critics and fans were sharply divided, but the film was still a success at the box-office, Meanwhile, a series of Star Wars spinoff films was launched, with Rogue One (the story of the Rebels who stole the Death Star plans) and Solo(a Han Solo origin story), with more standalone films were planned. While Rogue One was a success, Solo had a troubled production; original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie) were fired and Ron Howard was brought in to finish the film. Solo proved a disappointment at the box office, and further spinoffs were put on hold. Meanwhile, after the fan backlash regarding The Last Jedi, J.J. Abrams was brought back to direct the final film in the trilogy, ultimately titled The Rise of Skywalker.

Which brings us full circle to the current release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Once again, fandom has been divided on the film. Many have noted it feels like a pullback from the darker themes of The Last Jedi. Some characters that were significantly featured in that film essentially have cameos in this one, and some plot points were clearly re-worked or ignored. I enjoyed the movie, and thought it brought the saga to a decent conclusion, with some emotional touches and goodbyes to long-time characters. There are certainly a lot of crowd-pleasing moments and exciting sequences, but how much of the story was driven by the backlash regarding The Last Jedi? The trick of dealing with a property that has a legion of fans is that its those very same fans that clamor for new adventures which further develop their favorite characters who will then decry the changes made when filmmakers attempt to put new spins on these tales. It’s a very difficult road to walk. Just ask Rian Johnson, whom I feel is unjustly maligned for his work on The Last Jedi. The film has its issues, to be sure, (just as The Rise of Skywalker does) but he was making an admirable attempt to move the Star Wars saga in a new direction.

There’s a lot to like about The Rise of Skywalker. Given what was presented in the first two chapters of this trilogy, it’s probably the best conclusion one could hope for, and it does provide closure to this part of the saga. If you can believe the stories in the press, Star Wars films are going to take a break on the big-screen, and the current saga will play out on the Disney Plus streaming platform, with spin-off series like The Mandalorian, which successfully sidesteps a lot of the “ fan expectation” issues by telling an exciting standalone story, which still pays homage (quite a bit of it, in fact) to the history of Star Wars. As time goes on, for franchises such as Star Wars, Star Trek, or the superhero films from Marvel and DC, I hope that the artists entrusted with continuing these stories will feel free to put their own imprint on these classic adventures. After all, since the beginning of storytelling, the tellers of tales have brought their own vision to these sagas, whether it’s the Arthurian myth, the stories of mythology, Sherlock Holmes, or modern day heroes like Spider Man, Batman and James Bond. Of course, the fans should be considered when new versions of these stories are produced, but should they be the only barometer of how these tales are told? As for the companies that produce and release these films, let's hope they have the wisdom to let these stories be told, and not only be concerned with making a profit. There’s room for many interpretations of these tales; and as long as they’re well crafted, they should be embraced.