I grew up with Star Wars as a kid and consumed many of the Star Wars novels and comics that filled the decades between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace. For all the problems I had when George Lucas indulged himself in Episodes 1 through 3 at he at least left the novels and other tie-ins as part of the Star Wars cannon meaning that all those stories were officially part of the Star Wars universe and history. Each story contributed in its own way to the larger whole and a fan could deep-dive in any number of directions, immerse themselves in the lore, and get their geek on. Then The Force Awakens came along.
When Disney took over the franchise, they declared the novels, comic books, and RPG sources non-cannon and overnight, the decades of fan-scholarship were moot. What you thought you knew about Star Wars was now reduced (mostly) to the movies themselves. JJ Abrams said in an interview that the old cannon was too restrictive. Had to be done. Perhaps it did, I’ve never had to tell a Star Wars story adhering to the old cannon, I imagine it would be difficult but not impossible.
When you throw out the cannon, you alienate the people who bought into the mythos by essentially declaring their time spent in the old cannon is now worth less. They may as well have been reading unregulated fan fiction. Moreover, the fan-scholar today can’t be sure which Star Wars facts are still true, and which facts might slip out from under them when the next movie comes out. Wookiepedia is now suspect, and not the final word in resolving a Star Wars argument. The directors are not beholden to an overall arc between films, they pick up where the last one left off and seem to be free to go anywhere with the story, like joyriders taking a hot rod for a spin and abandoning it a field with the engine still running. It makes for interesting storytelling but as a Star Wars fan, I find that I can’t trust the storytellers to tell a coherent story over the series anymore. Luke Skywalker goes on an epic quest to redeem his steeped-in-the-Dark-Side father but a few years later decides Kylo Ren is irredeemable for merely dabbling? It seemed like a story idea solving a problem for The Last Jedi without stopping to consider how it fit in the overall arc. It’s lazy storytelling.
Which brings us to Solo: A Star Wars Story. It’s a movie whose only reason for being to give us Han’s backstory (how he met Chewbacca, how he won the Millennium Falcon from Lando). Take out the Star Wars references and replace the famous characters with generic equivalents and does the story work? It does, but it’s a forgettable crime caper with great special effects. It’s wasted potential. I’m not being totally fair here, knowing that the movie changed directors and had extensive re-writes but that only highlights the problem. When you toss out a deep, immersive universe and replace it with one created by joyriders and time crunches it’s a disservice to the franchise. The bond that the storyteller makes with the audience is this: listen to my story; it is worth your time. After Solo, I’m wondering how much value I’m actually getting.
[Spoiler Alert]
The implication of Darth Maul’s appearance means that even on-screen deaths are suspect. Supreme Leader Snoke’s manner of death was identical to Maul’s. Does that mean we could see him in future movies as well?
