Did Star Wars fans kill Star Wars?

[Quixote1818]

Interesting take. It's basically about how Lucas lost interest in making Star Wars movies because the fans were so mean spirited so he sold to Disney. Now the fans are saying Disney is killing Star Wars and want Lucas back but if the fans hadn't been so mean to Lucas he would have continued to make movies:

This guy does a great impression of the "fans" and the things they complain about:

[Guilded Lilly]

1. My input is that big money did much more damage. Keep the bucks rolling in and...

Find ways to draw news crowds once the originals aged beyond story telling value.
Lucas made huge bucks, and maybe just ran out of fresh material. Blaming mean spirited fans? Cop-out.

The fans will love whatever version they were raised with. Older fans won’t embrace the newbies as much. Newer fans will.

There are millions still just getting started.
Disney will never stop making them if they can still make big bucks.

[yallerdawg]

29. Over $4 billion dollar investment by Disney.

Disney has to do whatever it can to make this profitable, and not just "Gee, we finally made a million dollars."

They are finishing the original Lucas serial movie vision, as fans since the 70's hopefully anticipated for decades. They are throwing in intriguing backstories - personally, I think "Rogue One" was the best Star Wars story since the first three!

Star Wars is going to be with us forever!

Remember the old Vulcan goodbye salutation - "Live long and prosper?"

[Eko]

2. Haters gotta hate.

[Docreed2003]

3. If he would have humbled himself and

Released the unadulterated original trilogy on blu Ray, it would have gone a long was towards appeasing many in the fandom!

[Vogon_Glory]

4. I don't get it. This argument doesn't make sense.

What I do know is that George Lucas wisely let a “book-verse” Star Wars galaxy grow and flourish after the third Star Wars movie was filmed and released. The official fan book publishing kept interest in the Star Wars franchise flourishing instead of letting it whither away like fan interest in Buck Rogers and Stargate,


Then Lucas sold the Star Wars franchise to Darth Mickey. Darth Mickey then decided to utterly ignore the quasi canon that fan authors had built up for over two decades and re-write the story to their liking, occasionally adding scenes to snuff actors and characters their script-writers, directors, and corporate honchos disliked. (Check the fan book histories of Han Solo and Pricess Leia and compare them to Kylo Ren if you don’t believe me).

Now the Mouse is upset because the fans aren’t dancing in the daisies over the changes they’ve made.

Go figure.
——
Addendum No, I don’t like the changes made after the last “mainstream” Star Wars movie. The rebels are even further up (bleep) Creek than they were at the start of Episode IV: A New Hope.

[bearsfootball516]

5. I get what you're saying.

The new Star Wars movies, although I think the storytelling is a step up from Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, just feel....off. I'm not sure what it is. They're still good movies. Maybe it's the forced humor or modern special effects. They just don't have the pure Star Wars feel that the original trilogy had.

[Vogon_Glory]

8. Admittedly, Disney DOES own the rights and can legally do

What they want with their property. I don’t dispute that.

But when the scriptwriters and directors of the new Disney Star War chose to junk the canon that had built up in the years after R of the J came out, they shouldn’t have been surprised that the fan reaction was less than ecstatic. I may be off, but I felt a bit dissed. Team Mickey particularly shouldn’t have been surprised when some of their canon-altering decisions seem to have been made with financial concerns so blatant that I could almost hear the money-crunchers typing in the background.

I admit that the actor who played Kylo Renn was a handsome young fella. But I would rather have seen Star Wars movies with the Solo twins, Mara Jade, Ben Skywalker, and Admiral Dalla. (Characters created in the Star Wars books, for those not in the know).

[FSogol]

19. Maybe it is because you aren't 10 years old anymore. n/t

[oberliner]

11. The argument is that the fans drove Lucas to sell Star Wars to Disney

Because they didn't like the prequels trilogy.

But now that they are seeing what Disney is doing with the property, they feel remorse at the vitriol they directed at Lucas.

So the argument is that the fans killed Star Wars by draining any enthusiasm for the franchise that Lucas may have had through their attacks on him throughout the past decade or so.

Had they taken it easier on him, the argument goes, he may have made those other three movies his way and we'd all still be living in the wonderful Star Wars Expanded Universe that was developed over time instead of having Disney chuck it out the window.

[Vogon_Glory]

16. I didn't pay attention to that controversy

I was just one of those thousands of Star Wars fans who bought some of the audio books and listened to them while driving cross-country. I thought that Lucas’ Star Wars was his creation, and that he could do whatever he wanted with it.

OTOH, I don’t feel the same about Team Mickey and their handling of the Star Wars franchise.

