A Long Time Ago In a Galaxy Far, Far Away.... - Star Wars General Discussion

Donocropolis

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I haven't watched the animated Clone Wars era stuff, so my exposure to Saw is only through Andor and Rogue 1, but I agree with Axaday there. I like that the Rebellion is messy and growing from the combination of many different groups that are opposed to the Empire for a wide variety of reasons. By the time of the original trilogy, they're pretty much a proper military organization, but it makes sense that it didn't start out that way.
 

Tuxedo Prime

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By the time of the original trilogy, [the Alliance is] pretty much a proper military organization, but it makes sense that it didn't start out that way.
The Essential Guide to Warfare touched on this as well, stating that any Confederate remnants that lasted past 23 GR/12 BBY (the final mop-up in the Legends timeline, though most of the major holdouts were accounted for in the Empire's first two years) were treated very much at arm's length by Mothma and Organa (who had been Republic loyalists), to say nothing of fellow Senator Bel Iblis (Corellia had largely sat out the war, to the detriment of CEC afterwards -- though Corellian yards did, as we saw in Solo, build Star Destroyers under KDY license: and those that came out of said yards were just a little bit faster in real- and hyperspace (explaining the other odd line said by a certain charter pilot in A New Hope.)).

They (Mothma, Organa, and Bel Iblis) didn't want to give an easy win to Imperial propagandists who, as it turned out, accused Rebel leadership of wanting to drag the galaxy back to the chaos of the Clone Wars anyway.

The Guide also mentions a CIS naval commander who, while not allowed to join the Alliance Navy, was given a letter of marque to harass Imperial shipping on their behalf....
 
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Superomegaprime

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I haven't watched the animated Clone Wars era stuff, so my exposure to Saw is only through Andor and Rogue 1, but I agree with Axaday there. I like that the Rebellion is messy and growing from the combination of many different groups that are opposed to the Empire for a wide variety of reasons. By the time of the original trilogy, they're pretty much a proper military organization, but it makes sense that it didn't start out that way.

The CGI Clone Wars series, while starts off rather rough, finds its footing after a while as it goes into the darker themes of war and fleshes out the characters, the revival of Maul, may seem a bit silly at first, given what happened to him in Phantom Menece, but it was the right call, as the series makes him more of a threat because its set in between movies they cannot use Sidious or Dooku as the primary villian of the show! As for Saw, in Clone Wars, his role is pretty small as he only appears in one story arc, where the Jedi are training fighters to resist the invaders and people who don't have the best intersts of their planet in mind at leasr from their view, its another character death that pretty much drives him forwards and he pretty much spends his life, resisting the major powers in the Galaxy, yet not really having a defined goal or purpose, in a sense you could say that he is a lot like Darth Vader before he becomes part machine minus the force and Jedi training of course, someone who pretty much angry all of the time! The rebels, we see in the films are just the main faction of the rebellion, but there is a lot of other smaller groups that chose to opperate seperately from the larger group, as the galaxy is pretty large and likely some of those rebel groups, do not agree with the main faction idea of restoring what was lost during the Clone Wars and Sidious's schemes!
 

CoffeeHorse

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Nah. Reviving Maul is still an absolute embarrassment.

Star Wars used to have a rule. Cool villains are not entitled to a cool death. They go out like chumps, and it sucks, and that's what they get. Fan writers have always been determined to undermine this rule, but the six films followed it to the point of becoming a characteristic Star Wars thing. It's not something you see everywhere else.
 

DefaultOption

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Yeah, as much as the cartoon-era Maul was eventually fleshed out into a decent villain, there's no reason they couldn't have poured almost all of that into a new character.

Maul in TPM was 'silent Force-ninja guy with horns and a double-bladed lightsaber', and his entire reason for existence was a plot point (Obi-Wan being forced to take another life). It's not like there were volumes of backstory that were lost when he got hacked in half and fell down that shaft that the writers wanted to resurrect.
 

Shadewing

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Yeah, as much as the cartoon-era Maul was eventually fleshed out into a decent villain, there's no reason they couldn't have poured almost all of that into a new character.

Maul in TPM was 'silent Force-ninja guy with horns and a double-bladed lightsaber', and his entire reason for existence was a plot point (Obi-Wan being forced to take another life). It's not like there were volumes of backstory that were lost when he got hacked in half and fell down that shaft that the writers wanted to resurrect.

No, but just like Boba Fett "He looked Cool" is all that matters.
 

