Disney's Star Wars: How We Got Here
(SPOILER WARNING)
​
Star Wars. It's a franchise as ubiquitous in our culture as Christmas or Starbucks. For over 40 years, George Lucas' hit science fiction films have entertained and shaped generations of audiences.
​
In 2015, the franchise was purchased from George Lucas by the Walt Disney Company, reviving it for a new generation of audiences.
The opening of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in 2015 was well-received by fans, breaking the record for the largest opening weekend of any film. Old-time fans and newcomers alike gave it a glowing reception, solidifying the validity of Disney's new franchise.
​
However, nothing lasts forever.
​
Now comes a 2017's Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. The Rian Johnson-directed film was received incredibly well by critics, and was intensely divisive among fans.
Rey (Daisy Ridley) made history as the first female protagonist of a Star Wars trilogy. (Credit: LucasFilm/Disney)
Academy Award-nominated actor was launched into fame for portraying the complex villain, Kylo Ren (credit: LucasFilm/Disney)
The Last Jedi was either loved or despised by fans. Many younger viewers loved the movie for breaking conventional Star Wars boundaries. Older generations overwhelmingly disliked the film for ruining the conventions of the original films for shock value. Regardless, Disney/LucasFilm decided to play it safe and return to J.J. Abrams for Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (TROS). TROS had a difficult set of expectations to meet; it had to wrap up the new sequel trilogy, as well as a 42 year-long, nine episode saga.
​
The highly-anticipated final installment fell flat across all fronts, to say the least. The critics rating on RottenTomatoes.com was 52% apporval, marking it as the lowest-rated Star Wars film ever made. The question is, why was the film not received well? Why did the movie take a drastic change? The answer is simple: social media.
A graphical representation of all nine Star Wars films' Rotten Tomatoes ratings, in release order.
The Star Wars franchise is the mark of a major film franchise shaped by the age of social media. Twitter trolls, fan forums, and fandom communities swarmed the Internet to give their opinions with the release of each new movie. Reactions to The Last Jedi were heard loud and clear. Some fans raved, while others voiced their intense displeasure. The film's main message was clearly spoken by the main antagonist, Kylo Ren (portrayed by Adam Driver): "Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to." The Last Jedi was Act II of a three-part trilogy, of a nine-part saga, of a new generation. Perhaps it was always meant to be divisive, to bring new life to an old story. Still, the message was heard loud and clear: nostalgia sells. Familiar is safe. So that is exactly what Disney/LucasFilm returned to.
​
JJ Abrams, who directed The Force Awakens, was brought back to finish the franchise. When Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was announced in April 2019, fans were excited, to say the least:
Upon revealing the first trailer and film title at a Disney expo in April 2019, fans reacted with tears and screams of excitement.
The theatrical posters for the three sequel trilogy films (Disney/LucasFilm)
The resulting film was The Rise of Skywalker. It is a movie full of retconns, nostalgia, repeated storytelling, and some character regression. It's safe, and many fans found the results underwhelming. Here is what one fan (and self-declared Star Wars expert) Fred Wieneke had to say about The Rise of Skywalker:
Hear It From A Fan
Fred Wieneke is a UAlbany student, film fanatic, and self-proclaimed Star Wars enthusiast. He had some thoughts on DIsney's sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker, and Star Wars as a whole.
​
"I've loved Star Wars ever since I was a kid. It was something that my dad and I bonded over. He showed me his copies of the original trilogy, and then I watched the prequel trilogy, and then I read all the comics and owned a plethora of action figures, and clothing, all the like. It's always been a big part of my life, and one of my favorite series of all time."
​
When asked about the newest trilogy from Disney, Wieneke was rather blunt.
​
"As a whole, it's a mess. There's no continuity between each movie. The problem for me was that each movie was written by a different person. There was no planning, no cohesiveness from Episode VII to Episode IX. There's a huge shift in the tone from Episode VII to Episode VIII, and then from there to Episode IX, the plot just made no sense. Some characters were made irrelevant in Episode IX, like Rose, especially after fan backlash. which I thought was unwarranted."
​
​
Rose Tico, portrayed by Kelly Marie Tran, had a noticeably nonexistent role in The Rise of Skywalker after the character received hatred from fans in the previous film. (Disney/LucasFilm)
When asked about The Rise of Skywalker, Wieneke had even more to say.
"It's not good. It's really not. I mean, it's a fan's movie, which is great. It has all these Easter eggs, these little tidbits, these moments that really make you as a Star Wars fan feel 'wow, everything really built up to this.' But then when you think about how it got there, and the logic, its kind of dumb, for lack of a better term."
​
"The writing just seemed cheesy to me, and to me personally, the romance between Rey and Kylo seemed forced and unnecessary. I feel like it just didn't flow right. Their romance just seemed strange to me, and fan-warranted."
​
​
"Reylo," or the romantic connection between Rey and Kylo Ren, was a point of contention for many viewers. Much online discourse is between those who are and are not a fan of the pairing, which became canonical in The Rise of Skywalker (Disney/LucasFilm)
"(Social media backlash) had a huge influence. It was probably the driving force behind The Rise of Skywalker. The Last Jedi was a film that was made without much fan influence. It was completely made by Rian Johnson, and because almost no fan influence was heavy in its creation, the movie was not something anybody expected. So the fans kind of gave it backlash. Because fans were such an influence on The Rise of Skywalker, it became a 'fan film.' It was so fan-implemented that the logic kind of went out the window."
​
"It almost feels like I'm reading something off of Archive of Our Own or Tumblr, like a fan-written script or fanfiction of the movie. It doesn't feel legitimate."
​
His final thought on the matter was this:
"I think fans are an important part of big movie series like this. Still, I don't think the opinions of teenagers on Twitter should influence Hollywood directors. I think these movies should prioritize art and entertainment over what they think fans want. With this movie, I think they tried too hard to play it safe and please everyone, so in the end, they pleased no one."
The video from the opening weekend of The Rise of Skywalker illustrates the anger many fans felt leaving the theater.