Editing Star Wars (section)

== Disney Canon ==
{{skubby}}
[[Image:Star_Wars_Disney_Princesses.jpg|right|400px|thumb|Love it or hate it, they are now official ''Disney Princesses''.]]
It's still [[skub|debatable]] whether or not the new Canon holds up to the old EU, or learns to fix the problems that plagued it. We probably won't see what comes of it for decades to come. Disney Canon, as of 2020, seems to largely be built around the nine main movies though there have been growing rumors of a shakeup that may render the Disney trilogy non-canon due to severe backlash and financial losses.  There's also shows like Rebels and Clone Wars alongside anthology movies fleshing out stories that had been told in comics and books back before the Disney buy-up, but can now be seen on film.

Another curious thing is that elements of the old EU are being annexed into the Disney Canon. Plotlines like the Emperor returning, the Death Star plans heist and Han's path to become the smuggler we know him as all have bits and pieces from EU canon in them. In some cases, whole characters are ported in; the best example is Admiral Thrawn, who appears in Rebels. Other times, popular characters has their traits or stories ported into new ones (Finn and Cassian are both expies of Kyle Katarn, for example). This gives some credence to the argument that Lucasfilms and Disney wanted to wipe the slate with all the stories that had been told in the EU, so they could create their own, fully realized canon Star Wars setting that one could make movies - ''many'' movies - from. Considering the amount of shitty fan-fiction-esque stories the EU had, this may be for the best, but of course, good storylines that people have loved for ages are also thrown out with the bathwater.

Detractors of Disney-era Star Wars often talk loads about how many cool characters are either cannibalized for story elements (like Kyle Katarn) or completely removed from canon (like Mara Jade).  These are semi-valid arguments of course, but they ignore some of the biggest issues with the EU originally - it wasn't written by George Lucas and Lucasfilms.  They were sponsored fan-fiction in a sense, semi-canon from the outset and not really something that could be considered a part of the Star Wars setting, though George Lucas did work with the writers to a point, such as with the New Jedi Order book series (he gave them permission to kill off Chewbacca in the story). In fact, George never really considered them part of the universe; more like a parallel universe of his own Star Wars works. He accepted it because they bring in the big bucks when people would beg to have the official Star Wars logo on anything they produced, and occasionally lifted neat ideas like Coruscant from them. 

The biggest universal complaints have been around story telling. Operation Cinder and the Battle of Jakku have been a nightmare of lore and sooo many retcons exist because of the lack of creative focus and control on the part of post-Endor lore. This has been fixed partially by the Mandalorian but it has been a shit load of retcons. One example being the multiple changes between books, with some stating Palps could not come back, but also he can, but he is also a clone..... and you can see why people think this has been a disaster. 

Toxic fan groups have also been a problem with the Sequel Trilogy Fans and Sequel Trilogy Haters picking fights. Other toxic fan groups exist such as a really annoying and pretentious group of fans who do not believe in redemption (a key concept in Star Wars), and no interest in stories around morally grey groups (Bounty Hunters and Criminals). Then you have that one group of really hostile fans who think anyone who likes Imperials like Pealleon and Thrawn are "Simperials", "Holocaust Deniers" and Nazis. On the flip side, you also have those faction extremist groups which believe in either pledging themselves to [[Pol|the Empire]] or [[SJW|the Rebels]] despite them being fake factions from a fictional universe. Some people do these things ironically but then you have people actually believing the kool-aid they drink, resulting in flame wars, pointless vitriol, and the occasional bit of IRL harassment when the hardcore nutters go at each other. Both sides have normals, but crazy and stupid fans cause a lot of problems and some dumb discord, reddit, and general fan groups are really fucking annoying. Generally speaking it is not a major problem but it is simply more trash popped on top of a waste pile. 