[LonePirate]

6. The Star Wars hate that The Last Jedi generated is simply appalling.

I can understand some fans feeling Luke deserved better; but it was a creative and unique turn of events for his character. Then again, I don't take the lore all that seriously, unlike some.

However, the alt-right, MRA hatred due to the film's strong female and minority characters with white men taking a back seat, apart from Luke and Kylo, is simply reprehensible. Those sewer dwellers can return to their homes as I will not lose any sleep if I never see any of them at a theater ever again. It's people like them who are responsible for pretty much everything that is wrong with this country.

[Quixote1818]

7. I wasn't aware of any of this two days ago but looked up reviews for Solo on youtube

and ended up going down the rabbit hole when I came across some of the boycott Star Wars videos. You are correct, many are from Alt-Right "fans" who really hate the strong female characters etc.

[clutterbox1830]

17. I really did not like the TLJ at all.

It has nothing to do with strong female or minority characters. I just think the story made very little sense and thought it hurt the previous movies. There were too many plot holes and questionable character choices imo. However, I do not bash anyone who liked this film. It doesn't bother me at all if other people don't like the same entertainment as me. To each their own when it comes to this topic.

[LonePirate]

18. I have no problems with fair criticisms like yours. The hatred from the alt right is another matter.

[forgotmylogin]

9. My prediction is Disney will oversaturate the brand.

A new Star Wars was always an event. Disney's going to churn out Star Wars media every year all over the place and I think it will become generic.

[Initech]

10. I think it's oversaturation of the market.

We have had superhero movie after superhero movie and I think people are getting tired of the same old thing. People are getting sick of the sequels and reboots and remakes and spin offs. You can only take a franchise so far before it starts to repeat itself. It's time to create some new franchises instead of rehashing the same ones over and over.

[Nay]

12. I agree. I haven't seen the last two, and I hated the one before that. The magic is def

gone.

And yeah, what's with the gush of superhero movies? That's getting pretty tiresome too.

[Initech]

13. I think people are trying to copy the formula set forth by the MCU.

The MCU is great and it has generated a lot of money and a lot of interest. But Marvel treaded very carefully and it paid off handsomely for them. But anyone who tries to follow their formula it doesn't end well for them.

[NewJeffCT]

33. Oversaturated superhero movies?

Black Panther just made $1.3 billion this year and almost $700 million in the US alone.

Avengers Infinity War is set to pass Black Panther on a worldwide basis probably this week, but may need a few more weeks to pass it domestically.

Deadpool 2 is an R rated movie and just passed $500 million worldwide.

It doesn't seem like the audiences feel oversaturated with superhero movies or getting tired of them.

I think Solo is suffering because they picked a relatively unknown actor to play the young Han Solo.

Episodes 7 and 8 did better because they had some of the original cast in the movies. Rogue One did relatively well because at least Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything, Spider-Man 2, a few TV shows, etc) was better known when picked versus Alden Ehrenreich.

Last Jedi suffered because, I think, the MRA/White Supremacist types were better organized in their trashing of the movie in reviews, and because I think the movie had some genuine issues - it seems they almost forgot about Poe and Finn after they played bigger parts in The Force Awakens to focus on Rey/Kylo

[haele]

34. Scheduling hurt Solo. And that foreign markets weren't as familiar with the originals.

Foreign markets go "Han Solo - okay, he's Kylo Ren's dad and a space pirate, so?" They're looking for a hero with a hero's arc, and Han was at the end of his arc when he appeared in The Force Awakens. Likewise, another Princess Leia and Luke wouldn't be a big draw, because the people who are watching Star Wars now are familiar with the current trilogy and maybe the prequels; they didn't grow up with the original Star Wars.

As for scheduling, the normal Star Wars release schedule Disney has been following should have put Solo opening in November; but since Disney is expecting Captain Marvel to be a November blockbuster and their Mary Poppins reboot was to take the December slot that would normally be the Star Wars opening.
So, Disney found a spot not too close to TLJ, thinking that Solo would do well enough in the spring between Marvel movies, as a summer movie opener. It's pretty obvious that the nature of the movie was always set up to be a light-hearted heist gone wrong "romp" for fans, no matter if it were Miller and Lord doing 21 Jump Street in Space, or Ron Howard doing a fond and nostalgic look back at the originals hero, setting up perhaps a trilogy of stories based loosely on a "Rogue's Gallery" of Star Wars that would have been contemporaneous with the popular Star Wars Clone Wars/Rebels cartoons.

Disney wasn't expecting Deadpool 2 to be moved from June to May; Solo was supposed to open three weeks after Infinity Wars - and three weeks before Deadpool 2, a reasonable slot to make some money and establish a new series.
Antman and Wasp was supposed to open three weeks after Deadpool 2. So in January, when news came out that Deadpool 2 moved up into May, Infinity Wars had to be moved to April so as not to compete, and soon after in February/April, Antman and Wasp was moved back to July for minor re-editing based the reactions to Black Panther and Infinity Wars (re-editing is always a good thing when dealing with a series).

