Star Wars needs to take its own advice and let the past die

Photo Credit: [Star Wars: The Force Awakens] Lucasfilm

Don’t be fooled, Star Wars problems are one of time and quantity .  And if the franchise can’t figure out what they are and where to go–maybe they should slow it down instead.

Nine, count ’em, nine Star Wars movies in development with no end in the foreseeable future. Even a frigid splash of ice water to the face in the form of Solo: A Star Wars Story’s box office receipts can’t derail this heist train’s quest for corporate profits plunder. But, should Star Wars slow down and rethink its overall strategy?

We live in forward-thinking times, only faster is better, only more is more. But time is a fickle thing whether we are talking about its current state or its passage and Star Wars has been navigating its time for over four decades now.

And, don’t be fooled, the Star Wars problem is one that has to do with time. It’s one where we have a franchise that wants to move forward at a bigger, faster speed with an avalanche of content and, at the same time, resistant to let go of what The Last Jedi promised: the past.

“Let the past die.” Famous words of Kylo Ren, a rich villain filled with complexity or a cyberpunk whiny emo brat depending on which fan you’re asking. But, the words are out in the universe; the franchise’s and the audience’s and they come at a particular point in the film where The Last Jedi already establishes that it’s not just another Star Wars movie.