Prequel Characters DLC Now Available For LEGO The Force Awakens

Prequel trilogy and The Freemaker Adventures character DLC packs are now available for LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Darth Maul, Padme, Anakin Skywalker, Jango Fett, and even Jar Jar Binks are ready to take on the First Order through a new prequel trilogy character downloadable content pack for LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

In addition to characters from the prequel trilogy, a character DLC for The Freemaker Adventures, a LEGO Star Wars television series on Disney XD, was also made available for download today (via LEGO Star Wars on Twitter).

As a prequels fan, it’s tempting to think Disney and Lucasfilm are trying to erase the prequel trilogy by not giving them as much attention as the original trilogy. We’ve already seen this perceived neglect in practice, with as yet no prequel characters in Star Wars: Battlefront game, and filmmakers constantly harping on the use of “practical sets” in the making of their Star Wars movies (a lack of practical sets and an overabundance of CGI being one of the loudest complaints from both fans and critics about the prequels). It’s a relief, then, and a reminder that Disney has not forgotten the prequels, when I see examples of prequel characters being celebrated and included in the Star Wars universe again, as they are in this DLC pack for LEGO The Force Awakens.

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I then have to ask myself: Am I being too hard on Disney and Lucasfilm? Am I too prejudiced in favor of the prequel trilogy to notice how it is being included in new Star Wars content, and how much other sections of the canon are being included in comparison? And does a preference for the original trilogy over the prequel trilogy necessarily indicate an intention to “erase” or “do over” what so many viewed (and still view) as a horrifying failure? I don’t think so. It makes sense Disney and Lucasfilm want to focus on the original trilogy in books, comics, and video games. It is the closest in timeline to The Force Awakens, which is where much of Disney’s marketing is geared these days. It is also closest to the first live action standalone Star Wars film, Rogue One, which will supposedly butt right up against the beginning of A New Hope. It only seems right, both from a storytelling and a business perspective, to hone in on that classic era of Star Wars canon.

And it’s not like we haven’t gotten any prequel trilogy content. Within the past year or two, we have received two prequel-era comics, Kanan and Obi Wan and Anakin, and an adult book from Del Rey, Dark Disciple, which was based on scripts written for The Clone Wars television series. Speaking of The Clone Wars, we got five or six years of Star Wars content which was almost exclusively prequel-era. The fact is, the prequels have had their time in the spotlight, and Disney and Lucasfilm are changing the direction of their focus for the time being. Whether the reason behind that change in direction is to appeal to fans of the original trilogy who were disappointed by the prequels, until such a time as the fervor of the hatred for the prequels has worn off, or whether it simply makes the most sense given the stories they are telling at the moment, it is the reality.

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And, I might add, it is pointless to be bitter about it. I’m certainly not going to be one of those fans who hates the new Star Wars canon simply because it sometimes feels like Disney and Lucasfilm are sidelining the old. Because they are clearly not.