But Solo was stuck because of both the Deadpool and Antman and Wasp moves; it couldn't be pushed to July, and August is a seen as a "dead" month for movies - that's where you put movies that can't compete. September and October are Arthouse and Horror movies, and the holiday November/December releases were already slotted...

I still think they could have moved Solo to the beginning of November or between Captain Marvel and Mary Poppins, and it would have still made money. Because Star Wars audiences have already been trained to expect their movies around the winter holidays.

But, they had locked it in as the "Summer Opener", and the suits apparently decided they couldn't change it.

I actually liked Solo for what it was.

Haele

[NewJeffCT]

37. Captain Marvel

is coming out in March of 2019 - a few weeks later than Black Panther's mid February release date of his year.

I don't think Mary Poppins (families, especially with young kids) and Solo (teens, Star Wars fans) would be competing for the same audiences much of the time.

There is a new Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts movie coming out in November, as well as a new Grinch movie with Benedict Cumberbatch.

[haele]

39. My bad, I had the impression there was a November release.

And I don't see how a Harry Potter movie would compete with Solo, similar to the Poppins/Solo.
They really should have moved it to November.

Haele

[NewJeffCT]

40. Aquaman comes out in December

a few days before Christmas. Mary Poppins on Christmas Day. An early November release for Solo is 6-7 weeks before that, which should have been plenty of time.

[Iggo]

14. Star Wars fans who hate women have made me love Star Wars again.

[catrose]

15. Well, as a young woman in the 70s, I adored Princess Leia

Finally, someone I wanted to be in an adventure story! A lot of girls grabbed onto Leia (Face it, who else was there?). Then in the first Disney show we see that she's been separated from Han ever since her psycho son went more psycho.

And it becomes clear that Leia is just a doll to stick pins in, as far as the movie makers are concerned. And OMG, I could have gone my whole life without seeing Han Solo murdered.

And in the latest offering we see books in the Star Wars universe for the first time, as they're being burnt, while wise old Jedis admit to not reading them, boring, amirite? And Rey doesn't need them, "because she has all she needs." I've worked with people who felt like that.

And Luke falls victim to the kill-baby-Hitler fallacy, despite his having access to all the Jedi who ever were and being so incredibly powerful otherwise. Oh, and those books he never read were also available.

And Kylo Ren...Pfffft.

I wasn't going to see the last offering, until it became literally Carrie Fisher's last offering. And she spent most of the movie in a coma. And the next one will have to start with her death, on or off stage. So I'm done.

I confess to have only seen the first of the prequels, in which I wanted to yell at the Jedi, "You're taking a 6-year-old from his mother, and you're the wisest peeps in the galaxy?" As I understand it, that and difficult love made Darth Vader what he was. Okay...sounds like today's mass shooters.

The magic is gone.

[hunter]

20. Disney does Star Wars better than Lucas did.

Besides the entire Star Wars saga is little more than tall tales told by R2D2 and C3PO who are the beloved ageless robot servants of the Skywalker clan on Tatooine.

If you don't believe me, picture C3P0 doing his Jar-Jar Binks impression for the kids.

Jar Jar Binks was actually a great warrior but Ben Kenobe hated amphibians and was completely bonkers PTSD about deep water predators, which is why he ended up on the desert planet Tatooine.

[haele]

35. Have you heard the Darth Jar-Jar theory?

That Jar-Jar was actually a Sith in training, especially since Palpatine was originally from Naboo.
It explains some of his "Drunken Monk" fighting style and his ability to always be in the wrong place at the right time.

Haele

[hunter]

41. Hah! Did anyone ever check Jar-Jar for midichlorians?

[LanternWaste]

21. Favorite line from Enraged Fan: "I've seen Force Awakens 12 times, and I hated it more each time"

I dig the new movies. Lots of new, quirky ideas being explored. Force Awakens was almost as good as New Hope to me. Last Jedi much better than Return. I think the newer Star Trek films stand miles above the previous incarnations too, and finally gets away from its overly melodramatic past.

I giggle at anyone so invested in a mere film they get angry and frustrated. Bless their little hearts... all they need to do is avoid seeing the movies and that vessel above their left eye would finally quit twitching.

Favorite line from Enraged Fan Demographic: "I've seen Force Awakens 12 times, and I hated it more each time I saw it..."

[hunter]

23. I hate the new Star Trek.

It's an alternate universe that needs to die.