One case for the sequel trilogy is that, as underwhelming as it may be, was George's idea in broad strokes. The series was always going to have a sequel trilogy, and George Lucas was in fact putting the production for it together, having secured Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford to reprise their roles when Disney made the offer. The outcome isn't exactly what he (or we) wanted, but some of it is. Luke being an exile on a far-away planet, who has to be roused to fight by a new, female Jedi? George's idea, not Disney's. A son of Han and Leia struggling with the Dark Side? Also George's idea (though Disney lifted a lot form the original version - Jacen Solo - for Kylo Ren). With that said, a lot is different between the two, so the argument only carries one so far: the central conflict is scrappy rebels vs empire again instead of taking back the republic infrastructure from organized crime and warlords led by a galactic kingping (originally intended to be Maul). Luke doesn't train the new female Jedi, just gives her a quick fact-check and keels over in 8. Not only does he not rebuild the Jedi Order but essentially has to admit to ghost of Yoda he was never much of a Jedi to begin with. The character was so completely different Mark Hamill spontaneously christened it Jake Skywalker, a name some parts of the fandom embrace today. Leia abandons the Republic in disgust instead of becoming the Supreme Chancelor of the restored Republic. The Republic stops active resistance to the Empire midway only to get the Alderaan treatment. While it had similar ideas, it took those to wildly different directions.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qDQ5Ae0AkA Lucas' sequel trilogy concept was about Leia and Anakin's grandchildren and restoration of the Republic in a post-empire lawless age, with a side-order of Luke restoring the Jedi Order.] The main character Kira was similar enough to Rey that the basic concept may have been kept. However, Kira finding Luke in self-imposed exile and being trained as a Jedi was supposed to happen in ep 7, and Luke was supposed to be strugling with the Dark Side, not guilt. The central conflict was supposed to be against the galactic underworld that took over much of the infrastructure and logistics in the chaos after the Empire's fall. The Underworld was to be led by a Maul as a "godfather of crime", which is likely why the character was resurrected in the Clone Wars. The Empire was restructured back to the Republic (just like the Republic was restrucured into the Empire) and the Imperial Remnant is a few hardliners who have been driven to the fringe. By the end of the sequel trilogy The Republic has been restructured, Lei has become it's Supreme Chancelor, and Luke has rebuilt the Jedi Order.

The claim wasn't helped by J.J. Abrams' and Rian Johnsson's repeated assertions that they were given free reing over 7 and 8, nor the fact that Bob Iger's autobiography had him admitting that the story treatments of Lucas were abandoned, and that Lucas felt betrayed by it (meaning any similarities between the two are likely just coincidence). Multiple writers and directors not working together led to the suicidal Rise of Skywalker where even the actors were just lost. It also emerged that John Boyega got side-winded along with Oscar Isaac - especially in the versions edited for China ([https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5d012f8e250000ae13dceab1.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp compare and contrast]) - which is ironic/hypocritical from a company claiming to promote diversity. There are a lot of problems none the less. (Although according to Boyega, it was Disney racial treatments shafting him and Kelly Marie Tran's characters developments and social media attacking his race character.)

It should be noted that the TV shows below are either now part of the Disney canon (such as the 2008 Clone Wars series), or made by Disney.  There is also a major Star Wars project called Star Wars: The High Republic.  It's an upcoming multimedia project spanning books and comics worked on by various writers including Claudia Gray and Cavan Scott ([[Warhammer Adventures|yes, ''that'' Cavan Scott]]).  The stated goal is to tell one cohesive story set in the High Republic Era, two centuries prior to Phantom Menace.  It was slated for a 2020 release but was pushed back to 2021, purportedly due to the COVID-19 pandemic (purportedly because they could still work on the story from home in this day and age but have chosen to extend the deadline) and the first comics were released to tepid reception.  However so far less interest has existed around the High Republic because of a combination of lack of trust with fans and the fact its not a time frame anyone cares for (which granted, is due to it being a newly established time frame). More people are interested in Post-Endor, Clone Wars Era, Imperial Era, and the Old Republic Era. Still, some are glad that they are finally doing something new. Overall, High Republic has been mostly under the radar, not really generating strong feelings either way (definitely not compared to things like The Mandalorian or The Sequel Trilogy). The release of a video game set in the timeframe called "Star Wars: Eclipse" might help to give this era more exposure and popularity, assuming the game's any good. 

