Solo: A Star Wars Story's Loss Was Into The Spider-Verse's Gain

Time is the great equalizer, especially for filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. After being unceremoniously dumped by Lucasfilm during the production of Solo: A Star Wars Story, the duo hit back in a big way with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

The future didn't look too bright in June 2017, though, when the two parted ways with a galaxy far, far away. Reportedly, tensions reached a breaking point as Lord and Miller clashed with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy regarding their unique approach to Solo. Kennedy said "thanks but no thanks" (figuratively) as they made way for Ron Howard.

During a panel late last year, the directors opened up about their firing for the first time. "Sometimes people break up, and it's really sad, and it's really disappointing," said Lord, "but it happens and we learned a lot from our collaborators and we're better filmmakers for it."

As it turns out, Lord and Miller are having the last laugh now, as Into the Spider-Verse cleans up at the box office and receives universal critical and fan acclaim (there's even early Oscar buzz around it). They might not have directed the Spidey feature, but they were heavily involved as producers, with Lord also co-writing the script with Rodney Rothman.

Speaking about the film at Comic Con Experience 2017 in Brazil, Lord said, "When you take a big property like Spider-Man, you know you can either play it safe or you can take it as a chance to do something really different. And that's the thing that we always like to do is use these as an opportunity to try new things."

The risks certainly paid off. And while Lord's comment wasn't directly aimed at Lucasfilm, maybe the lack of desire to do "something really different" is why the relationship between the filmmakers and the fabled production company didn't work out in the end.

Sitting on the outside and looking in is Lucasfilm. As Into the Spider-Verse soars, the production company is likely pondering where it all went wrong with Solo. After all, it's considered one of the most expensive films of all time (costing a reported $300 million), yet it bombed at the box office with a worldwide total of $392.9 million. This is Star Wars for goodness' sake; anything less than a billion dollars is deemed a failure nowadays.

There's no guarantee that Lord and Miller's version of Solo would've changed Lucasfilm's fortunes, but it's likely that the publicized behind-the-scenes drama (along with the polarizing reception of Star Wars: The Last Jedi) put off more than a few people. Now, the question is, has Lucasfilm learned its lessons from Solo to refrain from meddling in future productions? While it might've pulled off the great escape with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (director Gareth Evans was reportedly fired before the film wrapped), it's simply not feasible to fire directors more than halfway into a production. Disney's pockets might be deep, but eventually someone will start asking questions.

It also isn't fair on the filmmakers who board these projects with their own creative ideas and ambitions, only to be treated like hired guns who need to shut up and do as they're told. They're human beings, too, and it must be soul-crushing. Look at Evans as an example. After his experience on Rogue One, he departed Godzilla: King of Monsters, citing his desire to do smaller films. Reading between the lines, it's evident that his Star Wars adventure soured big blockbusters for him and he needed a break. It's perfectly acceptable, and we don't blame him for his decision.

On the other hand, Lord and Miller used their setback to fuel Into the Spider-Verse. They're living proof that Star Wars isn't the be-all and end-all of filmmaking, and the greatest cinematic franchise makes mistakes, too.

In Hollywood, though, you can never say never. There's always the possibility that the two filmmakers could still tackle another Star Wars property somewhere down the line. If they do, though, let's hope that whoever is in charge trusts in their vision and allows them the necessary space to execute on it.