After over 40 years of cinematic storytelling, the Star Wars Skywalker saga came to a conclusion in 2019 with The Rise of Skywalker, and to call the final film disappointing would be an understatement. Rather than being the triumphant final installment of the iconic franchise, The Rise of Skywalker fell to pieces as it attempted to placate some of the most volatile and vindictive portions of the fan base. This resulted in an utter disaster that actively undermined story elements not just from The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens but from the entirety of the Star Wars saga as a whole.
In a new Vanity Fair article detailing Lucasfilm's upcoming plans for television projects on Disney+, it is outright stated that the reason Lucasfilm put all film projects on "hiatus" months before The Rise of Skywalker's release was that it was quickly realizing what a disaster it had on its hands.
New Star Wars Films Are Always Divisive to Some Degree
Star Wars has always evoked profound emotions in audiences, which can lead to some very strong opinions. When the Prequel Trilogy was released, it was largely maligned by audiences who had grown up with the Original Trilogy, but as can clearly be seen in the fervor surrounding Obi-Wan Kenobi, things have changed substantially in the 20 years since then.
The first two installments of the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, evoked similarly strong responses from audiences. The Force Awakens' nostalgically rooted return to the narrative simplicity and aesthetics of the Original Trilogy was met with immense praise when it debuted but soured in the months after, as audiences cried foul at it taking perhaps a bit too much inspiration from the original 1977 film. The Last Jedi took the story threads from Force Awakens and ran with them in delightfully original fashion, delivering resolutions to Abrams' mysteries that were entirely unexpected yet profoundly satisfying. That said, entire portions of the fan base found its character-rooted approach confounding.
So while Force Awakens and Last Jedi have both been the topic of debate for years, much as the prequels were, Rise of Skywalker is an entirely different story. Whatever grievances audiences may hold against either of the prior two installments, they were fully formed visions of cinematic storytelling that followed through on their own stories and instincts. The Rise of Skywalker doubles back to undo not only many of The Last Jedi's boldest strokes but also actively undermines many of Abrams' own setups from The Force Awakens. What's worse is that it doesn't stop there, going back and retroactively recontextualizing many of the Original and Prequel Trilogy's most iconic moments to devastatingly deflating effect.
Lucasfilm had more than just a bad film on its hands with The Rise of Skywalker – it had a full-tilt disaster that felt so profoundly discordant with the rest of the saga that it actively cheapened the iconic series' legacy. This is why it is wonderful news to hear that Lucasfilm is acutely aware of just how awfully Rise of Skywalker messed up.
Star Wars in the Fallout From The Rise of Skywalker
In the years since 2019, Lucasfilm has focused exclusively on other mediums: Disney+ television series, the ongoing Marvel comic books and high-concept literary outputs such as the vast and interweaving The High Republic series. In the television realm, the studio has found great success, and in the Vanity Fair article, Kathleen Kennedy reaffirms that The Rise of Skywalker and its subsequent fallout taught them just how crucial it is for them to have a more fully-formed plan as they move forward. Shows like The Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Ahsoka are a direct result of this, with Lucasfilm looking to deliver a series of interweaving visual projects in a fashion reminiscent of its literary output, such as The High Republic series.
When Star Wars first returned, Lucasfilm was intent on releasing one film a year. In attempting to keep up with franchises such as Marvel in terms of output, Kennedy and co. were keen on expanding the universe in every direction, delivering a saga installment every two years with various anthology spin-off films peppered in-between. It is now evident that this breakneck pace of a plan simply did not work and led to catastrophe for the sequel trilogy's final installment, as it was rushed out the door with nary a moment to consider the larger implications of its failures.
But it is genuinely great to see Kennedy practically acknowledge as much in the Vanity Fair piece, saying that setting such an ambitious release plan that was essentially tripling Lucas' output from the early days was a mistake on their part and that they've learned from it. They're happy to take their time now and continue to deliver work that lives up to the Star Wars name. Here's hoping for great things to come from that galaxy far, far away.