So for better or worse, the Disney Canon is the first time the wider setting of Star Wars beyond the series and movies have become irrevocably canon, rather than "kinda-sorta-canon". Much, but importantly not all, of what we've gotten that is new is based roughly on George's own work as well. Remember this when discussing EU vs Disney in Star Wars - Either setting is cool for their own reasons, but the Mouse got little to do with it - and if you don't like it, bring it up with big man Lucas.

Whatever the case, CEO Big Iger briefly resigned in 2019... before being brought back in 2020 following severe financial and PR losses for Disney due to comparatively poor reception of the Disney canon, controversial statements from Disney staff against fans and shutdowns related to the global coronavirus pandemic.  Disney preceded to rebuild that goodwill and hope with The Mandalorian, only for two later events to undermine it.  

The first big problem was Disney's controversial handling of a situation involving leading actress from "The Mandalorian", Gina Carano, culminating in Gina being fired for political reasons regarding a social media post (not her first controversial post, or, as her later suggesting that the war in Ukraine was a government conspiracy shows, her last, but nevertheless caused an outcry).  The second was several poor quality media projects such as a comic series where one of the characters is an alien who's [[Derp|essentially a rock named "Geode" that crews a spaceship named "Vessel".]]  There have been sweeping changes and even a civil war in Disney-owned Lucasfilm between factions of staff supporting producers/directors Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau and staff supporting Lucasfilm president/film producer Kathleen Kennedy. Recent hints and events have suggested that Kathleen Kennedy's influence has been restricted, with Filoni and Faverau spearheading projects. 

Things have also been not helped by evidence of fan art being stolen by Marvel Comics writers who then used them lazily in comics, posters, and other media. The fan relations are still very low with the exception of people like Timothy Zahn, Dave Filoni, and Jon Favreau. Common speculation on the major develops include rumors of a retcon of sequel trilogy but little evidence exists except for the planned project combining Clone Wars, Rebels, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Rangers of the New Republic, The Bad Batch, and possibly Andor and Obi-Wan. 

So far most fans are excited for the following: 
*The Bad Batch
*Ahsoka
*Thrawn 
*Mandalorians
*Anything not involving the First Order. (Seriously this group is just not liked by the fans at all, not even Sequel trilogy fans in a "Love to Hate" kind of way)

Speculation has emerged around why these TV Shows and series are doing well and a few theories exist. Some point to the presence of a Old Guard from the days of George Lucas and his apprentice/Protégé Dave Filoni, though some fans dispute this believing Filoni was a hack. Others point to a presence of care for the lore and the characters. Stormtroopers in the Mandalorian are not stupidly incompetent (They actually hit Mando even though he has literal plot armor) but decent troopers who are only beat by lucky and sheer offensive capabilities, characters like Boba Fett, Ahsoka Tano, and Darth Maul are given more development and respect as characters, and the stories feel like Star Wars. This leads to the generally accepted theory, which is Star Wars stories from these series are based on classic film styles. The Mandalorian is a Western with some episodes taking a more Japanese and Asian Fight film with Samurai style fight scenes and themes. The Bad Batch bases itself on Old War films and with elements of Westerns present. Overall a pattern emerges where the star wars presentation of classic and traditional story themes, motifs and concepts allows it to keep itself Star Wars and good quality overall. 

Notably, the mini-wars over what in Disney Star Wars is good and what isn't is not as clean-cut as one might assume. While it is true that the thoughts on the Sequel Trilogy (mostly) fell along fan/critic divides, this isn't true of other things. Book of Boba Fett for instance, got flak from both corners, as did Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Episode 9, which got the worst critic reviews of ''any'' Skywalker Saga movie, is also plenty hated by a lot of the fans. This makes complaints by both groups about the franchise pandering to the other side somewhat ironic, as many fans and critics actually like and hate some of the same stuff. 

