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Star Wars hit one of the roughest patches of its existence after Disney took over. The Sequel Trilogy, despite all of the things it did perfectly, was maligned by fans, and Solo: A Star Wars Story was actually a failure at the box office, not even turning a profit. With the success of The Mandalorian, things have been put back on track but for now, movies don’t seem like a priority.
While several have been announced, it looks like they’re going in the direction of the Star Wars Stories, but should they? Despite all of the missteps of the modern Episodes, should Lucasfilm start new ones? Both types of Star Wars movies have their strengths.
10 More Episodes: Episodes Move The Saga Forward
The Skywalker section of the Star Wars Saga may be over but that doesn’t mean the entire Saga is done. Disney tried to tie all of the Trilogies together by calling them the Skywalker Saga but honestly, the movies are more about the fate of the entire Galaxy than one family, regardless of what Disney and naysayers like to believe.
Lucasfilms has learned a lot of lessons from the movies and they should take a page from the Prequels and the Sequels: introduce new characters unrelated to the Original Saga or the Skywalkers and continue the story of the galaxy’s destiny using Episodes.
9 More Stories: The Spin-Offs Have Proven More Popular
The Sequel Trilogy wasn’t financially a failure but as far as fans go, it wasn’t exactly a success. The fanbase is still in shambles over the whole thing but strangely enough, the Stories are actually pretty loved. Rogue One is pretty universally beloved and even though it “flopped,” Solo has more fans than Rise of Skywalker.
In recent years, Star Wars spin-offs like The Mandalorian have been better received than the Sequels Trilogies. The whole thing has soured audiences on the Episodes with even the announced movies like Rogue Squadron more like the Stories.
8 More Episodes: They’re Jedi Centric & People Love The Jedi
The Episodes have always been the home of the major stories of the Jedi, especially the Prequels. While the Jedi have appeared in spin-offs like The Clone Wars, the real meat of their story has been the Episodes. While there’s no rule saying that there can’t be a Jedi in A Star Wars Story or a spin-off, the biggest parts of their story have always been in the Episodes.
People love the Jedi and want to see more of them. People want to know if Rey or Finn rebuilt the Jedi Order. The best place to reveal this information would be with new Episodes.
7 More Stories: There Are So Many Stories Out There To Be Told
As Rogue One, Solo, The Mandalorian, and The Bad Batch have proven, the Star Wars Universe is full of great stories that are happening on the fringes of the Saga. Even before Disney took over, the Expanded Universe supplied all manner of stories that were ancillary to the main story. The best place to put these stories on the big screen would be in the Stories.
So far, the Stories have stayed close to the Original Trilogy but the Star Wars Saga is massive. There are all manner of amazing stories out there that need to be told on the big screen and they’d fit better in the limited format of the Stories than the Episodes.
6 More Episodes: It Could Redeem The Characters Of The Sequel Trilogy
At this point, most of the actors in the Sequel Trilogy are pretty unhappy with things, and with good reason. The Trilogy never really felt like an ensemble piece, with Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley getting the lion’s share of the attention. John Boyega was especially angry at the whole thing.
However, doing more Episodes, ones that put more of a focus on Poe or Finn, could entice Oscar Isaacs or Boyega back. There were some great characters in the Sequel Trilogy, ones that needed more attention. A new batch of Episodes could spotlight them and undo the wrongs that the Sequels committed.
5 More Stories: They Give Fan Service, But In A Good Way
Fan service was a big problem with the Sequel Trilogy, with the first and last entries leaning into fan service. The fan service in The Force Awakens was well received at first but didn’t age well at all and the fan service in The Rise of Skywalker was hated almost immediately. The failures of the Sequel Trilogy’s fan service are a big factor in its reputation.
Rogue One deployed fan service but it was widely beloved—fans agree that the Darth Vader hallway scene is one of the best in Star Wars history. Solo did a lot of the same but it worked very well then, too. There will always be fan service in Star Wars and the Stories are a better place for it.
4 More Episodes: A Great New Trilogy Building Off The Sequels Could Redeem Them
New Episodes can not only be used to help some of the characters from the Sequels better but can make the entire trilogy better. New Episodes that build off the story set up in the Sequels could easily make people re-think their hatred of the Sequels. Just look at the Prequels.
The Prequels weren’t exactly beloved at the time of their release but over time, with the help of spin-off materials like The Clone Wars, they became fan favorites. Beyond that, the generation that grew up with them looks back on them fondly. The same thing could happen with the Sequels if a new Saga is built from them and fans who fell in love with Star Wars because of those movies come back to find out what comes next.
3 More Stories: There are Great Characters To Showcase
Solo may have failed, comparatively, but it focused on character more than spectacle and told a good story. This was the right approach to take. Star Wars is full of great characters and for some reason, the Sequel Trilogy wasn’t able to do much with most of their new characters or the existing ones. While the Disney+ shows have proved to be the home of character pieces, on the big screen the best place for them would be the Stories.
Stories can focus on one character and their story. Episodes shouldn’t do that; the Rey and Kylo show the Sequels became is perfect proof of that.
2 More Episodes: They’re Star Wars’ Heritage
Star Wars started out as Episodes. George Lucas based the movies on the sci-fi serials he watched growing up as a child. They’re a huge part of the property’s DNA. Many fans are mad at the way Disney has often marginalized George Lucas’s Star Wars and never doing Episodes again would be yet another slight to Lucas in fans’ eyes.
Episodes are the backbone of Star Wars and to never do them again would be yet another way that Disney has cheapened Lucas’s legacy in Star Wars. They’re what brought Star Wars to the dance and doing more is true to the property.
1 More Stories: People Are Responding Better To This Kind Of Star Wars
The Mandalorian has been a massive success and it’s proven that fans don’t really need the Episodes. It’s a single character’s story and people are responding better to it. With Rogue Squadron coming and Taika Watiti’s upcoming Star Wars film, more Stories are seemingly the way Disney is going. People like this smaller, more character-centric approach.
Star Wars needs a break from the Episodes but still needs a presence in the theaters. Stories are the way to do that, keeping Star Wars in theaters and giving fans the big-time action that the Disney+ shows can’t always provide.
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