Is Star Wars special anymore?

[Phrubruh]

Since we can expect a new Star Wars movie every year for the foreseeable future does this make a new Star Wars movie opening  special? We use to have to wait 3-4 years for a new movie and wait ten years for a new trilogy. Each release felt exciting and new. Now we will get a new movie every year. Each one will be hit or miss in quality and how well it does in the theaters. As for toys, we only get a wave or two major characters now instead of weird background characters.  What are your feelings on this? Do you like watching the trilogy movies or the anthology movies? Will one be better than the other? is that feeling of "special" still there?

[Qui-Gon Jim]

To me, it is, but I could see that diminishing somewhat over time.  Or not.  Hard to gauge.  Personally, I LOVED Rogue One.  More side stories done with that level of quality?  Count me in.  I am worried about Solo.

[GrandMoffNick]

Still special. Five more years? We'll see.  But I like lots of good Star Wars over every once in awhile "special".

[Muftak]

I think "Star Wars" is special again. I think it had lost it during the "Clone Wars" years until Force Awakens came out. (Heck, I was jazzed about the "Clone Wars" movie ten years ago before the show became I grind that I gave up on.)

I really liked TFA. I loved Rogue One. After one viewing, TLJ left me feeling like I had watched a first draft, but I really enjoyed huge swaths of it. I am interested in seeing what happens with "Solo." It doesn't feel like a grind. I love taking my oldest son to the opening nights. And he loves it, too.

The toy lines will never have the same depth that they had as a "Nostalgia" property. But we never got Tarkin or the Cantina Band back in the vintage line, either. The toymakers are tasked with keeping up these days. We are lucky to still see as much as we do. Compare Last Jedi's toy mix it to the lines of "Justice League" toys if you don't believe me.

(I also have been blessed with taking a fun idea I had and turning it into a way to "play" with Star Wars everyday. Star Wars has given more to me in the past two years than I can believe.)

I'm ready for more!

[I Am Sith]

I'm still very excited about the movies when they come out and so is the rest of my family.  Between these and the Marvel movies, we really look forward to getting tickets for opening night/weekend and can't wait until the day of the screening.  Like Q-G Jim I'm worried about Solo.  I thought RO was a great idea that didn't need to involve key players from the SW universe.  It was really done well and felt like part of the universe.  I'm worried because they are messing with a beloved character and can really screw things up...

The thrill is still there and I hope it continues for many more years to come.

[Brian]

Like others, still special for me and the family too. I do wonder about the general public after 5 or more years of this, we'll see. A lot depends on what the schedule looks like post Episode 9. I'm generally of the mindset of more Star Wars each year is good with me. I've made my peace that no matter how much I like the new movies (and I've loved them all so far), it will never change my feelings for "my" trilogy - the OT. I'm just enjoying the ride watching my daughter soak in this new trilogy the way I did as a kid. Fun stuff. The toys are another story, I do wish we could get a little more in depth there.

This brings to mind something else I wanted to ask here that we had been talking about in our house. Is Star Wars a bigger deal than Marvel to modern, general audiences? I know Star Wars is still the box office champ, but it sure seems like in my daily life there is more familiarity and "buzz" around Marvel stuff from the more casual fans. I know we have seen the Infinity War trailer each time we have seen Last Jedi, and everyone seems to be talking about it each time. I mean, I love both, but I was just curious if Star Wars was still the biggest deal to the general audience these days.

[Dave]

To me its a bit of an evolution.

In the past Star Wars was really a movie only thing that happened once every three years spanning six years, twice.  It was "rare" and a little unique, which helped make it a little "special".  But I think the mythos, and characters, and pop-culture appeal have made Star Wars extra special in a way that Marvel, Star Trek, and others haven't matched.

Star Wars is now evolving to be a more consistent pop-culture event where the movies are more frequent (like Marvel) and potentially adding live action TV.  While this changes the rarity of the public's interaction with Star Wars, I don't believe this will significantly change how Star Wars is viewed from a "special" perspective.  As others have said, maybe this will change in five years where we reach a potential over-saturation.

[Matt_Fury]

It’s special for me because of my kids, and that the movies have been good.  I’m not overly excited about Solo, but we’ll see it and I hope it’s great.


I loved Rogue One and would like to see more stories like that.  Use the anthology films to show the larger universe of Star Wars.  Just take the Magnificent Seven and fill it with some Jedi and bounty hunters and I’ Be in heaven!

[Jesse James]

A lot of what Matt said there is how I feel, and Rogue One has been my favorite of the new movies.

The new trilogy doesn't have that place in my heart that the OT does, and perhaps that's partially why RO is so cool and fun to me.  And maybe why I'm looking forward to Solo a little more than some others are? 

That said I thought the new movie was great, I love going to see them...  I don't feel compelled to see it opening night quite as badly as I used to because it's not always convenient for me, but I still feel it's a special thing getting to see a new movie.

To me though, and maybe this has helped me too, to me these are all a form of expanded universe.  It's like more LOTR to me is just not Tolkien's stuff, and so it's just not quite the same, but for my $, some of my favorite Star Wars stories were like Maarek Steele and Keyan Farlander's story, or Kyle Katarn's, and so I'm ok with a slight disconnect from these films and the OT.

That said, the new trilogy is vastly superior, IMO, to the PT, in most ways, and so it just proves to me that Lucas was not the end all be all...  he maybe created the universe, but other people can do wonderful things with it, and that makes me hopeful for all the films, and that they're pretty special to go to every year.

The toy launches are getting a tad old, as are the fairly shallow offerings for any given film...  But that's another topic for another section I guess.