December 2020 announced several new films and TV series, as well as further information about already announced things. The stuff already out includes:

* '''[[Star Wars:The Mandalorian|The Mandalorian]]''': Live-action series that started in 2019. Unsurprisingly, Season 3 is on it's way and will release in 2022.
* '''The Bad Batch''': Animated series and a spin-off of The Clone Wars. Focuses on the titular clone commando unit that was introduced in the last season of The Clone Wars, set during Republic's transition into the Empire. They are forced to look after “Omega,” which has the potential to bring back the cloning project at the cost of her life. For full details, see its page.
* '''Visions''': 2021 [[Anime]] anthology-series made by different anime studios across Japan. 10 episodes, two by studios Trigger and Science SARU and the other episodes one for each studio. Released to a strongly positive reception from critics and fans, showing that the non-divisive nature of The Mandalorian was not necessarily a fluke. Getting a second season, one that will not be strictly Anime like the first but instead have animation styles from all over. 
** '''The Duel''', the first episode of Visions, is a must watch for deliberately trying to mimic the old Kurosawa era Samurai films.
* '''The Book of Boba Fett''': 2021 live-action series, revealed post-credits in the last episode of The Mandalorian Season 2, which had Boba Fett returning to Jabba's palace, kill everyone inside and then sit on his old boss's throne. Out of the things that have come out after the sequel trilogy, it proved to be the most [[skub|skubtastic]] thing thus far.
* '''Obi-Wan Kenobi''': Live-action series featuring the return of Ewan McGregor as the titular character set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith. Proved to be somewhat [[skub|skubtastic]] (not in small part due to the original pitch being for a 2-hour movie, which would have been more than sufficient), though not to the degree of The Book of Boba Fett. 
* '''Andor''': Live-action series and a spy-thriller focusing on the titular character who was introduced in Rogue One. Has a more grounded take on Star Wars, focusing on life under the imperial regime from the perspective of regular citizens instead of Jedi or soldiers, with villains also fairly ordinary like corporate security officers or Imperial Security Bureau agents. 
* '''Tales of the Jedi''': A collection of six CGI-animated shorts about Dooku and Ahsoka. 

