I’m just going to put this right here (in case you missed it over the weekend):
Hmm, no Luke Skywalker …
Category: Geek Canon Page 7 of 9
We are three months away from the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Millions of Star Wars fans are waiting with bated breath for the epic release of the first film in the franchise that doesn’t include George Lucas (whether you love him or hate him). Of course the thought on everyone’s mind is “will it be good or will it suck”. Obviously everyone immediately thinks about the prequels and how easily those movies are shredded and belittled. The difference this time is we have J. J. Abrams telling the story.
Personally I don’t think it’s going to matter what the critics think. Star Wars is “critic-proof”. Yes, I just said the one phrase that all movie critics hate (pundits and amateurs). All the Star Wars movies are more than just a movie. Every movie is adding lore to a subculture that has existed for almost 40 years. It’s a subculture that thrived before Facebook, Twitter, even e-mail could influence our opinion before we saw it for ourselves. Social media has become so integral in our world that people are now going to movies with their opinions already mired by trolls and haters.
I have faith in J. J. Abrams. I thought he did well with the two Star Trek movies and I’m even starting to develop a little confidence in Disney (after all they also own most of the Marvel movies as well). Granted Abrams has had a few projects fail (ex: Revolution, Alcatraz) but he has had quite a few big successes (i.e. Alias, Lost, Fringe, and the aforementioned Star Trek movies). I’m excited. Really excited. Abrams has the right amount of geek in him to satisfy our hopes. We will know soon.
/MTFBWY
I must have missed the part where Disney said the Expanded Universe is now obsolete and they are starting over with a clean slate. I didn’t realize this until yesterday when it was announced that the first post-ROTJ book of the “new expanded universe” will be released September 4th (titled Star Wars: Aftermath). So that means in this “new timeline” there will be no Grand Admiral Thrawn (big bummer!), no “New Jedi Order” (at least not in the same sense), no moon’s killing lovable sidekicks. It’s all going to be … just. Like. Star Trek.
I have mixed feelings, to be honest. The three books Timothy Zahn wrote were amazing (hence the bummer about no Thrawn). I have quite a few other books on the reading list I plan to get to that are part of the “old expanded universe”, including the New Jedi Order series. I guess this explains the rumored death of a character in The Force Awakens (that I previously talked about); and it also explains all the nerd rage that followed the Disney acquisition.
I tend to keep a pretty open mind when it comes to Star Wars; after all I am in the minority of people that don’t speak of the prequels with seething and disdain. There are so many books in the “old” Expanded Universe I still want to read that I will never be caught up. I guess this is an opportunity for me to try to keep up with the new Expanded Universe. It will be interesting to see how things progress from here. Will authors like James Luceno, Troy Denning, and Timothy Zahn continue to write books in the old “Expanded Universe” or is that world now off limits?
Personally I am going to try to keep the two timelines separate. Obviously I currently favor the existing expanded universe. J. J. Abrams and future authors could change that depending on how well written the new stories will be, so I am going to continue to keep an open mind. Besides, its not like I can force (haha, “force”) Disney to change their mind, even if I change my Facebook profile picture!
I know that is a surprising title coming from me, but hopefully that is what grabbed your attention. Let’s recap. There are 6 movies now. Episode VII is pretty much wrapped up. VIII and IX are in the works. The Rogue One movie cast has been announced. We have Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars Droid Tales animated series. There are rumors, still circulating, of Boba Fett and Han Solo spin off movies. Then, of course, there are the plethora of video games. We have been inundated with Star Wars since Disney took over, which is pretty much what Disney does. We know that it won’t end as long as people keep tweeting about it, posting on Facebook about it and buying memorabilia (guilty!) So is it too much Star Wars?
Right now any Trekkie reading this is vehemently screaming “YES” (complete with Daniel Bryan arm gesture). In fact there are probably quite a few Star Wars “fans” that also agree probably since The Phantom Menace. Personally, I’m not there yet. I am very excited for The Force Awakens. I’m actually even a little excited for Rogue One (especially since the great Alan Tudyk will be in it). I’m on the fence about the whole Boba Fett/Han Solo spin-offs but we’ll see how that plays out.
Then there is the Star Wars parks that Disney also announced because, again, that’s what Disney does, build parks. Therein lies the real conundrum. The rational side of me is thinking, a Star Wars theme park probably isn’t necessary. The idea is cool as hell, but economically it seems like a bad business venture. Of course there is every ounce of my inner child screaming “I wanna go! I wanna go!” so if the park(s) is/are actually built, and it doesn’t cost a small fortune, I definitely hope to arrange at least one visit, you know, for the kids!