Steevy Maximus

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This weekend has been Star Wars Celebration Japan. Along new merchandise reveals, Disney reiterated the status of their MANY projects.
They confirmed Mandalorian and Grogu for May 2026. But they also revealed first details on 2027’s Star Wars Starfighter feature film:
Set 5 years after Rise of Skywalker, the film will be directed by Deadpool and Wolverine director Shawn Levy and star Ryan Gosling.

Meanwhile, Lego Star Wars Rebuild the Galaxy is getting a sequel, featuring…Jaxxon?!

Star Wars Young Jedi Adventures is releasing a season 3…despite the failure of the merchandise push. I suspect the season was already done and is just fulfilling obligations.

Darth Maul is returning to star in his own series set after Clone Wars. Detailing his efforts at building his underworld empire, the new animated series will premiere in 2026. Star Wars Maul-Shadow Lord

A brand new Star Wars game was revealed, called Zero Company. It’s Xcom Star Wars
 

Superomegaprime

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What are the chances of that Star Fighter movie actually coming out? It will likely end up joining the rest of the projects said to be in the works, show me an actual trailer then I'll believe its coming, otherwise its not happening
 

Axaday

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What are the chances of that Star Fighter movie actually coming out? It will likely end up joining the rest of the projects said to be in the works, show me an actual trailer then I'll believe its coming, otherwise its not happening
It is possible for any movie that hasn't shot to get dropped. It is even possible for Batgirl to get filmed and edited and then not released. But USUALLY when there is a director and a lead cast and a release date 2 years away, money is already getting spent on the movie and things are getting scheduled and it is really happening.

What bugs my Spidey sense is that they SAID that they felt quality had suffered from cranking out a movie every year. And now they're announcing two movies a year apart. I'd love to have one every year. I'd even like to have more than that like MCU, but do they now feel like they have enough resources behind the scenes to get all of the work done right on two projects a year apart? I am not for sure what all they mean when they say they were doing too many movies, but I can reconcile what I do know with the general statement. Solo didn't go over budget because it was too ambitious. The movie that Opie made was good and was not too expensive. It went over-budget because the first director did a LOT of work before the bosses realized he wasn't making the movie they wanted. I don't understand how that could be because they didn't have the ability to realize it sooner, but obviously they didn't. And then I am not sure how much MONEY was wasted on Episode 9 (we can joke that it was all of it, but that isn't my point), but TIME was certainly wasted when again management realized too late that the director was not making the movie they wanted. My trust was already eroded by this point, but I think Abrams is a capable director. My problems with the story on Episode 9 (and 8) were approved by upper management, so I don't take that into account, but I would presume that the upper management did have problems with the movie due to all the lost time. But were both really just Kennedy putting too much trust in a director and not paying attention or were there other factors that prevented it? I don't know.
 
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Superomegaprime

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Honestly that's more rapid than I prefer, makes it kind of hard to keep up.

Its Disney's aim to try and prove that the SW brand isn't dying with Disney +, they are hoping to get it into the top 10 of the Streaming charts by having 3 eps come out each week but its only having moderate sucess, as people have tuned out and you'll notice that they are just going in cricles, hanging around the prequel and original eras because they know that the sequel era is a mess of their own making and most fans do not care about or consider it cannon!
 

Steevy Maximus

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It is possible for any movie that hasn't shot to get dropped. It is even possible for Batgirl to get filmed and edited and then not released. But USUALLY when there is a director and a lead cast and a release date 2 years away, money is already getting spent on the movie and things are getting scheduled and it is really happening.

What bugs my Spidey sense is that they SAID that they felt quality had suffered from cranking out a movie every year. And now they're announcing two movies a year apart. I'd love to have one every year. I'd even like to have more than that like MCU, but do they now feel like they have enough resources behind the scenes to get all of the work done right on two projects a year apart? I am not for sure what all they mean when they say they were doing too many movies, but I can reconcile what I do know with the general statement. Solo didn't go over budget because it was too ambitious. The movie that Opie made was good and was not too expensive. It went over-budget because the first director did a LOT of work before the bosses realized he wasn't making the movie they wanted. I don't understand how that could be because they didn't have the ability to realize it sooner, but obviously they didn't. And then I am not sure how much MONEY was wasted on Episode 9 (we can joke that it was all of it, but that isn't my point), but TIME was certainly wasted when again management realized too late that the director was not making the movie they wanted. My trust was already eroded by this point, but I think Abrams is a capable director. My problems with the story on Episode 9 (and 8) were approved by upper management, so I don't take that into account, but I would presume that the upper management did have problems with the movie due to all the lost time. But were both really just Kennedy putting too much trust in a director and not paying attention or were there other factors that prevented it? I don't know.
I think management (for both franchises) acknowledged that there was just TOO MUCH, period. Not just yearly films (multiple in the case of Marvel), but of multiple TV series (animated and live action). The pace necessary to maintain that volume of content was clearly having a detrimental effect on the type and quality of the product.