The upcoming stuff includes:
* '''Ahsoka''': Live-action series by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni (the chads responsible for The Mandalorian, the latter also responsible for  [[Star Wars:The Clone Wars|The Clone Wars]], [[Star Wars:Rebels|Rebels]] and the character of Ahsoka (and [[Star Wars:Resistance|Resistance]] but [[heresy|let's not talk about that]])) featuring the titular fan favorite character who made her live-action debut in The Mandalorian Season 2, starring Rosario Dawson and is a spin-off of The Mandalorian and will have cross-overs with it. Also has the live-action debut of [[tactical genius|Thrawn]], who was name-dropped by Ahsoka in The Mandalorian as her quarry. Release date unknown but is confirmed to run only for one season. Her Lekku will actually be the correct length after [[/tg/ gets shit done|fan complaint]] from the Mandalorian. Trailers show it will have the first ever orange lightsabers in live action courtesy of the Dark Side bad guys, one of whom had their role effected by the untimely death of his actor Ray Stevenson, though to what extent remains to be seen.
* '''Rangers of the New Republic''': <s>Live-action series and another spin-off of The Mandalorian, again by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni and is said to have cross-overs with The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. Not much is known at the moment but the name tells us at that it would focus on the titular galactic government, something we still don't know much about due to the world-building fuck-up of the sequel trilogy. Release date unknown. </s> Cancelled / put on hold, likely due to the firing of Gina Carano (who was expected to have a major role) after controversies regarding her tweets.  
* '''The Acolyte''': Live-action series set during the High Republic-era, a thus-far unexplored era 100-300 years before the original movie during which the Republic was at it's peak. Release date unknown. Unfortunately, the [[SJW|background]] of the director has led to fears that she is interested in something else than just telling a good story.
* '''A Droid Story''': Animated series featuring R2-D2 and C-3PO and a new character, possibly a droid as well. That is all we know for now but will likely be targeted towards kids, just like the animated series Droids from the 80s that it seems to be inspired by. Release date unknown.
* '''Lando''': Live-action series focusing on the titular character. Not much known aside from that at the moment, not even will it feature Billy-Dee Williams or Donald Glover. Release date unknown.
* '''Rogue Squadron''': <s> Live-action film, the first one after the sequels. Will feature the titular elite starfighter squadron and is directed by Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman (but also [[RAGE|writer and director of Wonder Woman 1984]]). Will it focus on the Rogue Squadron from EU led by Wedge Antilles or will it be completely different remains to seen. Release in 2023. </s> Cancelled (at least for now), so it looks like we'll never know (but if it was anything like WW84, maybe for the best).
* '''Film by Taika Waititi''': Nothing about it is known at the moment except that it is happening, it is live-action and will be directed by Taika Waititi of Thor: Ragnarök-fame who also played IG-11 in The Mandalorian and directed the last episode of the first season. Makes fans nervous because his latest project, Thor: Love and Thunder, was trash. Release likely in either 2024 or 2025.
* '''The Skeleton Crew''': Just announced at the 2022 Star Wars Celebration, it will feature Jude Law and be about a bunch of kids who are stranded somewhere in the Galaxy and trying to find their way back home. Nothing else is known yet, [[Dark Angels|as Disney has been keeping a super tight lid on details,]] [[Star_Trek#Prodigy|but we're sure we haven't seen this idea before.]]
* '''The Rian Johnsson Trilogy''': Announced during the hype-up to The Last Jedi, we have been repeatedly assured it is coming, but it seems to be stuck in Development Hell. 
* '''New Rey Movie''': To the horror and despair of her haters and the mild surprise of everyone else, a new Star Wars movie starring Rey (played again by Daisy Ridley) was announced at Celebration 2023. Will take place 15 years after Episode IX, and focus on Rey trying to succeed where Luke failed in restarting the Jedi Order. That the director is an [[SJW|activist]] (albeit one boasting international recognition and a couple of academy awards) who only got into film-making as she saw it as a method to push for social change does not give people much reason to be excited for it. Even if you're not bothered by that, the fact that the majority of her prior works are non-fiction documentaries that are a far cry from space operas is also a cause for concern.
* '''Dave Filoni Movie''': Also announced at Celebration 2023, it's basically meant to be the "Avengers" style crossover film that The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, and upcoming Ahsoka have all been building towards. Presumably, this means Thrawn will be the big bad. 
* '''James Mangold Movie''': The last of the three movies announced at Celebration 2023, this one will be set in the distant past and serve as an origin story for the Jedi Order, explaining how the first Jedi came to be. Mangold has directly compared it to old-school biblical epics like The Ten Commandments, making this potentially the most [[Awesome]] of the bunch...if it actually releases that is. With so many announced projects over the years ending up getting quietly cancelled or plunging into Development Hell, fans have become a little cautious about any of these actually seeing the light of day. 

===The Fan / Critic War: Overhyped?===

Ever since The Last Jedi came out to rave reviews from most critics and the complete opposite from most of the fanbase, a popular narrative has been that fans and critics [[Horus Heresy|are completely and utterly at odds and can't agree on anything.]] But while this is definitely true in the case of Episode VII and VIII, how true it is outside of that is kind of questionable when you think about it. Pretty much everyone hates Episode IX for instance, and The Mandalorian has been a hit with critics and fans alike (as was Star Wars: Visions). Meanwhile, Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi got mediocre responses overall from most critics and were not generally loved by many fans either, with only some positive responses from both camps. Rogue One is usually seen by most critics and fans as either "good but not great midquel" or "fantastic and edgy masterpiece", with folks who outright hate it being in the minority for both, while Solo: A Star Wars Story got a tepid response from most critics and isn't most fan's favorite Star Wars movie. Finally, the more recent Andor has done well with critics and with fans overall. 

This seems to extend to video games as well: critics called out EA for its bullshit when Battlefront II launched with microtransactions, and gave Jedi: Fallen Order overall good reviews, which lines up with how most fans felt. Its sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor likewise did well with both critics and fans (with the exception of those of the latter who tried the game on PC, and even then that was due to performance issues, not problems with the story). 

In all, it doesn't seem like there's actually ''that'' much of a gap between the two groups outside of the Sequel Trilogy itself. In theory, this ''should'' mean it's possible to make more stuff everyone likes, but the feud is likely to keep going anyway.