The common comment among anyone trying to judge a movie early is “wait until it comes out”, as if they miss the point of previews, early interviews, and anything else whose goal is to get people excited for a new project. They WANT us hyped and excited, and yet by this logic you shouldn’t immediately assume it will be good, especially given Disney Lucasfilm’s recent track record with the Star Wars franchise. The only good products are the kids shows, and it’s questionable how “Star Wars” a lot of what’s come out under the branding is today.
Now comes a report from Geeks & Gamers. For the record, they have been negative to previous Star Wars content for sucking and actors and directors attacking the audience and fans dating back to the first movie’s original theater release. Also for the record I’m on that side. Contributor Alex Gherzo is reporting on Shawn Levy discussing his plans for Starfighter, the next theatrical trip for Star Wars after not-Boba Fett and not baby Yoda get their turn. (And you know how I feel about Boba The Overrated.)
Noting again that the goal is to get people hyped for the new movie with these info releases in interviews and on social media, I’m not all that hyped. It COULD be good, which would be a first for Disney Star Wars. Even the aforementioned kids shows are not the best received, and that’s if you even know the Disney Junior show exists, which for the most part I don’t think is too bad despite being set in Disney’s “High Republic” period. (Apparently we lost the intro.) Levi did make Deadpool & Wolverine, which was a hit with the 20th Century Fox/Studios version of the characters and took shots at Feige’s messed up nonsense, though the same contributor on that same site is bringing the budget into question, as Disney pour money like it’s wine at a wedding for lushes. However, we’re focused on what Levy said, and with my own cynical view to modern Star Wars and modern Hollywood I have to question the things said. Again, quality of work and quality of adaptation are two different things, and it’s the latter I have concerns for.
The director of Deadpool & Wolverine and the currently filming Star Wars: Starfighter appeared on the podcast The Business to talk about his various projects, and he was asked about the pressures he felt in developing his Star Wars film. He said that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy reached out to him and asked him to direct a Star Wars movie.
Originally this paragraph was me asking how he had time to do this when he was filming the movie, but apparently he took a moment to be at the premiere of the final season of Stranger Things, which he worked on, and just had time for a quick interview. Somehow. I’d do the premiere, get a good night’s sleep, then get my butt back to London before I wasted more of Disney’s money, because Disney wasting money is a trend with how overblown their budgets are versus how short their deadlines are that drove the special effects team to unionize.
When he asked what it would be and to which existing Star Wars movies it would be connected, Kennedy told him, “It’s whatever you want it to be,” specifying that he could choose what story he wanted to tell and even the film’s writer and “imbue it with the feeling that [his] movies have,” with the goal of making “an entirely original Star Wars movie.”
Leslie Headland, who has taken flack for her recent comments (since we’re on the same site already) once said that Kennedy told her she made a great Star Wars story but that she should scrap it and write “her” story (as in Leslie’s). That gave us a tale where the Sith and Dark Side leaning witches who may or may not be lesbian were the actual good guys and the Jedi were the bad guys, which they’ve been headed in since the later seasons of The Clone Wars anyway on that last one. So already making “his” movie rather than a Star Wars movie is coming to my mind when it comes to the intent. If for some reason I WAS the director or even the head screenwriter I would be trying to make something more like traditional Star Wars, not something original that I could make into my own IP and keep more of the profits as a result. Once again, it feels like they’re using the Brand for the recognition and making something original. I could be wrong, but…
…Starfighter is set in “a time period that’s never been in a Star Wars movie” and is “not about legacy characters,” though his goal is to make sure it has “the sense of joy and adventure that A New Hope” had. Levy reiterated that Lucasfilm’s only “notes” were to “make it new.”
That “make it new” directive extended to legacy characters from previous Star Wars films, as Levy revealed that when he asked whether he should use an established character, Lucasfilm told him, “You know what? People have seen that. Do something new.” He says the “freedom” he’s had from studio interference on Starfighter is “equal to any other movie [he’s] made,” even original films, calling the experience “liberating.”
How “new” are we talking? Over at fellow Disney acquisition Marvel Studios little to nothing of the source material is showing up in new characters and takes on the comics. The Acolyte was antagonistic to the previous movies as were parts of the sequel trilogy. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.”
Those same defenders would probably tell me that I shouldn’t base this movie on what came out, but by this point they’ve put out so much stuff you can see the patterns. It’s happening Hollywood wide. Joker and Joker II. The “Snyderverse”. Every recent remake, reimagine, and namesake that’s been put out since at least the 2010s. Levy isn’t talking about building on the Star Wars universe and creating new characters that expand an existing universe, something even the Lego Star Wars parody seems to do better than anything coming out of Disney. Points go to Atomic Cartoons and whoever does their video games. It’s better Star Wars than actual Star Wars. Even the jokes are better. I’d rather watch that than anything coming from Lucasfilm itself.
At least the rumor was shot down of this being about another character delivering a child to Rey the way Grogu was supposed to be delivered to Luke in The Mandalorian until someone saw how women were going gaga for “baby Yoda” and forced him back into the show. I went ahead and listened to the podcast linked to in the intro to see if anything helped. The interview is only part of the half-hour podcast. Levy’s part starts at the 6:37 mark, but if you aren’t interested in Stranger Things, head to about the 17 minute mark. The host wasn’t exactly complimentary to fans who want Star Wars to be Star Wars. It doesn’t help waylay fears, but didn’t start any new ones. Yes, we want to see the Star Wars Universe expanded. There’s so much of the Expanded Universe not tied to the original characters that are still beloved stories, but felt like Star Wars. I understand tossing it out because they can’t even keep continuity good between the stuff they make, but it shows it can be done. While Levy can do that while still making “his” movie we have yet to be seen.
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