I think the difference this time around is that Lucasfilm let the preproduction process dictate release, not the other way around. They don’t seem to be rushing these films out the door, and I think that will make a HUGE difference to the quality of the final product and audience expectations. As is, I strongly believe Mandalorian and Grogu started as Mando season 4 and got retooled into a film because…nothing else was even CLOSE to getting made. And it wouldn’t surprise me if they slipped in a couple of Disney+ specials co-filmed with the movie.

Starfighter, seemingly, had a smooth preproduction process, got the director who made the generally well received and VERY successful Deadpool 3, and has an A-List star attached with vested interest (supposedly, Ryan Gosling’s involvement lead to a fast track). They are ready to start filming this fall, which gives them just under two years to film and post-production. Disney isn’t pulling a Rogue Squadron where they stake a date claim with nothing but a name and a director.

We’ll see how back to back films get received, but there hasn’t been a Star Wars theatrical event in 7 years (by the time next May rolls around). Backed by the two biggest breakout characters the brand has seen in 20 years? I figure it has good chances.
Honestly that's more rapid than I prefer, makes it kind of hard to keep up.
Not sure why pacing even matters on the streaming platforms.

Plus, it sounds like the season will be made up of “mini-arcs” to cover a longer periods of time than season 1. Having the “full arcs” available each week, I think, will help the season in pacing.
 

Axaday

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Not sure why pacing even matters on the streaming platforms.

Plus, it sounds like the season will be made up of “mini-arcs” to cover a longer periods of time than season 1. Having the “full arcs” available each week, I think, will help the season in pacing.
:)


I think management (for both franchises) acknowledged that there was just TOO MUCH, period. Not just yearly films (multiple in the case of Marvel), but of multiple TV series (animated and live action). The pace necessary to maintain that volume of content was clearly having a detrimental effect on the type and quality of the product.

I didn't really mean to say they were wrong, but I don't really understand it all. If they had 10 movies in production at once, assuming they could get the financing together, they'd each have their own director, their own studio space, their own editor, their own cast, their own writer. How do they affect each other? I don't really know what could have kept Kennedy so busy that she couldn't pay attention to Solo and Episode 9, so I FEEL like she just wasn't doing it because she thought she didn't need to. But maybe I just don't understand THAT. But if she HAD been paying attention or worked ideas out with directors before they started or got hired, then Solo would have cost less and Episode 9 would have had more time. It is perfectly possible that another month was all the time Abrams would have needed to realize that the map knife didn't make sense. *shrugs.
 
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Superomegaprime

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It might get more successful when it actually starts.

Who knows, but the reailty is, Disney cannot carry on spending tons money on these shows, to get nothing in return, the most resent series to come out, had numbers lower than the Acylote and despite people saying it was good, people aren't tuning in as there is nothing people really want to watch from Disney plus, the sports streamer and Hulu are profitable but Disney plus isn't, the biggest streaming platform in the world: YOUTUBE, then Netflix, followed up by everyone else
 

Axaday

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Who knows, but the reailty is, Disney cannot carry on spending tons money on these shows, to get nothing in return, the most resent series to come out, had numbers lower than the Acylote and despite people saying it was good, people aren't tuning in as there is nothing people really want to watch from Disney plus, the sports streamer and Hulu are profitable but Disney plus isn't, the biggest streaming platform in the world: YOUTUBE, then Netflix, followed up by everyone else

Q3 last year the streaming business turned a profit of $47 million. Memberships at Disney+ continue to grow. And the quarter before it was the unprofitability of ESPN that kept them in the red despite profits at Disney+ and Hulu.


Disney+ had $10 billion in revenue last year up 21.6% from the year before. Subscribers increased 12.6%. Both revenue and subscriptions have increased almost every quarter that it has existed.


