Star Wars TV rumors are fun until everyone gets mad

Over the past several days, Star Wars fans have begun whispering about everything from a supposed Obi-Wan Kenobi release date to a High Republic TV show. Now, viewing The Book of Boba Fett as a much smaller part of The Mandalorian‘s much larger narrative has spawned rumors about who might get their next “Book of” series. Bo-Katan. Sabine Wren. The Darksaber.

Star Wars TV rumors have existed since Star Wars first started making projects specifically to be viewed on television. But the launch of Disney+ — and Lucasfilm’s promise of a handful of new shows coming down the pipeline — has caused an overwhelming surge of claims that Star Wars shows are coming faster than we expected. This is not as fun as you might expect.

Yes, it’s fun to speculate about what could happen — Disney+ has opened up so many possibilities for a variety of future Star Wars projects, and that’s exciting. But there’s one huge problem with dreaming up all the shows set in a galaxy far, far away we’ve always wanted: We’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. And Star Wars fans are infamous for not handling disappointment very well.

This wouldn’t be so worrisome if this so-called “disappointment” didn’t often lead to openly threating creators for apparently telling the “wrong” stories. This may be a very small subset of a very large (specifically online) community. But it still happens, and it’s still baffling.

When we get all these ideas in our heads for shows about our favorite characters, there’s almost a set guarantee we’re not going to get the exact stories we want. If we’re not willing to manage our expectations and accept that not every Star Wars thing is going to be the exact thing we hoped for — if it happens at all — why do we keep opening ourselves up to speculation, especially on things that are so often just made up on the spot?

There is nothing wrong with getting excited about the possibility of a Lost Stars animated series or a show about Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. But we have to approach these rumors with the mutual understanding that even if that particular story is told someday, it might not be in the form of a show, or movie, or even a comic book. Just because you want it doesn’t mean it’s what you’re going to get.

Star Wars, and being a Star Wars fan, is supposed to be fun. And we can all have a little fun dreaming. It stops being fun when hopes not coming to fruition turns to harassment, violence, and willing everyone else to have a bad time.

Dream away. But if it’s not the Star Wars you want, you have the power to ignore it and let others enjoy the ride.

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