[Darby]

Star Wars will always be special to me. Nothing can diminish the impact its had on my life both as an influence on my creativity or just the sheer endless joy it's provided over the years. A bad movie here or there won't diminish SW, or a more frequent schedule of films. Will some of these films not be my cup of tea? Inevitable, probably. Will going to see a SW movie become less exciting? I'd argue it already has, but there's nothing like sitting in the theater that first viewing.

What has diminished about SW is fandom. And by that I mean the level of discourse that has corroded one of the most special, unique experiences in all of entertainment. We debate it here, we tweet about it, we talk about it amongst ourselves. There is a segment of fandom that has become toxic and exclusionary. This isn't because of Disney, or Rey, or whatever. It's gone on a long time now, back to the PT and maybe before. There are fans who think they've got it all figured out. They own SW. And as new generations come into it, as new creators, as new aspects of the story develop, they seek to diminish them or push them out. It's sad and pathetic. I'd prefer to let it all go, and just enjoy my hobby, but it's gotten to the point where voices of reason have to be heard.

[Jeff]

Star Wars will always be special to me. Nothing can diminish the impact its had on my life

Agree, and honestly, this is all that matters. 

I learned a long time ago that you can love Star Wars without loving everything Star Wars does.  Star Wars is so big that you can't (or won't) like every decision that's made and every story that's told.  I hated Chewbacca's death in Vector Prime.  The picnic scene in AOTC is nearly unwatchable.  Han's fate in TFA still makes me sad.  Etc.  Still love Star Wars though.

I love my kids.  Do I love it when they make bad decisions and try to melt a bouncy ball in the microwave?  Nope, but I still love them.  Star Wars is the same.  It will always hold a special place in my heart.  Will I love every movie they crank out from here to eternity?  Probably not.  But disliking Episode 12 or "Ackbar: An Admiral's Tale" or whatever isn't going to take away how I feel about the parts of Star Wars I love.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

Marvel is 10 years in with multiple pictures each year. While there are some that are better than others, id say the QC has been kept intact and they are all good, and I eagerly await the next film each time.

As long as they can keep making GOOD SW films, I can’t imagine being less excited.

[Scockery]

Star Wars is only special when it's the Holiday Special.

Okay, special? The sequels have messed up part of the fairy tale aspect of the OT, if you consider the OT to have that. Lucas considered the Empire dead after ROTJ. Not in retreat...over with. Kaput. Every post-OT thing ignored him. (So what were his plan for the Sequels?)

But what's done is done. Good, bad, meh, a new Star Wars movie every year is fine. None of us are getting younger.

Now to sign that petition to disavow The Last Jedi....

[Nicklab]

Star Wars is still special to me.  A lot of that has to do with my own personal experiences with the franchise.  Watching THE LAST JEDI was an emotional experience for me for a number of reasons.  In large part because of the passing of Carrie Fisher.  And also because of the revelations of the story of Luke Skywalker after the events of RETURN OF THE JEDI, and how his story resolved.

But I think the bigger question to ask is this:  is Star Wars special to Disney?

I think it is.  Granted, Disney has invested a monumental amount of money in the franchise after purchasing it from George Lucas for over $4 billion.  If you just take into account the box office receipts alone, Disney has probably made that money back.  And they are absolutely monetizing the franchise as much as they possibly can through the movies, merchandising and their theme parks.

Do I have concerns?  Yes.  I think that the 1 film a year schedule is a bit too aggressive.  Especially right now.  Fans are still in the process of digesting and discussing one of the most compelling chapters of the Star Wars saga.  And what happened last week?  A promotional image from the upcoming Han Solo movie leaked.  From my own vantage point, there seems to be some conflict here because I think these movies really need some time and space to breathe and exist on their own.  And I say that from both a movie and a merchandising standpoint. 

Granted, we are NEVER going to see movies have the lifespan in theaters that they had when the OT was released.  I remember when I saw the "STAR WARS" in the theater in 1977.  The movie had been released in May, and I'm fairly sure that I saw it around Labor Day of '77.  And from what I've read it may have stayed in theaters until some time in 1978.  I don't think any of us who were kids at the time knew that there would be a sequel until Kenner announced the Boba Fett mailaway program in 1979, and that teased us that TESB was on the way.  Given the landscape at the time, that three years between the first two movies didn't seem that long.  But there was a lot of anticipation leading up to EMPIRE.  And even more towards ROTJ after the way TESB ended.  That building anticipation made the OT that much more special.  As did the mystery about where the story was going.

Some of that mystery seemed to have been lost in the PT era.  Spy reports and the internet took away some of the surprise factor, as did the fact that we were seeing the story of a character who we knew would become Darth Vader.  The very nature of the Force became dispelled to a degree with the introduction of the midichlorians, and that may have altered our perception of the inherent mysticism of the OT.  And I think some of the subplots of the PT movies that are actually a bit important to the story of TLJ flew under the radar at that time, too.

But I think that some of this discussion has to come back to us:  that original audience who were kids when we saw the OT, young adults for the PT, and approaching middle age now.  Has our own maturation and intense fandom brought us to a point where we now deconstruct every aspect of the saga to an almost obsessive degree, thereby depriving ourselves of a more innocent viewing experience that we enjoyed as kids?  I think it might be a question worth asking.

All of that being said?  I say space the movies out a bit more.  Maybe put some more effort into television or animation projects.  But let the movies breathe a bit more.  And I think that Star Wars can still be special.

[Phrubruh]

What happens when a Star Wars movie is not one of the top three movies of the year? Will the fan boys declare Stat Wars dead? What will Disney do with a movie that made less than expectations? Will they cut budgets on the next one?