[Vogon_Glory]

31. +1

[tazkcmo]

27. Hilarious

12 times.

[John Fante]

30. I'm with you. The Disney films are a MAJOR step up

from the prequels and if we're honest with ourselves, they're on par with the OT. I haven't seen "Solo" yet but I thought "Rogue Nation" was outstanding.

The vast majority of the online hate is a combination of a) alt-right shenanigans b) fans who massively overrate the originals c) prequel fans who determined to hate the new trilogy at any cost. IMO

[tammywammy]

32. I like the Star Wars movies

Lucas was a shit writer though. He was never going to win any awards for thenscreenplays he wrote. I think Disney raised the bar significantly.

People mad that it didn't follow the book canon...well who cares? So what? Books with one canon and movies with another.

[NewJeffCT]

38. yes - I agree about book canon

there are so many Star Wars books out there, most people won't have time to read all of them, and only a few more than most will have read any of them.

I remember after Revenge of the Sith came out, I made a comment to a friend that it was a big step up from the previous two movies, though it still had flaws. One I had mentioned to him was that Anakin went from a guy madly in love with Padme and generally a good guy with flashes of a bad temper to an evil bastard who killed children way too quickly in my opinion. His response was that if I had read the book, I would have seen a lot more detail on how he made his journey to The Dark Side. Sorry, but in 2005 when it came out, I was dealing with a new job, a 2 1/2 year old child and also just having moved. My book reading was limited to reading Dr Seuss out loud to my daughter, so I had no time to read books for me.

[Renew Deal]

22. There are people that believe that some Star Wars stories don't need to be told

Like the prequels. The prequels are for the story. I find that they enhance the universe by giving people an idea how Darth Vader came about and what the Jedi were. I enjoyed them. It doesn't bother me that others didn't. Also, newer Star Wars fans appreciate them. It gives them a different place to start from.

[LostOne4Ever]

24. Star Wars fans are the worst part about Star Wars. nt

[Xolodno]

25. A lot of it is a self fulfilling prophecy.

Revenge of the Sith wasn't a great moving, but it really wasn't that half bad either. But the taint from Phantom Menace made the fanboy's determined to hate it anyway.

The Force Awakens was definitely it the spirit of Episodes IV-VI and yet the fanboys bitched it was too much like the original trilogy.

The Last Jedi, again not a great movie, but not bad either. But fanboys were upset because Snoke was killed off without knowing his story and Rey is revealed to be a "nobody"...which may be lie to begin with.

Lucas envisioned this as all about the Skywalker family, thus far, I still think it is. I suspect episode IX, is going to bring a lot of closure and Disney will concentrate on other stories. Effectively, created its own expanded universe. Because, let's face it, some of the books that were written before Disney took it were really something bad *cough*Courtship of Princess Leia*cough*

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

26. I think thats a horseshit premise

He sold bc he could. And that's what he felt like doing. Don't blame it on the people who paid your way. Worst one was the one w the kid racing. ugh.

[tazkcmo]

28. Me too

They over estimate their influence on Lucas who probably gives two f's.

[Blue_Tires]

36. I thought that was assumed as a given?

[MicaelS]

42. A lot of fans are flat out dicks.

They act like they own SW, and everyone must cater to them. Fuck 'em. I saw the first one when it was still in the theaters in 1977. I was 20, and loved it. Still do. One of the greatest film series of all time.

[Stuart G]

43. THIS IS A TOTAL, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT LIE..A LIE..AND I HAVE ABSOLUTE PROOF...

Now you will have to hit the link below, and look for about 30 seconds..that is all....What is the 3rd ranked all time money maker?...Star Wars the Force Awakens....If Star Wars is ....dead....why did all those people go to see it???....BULLS**T.......!!!!!!!!, STAR WARS IS NOT DEAD Ok ...Look at number 11 film on the all time money makers....Number 11...The Last Jedi...which brought in over 1.1 Billion worldwide...number 11. this is not ..dead..


http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

[Snellius]

44. Star Wars was only good until it started to take itself too seriously

I happened to have heard read the original Star Wars script before it was released. ("Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought onboard.&quot and it sounded like the dumbest piece of shit of all time. My girlfriend was working for ILM and said no one involved in it took it too seriously. It was all done with blue screen so no one but Lucas could really envision what was going on. Most of the acting, especially by Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, was pretty much tongue in cheek, like it was a joke. Then one day I get a phone call. The crew and cast finally get to see the pre-release rough cut screening, flipped out, and she just says "Buy Twentieth Century Fox. Now!" The first Star Wars was fun. Then Lucas started taking all the "let the force be with you" nonsense seriously. That and the stupid Ewoks. Truth is, fans, Star Wars has never been very good. Sorry.