The Marvel Cinematic Universe is crushing it at the box office and with the stories interconnecting beautifully. Lucasfilm and Star Wars are capable of beating Marvel at its own game but need a change in strategy.
We all saw it coming, Avengers: Infinity War has not only broken box office records, but it has also obliterated them. And why not? MCU films are enormous successes when only one or two Marvel super-heroes are involved, so when the Avengers get together, it’s always a huge hit. And the folks at Lucasfilm are dying to grab back some of the box office glory that Infinity War has earned.
And with Disney now in full control of these two juggernauts, expect some friendly jabbing back and forth between studios. Lucasfilm continued the trend of studios sending a congratulatory message to the new record holder with an image of Rey handing her lightsaber to the outstretched hand of Iron Man.
Now Lucasfilm must find a way to get back on top and studying the formula the MCU uses for the Avengers films might be the ticket.
Congratulations, @MarvelStudios and @Avengers: #InfinityWar. pic.twitter.com/PnHfaouOlP
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 1, 2018
Star Wars films have traditionally been trilogy based films until Disney purchased the franchise and announced they would be making standalone Star Wars films in addition to the traditional fare. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was the first of these standalone films and was a huge hit.
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The second of the standalone films, Solo: A Star Wars Story, hits theaters on May 25 and so far looks to be a promising entry of its own, but probably won’t come close to the success Infinity War has enjoyed.
So what does Lucasfilm need to do to counter Marvel’s juggernaut? Simple, make a juggernaut of its own of course. It may be time for Star Wars to create a “Super Film” of its own. Imagine a Star Wars film with an all-star cast of villains or heroes or both?
Lucasfilm has the perfect outlet to accomplish this with their standalone Star Wars stories. Purists appreciate the trilogy formula long used, and using the standalone films will keep old fans happy and help Star Wars attract new ones.
The possibilities of combinations are endless. Lucasfilm has already shown with Solo that they aren’t afraid to take a legendary character such as Han Solo and cast the part with a younger actor. But now they need to push the envelope even further by adding even more characters to the mix.
You could have Han, Chewie, Lando, Ezra, Kanan, Sabine, Hera, Zeb, Rex, and Chopper facing Vader, the Emperor, Tarkin, Boba Fett, and the legions of minions the Empire employs.
Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to see that? All of these characters exist in the same timelines and a movie like that would definitely be a box office monster. Darth Vader himself was a huge reason that Rogue One did as well as it did. If one character can pull that off, imagine what a group could do?
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Disney and Lucasfilm have shown they are willing to take chances and now is the time for bigger and better. Something new and fresh is what the Star Wars franchise needs right now, if they want to keep up and possibly pass Marvel or risk never getting that saber back.