Here's a deceptive headline from last year saying ESPN is making Disney streaming profitable. It's a terrible headline. Look at the article and the truth is that ESPN just quit making it unprofitable. Same story as above just with a backward headline. The other two had already been profitable, but ESPN had been dragging them.


The Acolyte was the second most viewed show in Disney+ last year. 2.7 billion minutes. I don't see a comparable figure yet for Skeleton Crew. It certainly lagged in its original release weeks, but people do catch up on streaming shows.

And I am not clear on what the metric is for Youtube being the "biggest" streaming platform. Google doesn't report profitablilty of YouTube by itself, so nobody knows publicly, but Netflix is expected to surpass them in revenue this year.

It just seems like you are reporting your feelings.
 

Axaday

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I wish Disney+ would release movie-length episode chunks a little earlier in the evening. I'm going to have some rough Wednesday mornings for a bit.

Movie LENGTH. It should be pointed out, without being an actual complaint, that this wasn't a movie. It didn't feel like a movie. It definitely feels like episodes of a TV series, because it just doesn't all tie together or resolve and that last part is so far a little troubling because there will be another time jump before next week, just as big as this one and it is difficult to see how that works yet.

I was relieved that stealing the TIE, which we saw in the trailers, was not 1/4 of the season as I feared it would be, but really a pretty quick deal just to drop us in on what Cassian does for a living now. But at the same time...I've always thought TIE fighters were dumb. Like cheap, cramped, fiddly things that I'd need 10 of to trade for an X-Wing. It got my attention a LITTLE bit in Episode 7 when Poe was so pumped to fly one. But this episode worked on me a little. It felt anything but cheap on the inside. It actually did feel a little bit like the elite fighter that an X-Wing pilot might wish he could get a crack at. And in particular I saw something that I hadn't thought about before. It seems like a TIE fighter isn't very ballistic. Seems more way more maneuverable than an X-Wing once you get the hang of it.

Cassian's section of the story is maybe the least interesting here altogether.

Dedra has two different stories one after the other that don't really relate and I'm not sure to what degree they will continue after the next time jump. I'm sure we've seen the last of Syril's mom and I'm not sure we haven't seen the last of Syril, but it was intriguing, almost funny, to find out past the time jump that they've become a couple. I think what we'll continue to see is Dedra more and more involved in Krennic's project. And it was pretty beautiful subtext that they did with Krennic. Future viewers will watch this before Rogue One, probably. Krennic is working on energy independence for the Empire! Because even when you get a dozen carefully selected people in total secrecy to thinktank a logistical problem, you still can't tell them you are working on a planet destroying weapon and nothing IN the episode, except Krennic's presence, lets even the audience know. I thought Gorman would be one of the 4 arcs, but I guess it is a slow burn that will take at least a year to fully develop.

Mon Mothma's story is almost entirely subtext and her face does as much work as the dialog. She had the poise not to need to get drunk for her daughter's wedding as her own mother had. But when a childhood friend needs to be killed for the Rebellion, she's gonna need to get caught up on that as fast as she possibly can. Luthan continues to be one of the most interesting and economic characters...ever. I don't know that I've even puzzled everything out of his very little dialog as himself (not the antique dealer). I cannot remember what Mon Mothma said to him to get the high-efficiency response "How nice for you" but I think something about how she won't be involved in what he is about to do.

I don't really care about Cassian's friends who are wheat farmers now. I guess Cassian often is a wheat farmer and only gets brought in as a contractor? But look-it, there's some frank treatment of illegal agricultural workers.

Edit - It occurred to me that we probably know the date of the Ghorman Massacre and we do. 2 BBY. So probably not even next week. They say about a year time jump each week, but there is a year not accounted for since we were told way back that the end of the series would be just right at the start of Rogue One, which is 0 BBY. But maybe the weeks will be 3, 2, and 1 with just a 0 scene stuck on the end.
It isn't a movie because it isn't entirely cohesive and self-contained. Dedra had two independent stories that didn't touch anything else and the second one was interesting TV, but seems oddly indulgent when there was so much they had to do and so little time. Within this 3 episode chunk in 4 BBY, Dedra had nothing to do with anything else. Mon Mothma's story only tangentially connected because Luthan was worried about Cassian, but Luthan doesn't even get to see that resolved. I am not even sure to what extent all these stories WILL connect. Dedra's and Mon Mothma's will touch at the Gorman Massacre and it is likely that Cassian's will. That might be the finale. So far it just feels like they are continuing their favorite characters from season 1 in whatever direction they went.
 


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