By Carlos Ayala
Despite the superstar galactic saga taking a hiatus, The Star Wars franchise is pushing forward with its TV show projects. After the contentious inception of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” many fans were tired of any stories involving the Force and the Jedi. Lucky for George Lucas, his grandiose universe is full of opportunities for unique and fresh stories.
While tales of the Jedi take a backseat, the future of Star Wars lies in its non-force characters. Who doesn’t love seeing a show about Din Dijarin, a cold-hearted bounty hunter learning to become a dad, or the Bad Batch, a group of soldiers learning their place in the galaxy with their previous army hunting for them.
Shows such as “The Mandalorian,” “The Bad Batch” and “The Book of Boba Fett” confirm that there is considerable potential for non-force-related stories and that many people demand more of this type of content. According to an article by The Hollywood Reporter, Mandalorian season one alone funneled 14.5 billion minutes of the series during the course of the year. This goes to show the demand for more grounded and western-style projects.
As Disney eases off producing feature-length motion pictures, we are able to reflect back on the world-renowned science fiction films and analyze which movies were crowd-pleasing in the mainstream versus the ones that just flopped.
It’s clear that the fan favorite is none other than “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” This movie features a group of misfits who come together to steal the plans of the Death Star. This film offers an engaging story that starts at a slow pace and slowly builds up to a satisfying climax, beautiful visuals that make you wonder how long it took the vfx artists to render everything, and most importantly, a fun time. The third act of Rogue One features the famous battle of Scariff. Our group of rebels infiltrate an imperial base located on a beach planet, and must locate and transfer the plans of the Death Star. As the battle rages on, it becomes abundantly clear that although the rebels put up a heck of a fight, here they are no match for the Empire. The twist most people did not see coming is that this time our heroes don’t make it out. Although all of them end up being killed in battle, their sacrifice brought the galaxy a new hope to bring down the Empire.
Something noteworthy is that the Jedi and the Force were not headliners in this highly praised film. The way that the Force is depicted through mystery and wonder. Something that is beyond the normal. This portrayal brings back the charm that it once had during the days of “Empire Strikes Back.” Instead, the main characters are just regular people who are trying to fight to do the right thing, and because of this, the stakes are incredibly high as they don’t have the powers that a jedi would. Recently “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” was put back in theaters for a week to help promote Star Wars’ next project; a 12-episode series on a character from this movie, Cassian Andor.
This new project will focus on the foundation of the rebellion and the start of the fight against the empire. Another fact that makes this new project more exciting is that the production team went back to the basics and shot scenes on-site instead of using green screens, putting a big emphasis on using practical effects. Not only will this make the series look and feel more real, but it also helps save the CGI budget for the space battles we will inevitably get. Even though we know the end of the character of Cassian Andor, it will be exciting to see his backstory and Diego Luna is sure to bring a great performance to this character once again.
For the time being, Star Wars won’t feature much of the traditional space wizards we have come to associate with the name, this is for the better. Space bounty hunters and freedom fighters are what the people want to see.