So for now I guess I’m not feeling all that overwhelmed. Actually I’m rather enjoying all the love that Star Wars is getting right now. For years we have endured so many Star Trek movies and television series, while Star Wars sat silently in the background, that its about time the best science-fiction drama gets some deserved time in the lime light. So go watch tribble mating rituals on your holodecks while getting wasted on Romulan ale if you don’t like it! 🙂
/MTFBWY
P.S. By the way, Star Wars Rebels … really good! You should watch it!
I have talked in the past about how much I’m enjoying the continuity of the Marvel movies and TV series, its been an unprecedented achievement in live-action content. A good friend of mine recently went on a mini-tirade about how Fox has ruined the X-Men franchise (too bad Marvel Studios can’t get the rights). He grew up a long time, hard core, comic book fan. The monetization of live-action content has a tendency to do that and Twentieth Century Fox is most notorious for taking certain liberties in their film adaptations. Granted I haven’t read a comic book in about 20 years but X-Men is a series I grew up on.
I know I’m in the minority when I say that I have actually enjoyed all the X-Men and Wolverine movies. I felt everyone was cast really well. I liked the first Fantastic Four movies (while the latest one is deplorable). I’m going to boldly state that I also enjoyed Ryan Reynolds in the Green Lantern movie (I know it wasn’t the greatest telling of Hal Jordan but I personally felt it was acceptable). I haven’t seen Ant-Man yet but I’ve heard the overall ratings are generally pretty good.
I think the most difficult conundrum producers and directors face when they are adapting a film that has a huge fan base is making a movie that appeals not only to the fans but to the general public as well. They have to draw in enough of a crowd to meet the ROI of making the film and, statistically, the number of fans in the subculture is not going to bring in enough money at the box office. Remember, in the end making movies is a business and to succeed in business you must be profitable. Now, with that said, you have to do better than the recent iteration of Fantastic Four which will cost Fox money instead. Although Fox could be on the road to redemption if the Deadpool movie is as good as it looks in the trailer.
I think we might be nearing the end of the super hero paradigm. The success of X-Men, Avengers, Iron Man, etc has gone to the head of every movie studio executive and we are now a bit overwhelmed with super hero movies. Just like bad film adaptations, the monetization of a subculture can go too far and will ultimately burn everyone out.
/cheers
I could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!I try not to read too many spoilers about The Force Awakens because I want to be surprised by the story just like anyone else. However in a couple of recent posts/interviews people have alluded to the possible death of one of the original characters.
Before I go any further I am going to do the ole’ SPOILERS warning. If you have read any of the books from the expanded universe then I won’t unveil anything new (and I am referring specifically to Vector Prime). Also, if you don’t want to hear the rumors going around about the upcoming movie, you may want to stop as well.
Continuing on …
If you are familiar with any of the Star Wars lore then you know the reason Chewbacca is always by Han’s side is he owes Han a life debt. At some point in the past Han saves Chewie’s life and therefore Chewie will remain by his side to fulfill said debt. I don’t recall anywhere else in the canon that suggests Chewie has ever fulfilled his life debt but its probably safe to assume he has not. Which brings us to Vector Prime. Vector Prime takes place several years after ROTJ and Han and Leia are married with three kids (Jaina, Jacen and Anakin). I don’t know the specifics as I haven’t read Vector Prime (yet) but I do know that Chewie fulfills his life debt by giving his own life to save Hans’ kid(s).
So that’s the lore as it stands today. (Btw, all books published using the Star Wars name and characters must be approved by George Lucas.)
In recent plot discussions about The Force Awakens, there have been statements that allude to the fact that either Han or Chewie die and the popular rumor is that it’s Han. At the risk of sounding like a nerd raging fanboy, this is NOT in line with the expanded universe. It doesn’t matter which one of them dies (assuming the rumor is true), neither are supposed to die before Han and Leia’s kids are born. When we deviate from the widely known canon we start to look as inconsistent as Star Trek!
Yes, I went there! I just compared Star Wars to Star Trek! Granted Star Trek couldn’t keep its story/timeline straight through all the television series and movies whereas we are comparing movies to books. You cannot use the old [Star Trek] cliché that the books are an “alternative universe or timeline” because that is WEAK! You cannot expect us nerdier Star Wars fans to read the books outside the context of the movies because, in our mind’s eye, that’s our sole basis for comparison.
After all, it is those of us that are the mega-Star-Wars-Universe-nerds that can look past the plot and acting flaws of the prequels (or Phantom Menace at the minimum). So, just like a losing wookie, it would also be unwise to piss us off.
I could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!