Unfortunately the cinematic aspect of the Star Wars franchise is basically dead in the water in my opinion. While there are a few gems like Andor, or the first and second seasons of the Mandalorian, any expansion made would/will be a worthless flop. At least to fans like me (I got in to Star Wars in the early 2000's, when it was really at it's peak).
It's not that I blame Disney or Lucas Film of course. They are simply going where the money takes them (just like GW). Corporations can't afford to not keep up with trends, pop culture or striving to be the "new thing". That's how our modern monopolistic/oligarchic system of capitalism works. Turning out mediocre, readily consumable (not necessarily the same as being readily accessible) for the largely short-term interested masses makes more money.
The vast majority of people consume media; such as video games, movies, TV series and now even table top games like AoS and 40k, for escapism. Not for the series itself. For "the pretty colours" it you will.
A great example of this is the Dragon Age Series. The first game is considered the pinnacle of the series, while 2 was a flop, and 3 (while being reasonably popular) still struggled to capture the essence of the original. The newest game will/has completely broken from the previous, and is shaping up to be a God of War rip off. Literally, they are planing on using the same mechanics. Still obviously force older players away, but it is good marketing. GoW is the new hotness. Furthermore it land's to the feeling of escapism.
The previous three DA games required some level of strategy and thought, especially the first one on higher difficulties. Nobody in the modern (ie post 2015) really wants that.
This also gets in to another point. What
is the most popular genre of video game anyway?
Answer: Shooters.
Now I know what you maybe thinking. "But Dwi, shooters require lot's of thought!"
They do yes.
If you want to get good at them.
The fact of the matter is, people won't invest time and money in too a series if it reminds them of reality or is even grounded in it. They want escapism, a "not reality". Lights and pretty colours, hot people, sex, action and murder. Revenge plots have become popular in Korean media, not because they are any good (there aren't) but because it provides a fantasy of "getting back at society" a delusional concept that most people now they can't have.
And it not like this is a new thing. The Hobbit and LotR are
prime (and particularly conservative) from of British escapism. It's just that people are less interested (or interesting) in intricacies, polts, schemes, overall story, lore/world or even character development than ever before.
Yes there are exceptions like GoT, but even then it was heavily dumbed down for the average audience, as the the Witcher series (the shows not the games). On an interesting note, when the Witcher series came out, fan's questioned the Nilfgardian "crinkle armour"
For reference, here is a picture of the abominations in question:
Now why would they do this? At the time it was decided that having "real" looking armour, such as in this beautiful comparison:
It was decided that realistic armour was "too jarring" and reminded the audience to much of the real world.
Escapism.
Now with that context out of the way, back to Star Wars.
In theory Star Wars should be free of the desire for simplicity. It is another form of prime escapism. But before the retcons it was supremely intricate and all interwoven. To understand one thing in context, you need to know something else. Sometimes something very obscure.
Disney doesn't need that kind of baggage, so they just deleted it, creating a new cannon. This cannon has had it's ups and downs, but is kept as simplistic as possible. Again, you don’t make money off complexity.
Now that
doesn't mean that dumbing it down to the lowest common denominator is wrong. But they have buggered it up so thoughtlessly that there is basically no saving it now.
Anyway, thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.
