Honestly, Lucasfilm needs to take a page out of Marvel's book and layout a road map similar to what Marvel did with Phase 1, 2, and 3.
THIS!!!
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They can give creators freedom, but that freedom should be somewhat constrained by an outline. For better or worse, there is an arc in Eps 1-3 for Palps and Anakin leading to where they are at the start of the OT. I rewatched all three leading up to Solo, and while TPM and especially AotC are not the greatest, they do have several hooks that make what happens in RotS more rewarding.
Realizing that there is no pre-set destination for the end of Episode 9, there still should have been some basic story laid out.
The Kevin Feige style roadmap is something that does seem worth considering. But the question to ask is whether or not the concept REALLY can apply to Star Wars. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe model, they are working off of a good number of previously existing storylines that have been adapted for the big screen. In that regard it differs greatly from Star Wars since the SW projects are being built from the ground up. And without a master storyteller like George Lucas who is writing EVERYTHING, you are lacking some of George's sense of narrative focus.
Granted, the Star Wars story group does offer some guidance, and a great deal of coordination across several forms of media. But they are doing that in the context of providing a kind of Star Wars universe bible for the filmmakers and screenwriters to work from. As long as the Star Wars films are new creations unto themselves, I think that comparing the MCU and Star Wars might be like comparing apples and oranges.
I liked TLJ, but afterwards I felt it really went out of its way to **** on a lot of stuff from TFA. Kill most of the resistance. Kylo ditches helmet. Snoke offed. Rey's lineage ignored. etc. I'm not saying I hated any of these choices, it just seemed a little... vindictive to me.
I respectfully disagree. I think that Rian Johnson was trying to challenge the audience, first and foremost. I think that he is incredibly conscious of the previous films and the tropes and patterns that have been hallmarks of the saga. Rey even communicated some of the audience's expectations of the Force when Luke asked her what she thought about the Force and the Jedi. Luke dispelled some of those notions for Rey, and Johnson dispelled some of the audience's expecations, too. Because after the PT, a number of the previously established patterns had become almost formulaic, and led fans to expect a Star Wars film to hit certain beats over the course of the movie. And isn't a movie supposed to tell us a new story where we are generally surprised?
I think Rian Jonhson is equally aware of the surprise and shock that the audience had when
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was released. Think about it in it's time: Han is captured and presumed lost. Luke quit his Jedi training to face Vader and has been gravely wounded. Leia truly has to step up and lead, saving those who have saved her before. And Darth Vader has communicated something incredibly shocking - that Obi-Wan Kenobi lied to Luke about the fate of his father. Vader has told Luke that HE is actually his father and wants him to join him. Is this true? Or is Darth Vader lying? I was certainly left with the question of whether or not Vader was lying until ROTJ was released. And by all accounts, even James Earl Jones thought that Vader was lying, too.
I really think that Rian Johnson was channeling the spirit of what had happened in TESB. Because TLJ has a similar letdown that I know I felt at the end of TESB. Yoda spelled out one of the themes of this movie explicitly, that failure is a great teacher. And it also led us to re-evaluate our expectations, and that the struggle for our heroes was going to be more real and far from predictable. The nagging questions wouldn't necessarily be answered when the audience expected them to be answered.
Granted, I tried to have an open mind about TLJ. The first time watching it, I wasn't sure that I liked it. But then I watched it again and opened myself up to the experience, and I came away with some of these impressions. YMMV.
