Rogue One vs The Force Awakens - How we do Judge?

Recently, I had a discussion with a good friend of mine in which I made the bold statement that 'Rogue One was a better movie than The Force Awakens.' While I'm not sure I would stand behind that statement today after a bit of thought, it still sparked a rather engaging conversation in which I realized something I hadn't considered before.

Franchise's are on the eve of a New Era. We no longer can simply grade a franchise film by its own merit- not to grade it fairly. With so much mixed media content, from novels, TV series, films and beyond; how can we judge a film as an independent piece when it was never intended to be viewed as such?

To be fair, I do believe criticism of a film, novel, comic or whatever medium you choose is fair, but so too is looking at the greater puzzle this piece may fit into. This idea was only compounded as over the weekend I binge watched Star Wars Episodes IV-VI. From that I picked up on something else, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is pure eye candy.

What's a Sequel/Prequel in a Shared Universe?

I love Empire it's certainly one of my favorites. But if I look at this film as an independent film, far away from the surrounding franchise films- the film looses value quickly. We're left with an open-ended ending and the film itself seems to hang on the reveal that Vader is Luke's father. But this doesn't bring a ton of value to the film itself. It's a great reveal, but there's no conclusion to this news. Luke is simply defeated and narrowly escapes. In fact other than some eye candy in regards to a new Super Star Destroyer, TIE Bombers, interesting new locations, an improved lightsaber fight and Imperial Walkers, we're left with a pretty simple story about Luke visiting a hermit before confronting a bad dude and loosing.

Only when we view Empire as part of a trilogy, or saga can we begin to see the big picture and how fantastic it was to marvel and play in this 'play pen' of new material. The plot was pushed along just a little, but we were given new toys to 'awe' over and play with in our minds. Many of the best lines from the series are from Empire because the characters had plenty of time to simply exist without pressure of starting or ending the story. And there's nothing wrong with that. Empire is so great because it's a piece of candy stuck between two films that begin and end our journey. This is not so much a criticism as much as it is an observation (and before anyone starts to talk about storytelling principles, I'm way ahead of you, but it's important to remind ourselves of what Empire is)- and it leads me to an issue I have with criticism of Rogue One or The Force Awakens.

Star Wars has a selection of 'saga' films that have convenient numbers that string them all together. In the past this has worked for Star Wars- it was the way it was intended on being told. But I doubt Lucas or much less anyone else back then had dreamed up the concept of a shared cinematic universe. Certainly no one could imagine the Marvel Universe being told from the perspective of 'Episode 1: Captain America...' Because Marvel and DC have changed the way we view these expanded universes. When we get a film like Ant Man, the superhero isn't a main hero like Captain America. So where does that fit into the greater story arch? If we looked to the Monomyth for clues on story structure, would Ant Man be near the beginning or middle of this grand story? The answer is none of the above. While Ant Man itself may follow the story structure of the Monomyth, the film itself only nudges the film universe forward and from that respect- is just candy for the Marvel Universe.

More to the point, Rogue One was 'candy' for the Star Wars Universe. It's story nudged the saga forward, but the film itself was a new cinematic path being forged. Our expectations for quality should be just as high as The Force Awakens, if not higher.  But what we expect in terms of content should be wildly different.

Criticizing Rogue One

Namely, a lot of the issues I've heard with Rogue One is that it was too much 'fandom' Too much of what fan's have been drooling over- Action! X-Wings! Stormtroopers! Battle! New Tech! To be fair, we should have expected this from the moment they said it would be a war film, but beyond that I find those who criticize the film for the new vehicles/weapons to be just as silly as those who criticize the film for having the classic Imperial Walkers 'just because it'll get people into theater seats.' Because frankly Star Wars is about the characters as much as it is about the universe they inhabit. It's a bad reason to dislike the film when a more reasonable reason could be the lack of character development. Which I would take as a reasonable excuse, especially considering some of the key characters don't survive and understanding their motivations more clearly in this one-off film becomes even  more important.

But to complain that the film was ruined because they added new vehicles in the same way Empire Strikes Back did, is just silly. To complain that cutting edge special effects didn't 100% convince you that Tarkin was living and breathing, probably just shows you're not a fool. But to suggest it ruined the film is a bit dramatic. The special effects are pretty amazing all things considered and perhaps one day Disney will update them as the technology improves. I guess my point with this one is simple- when Star Wars came out in the 70s, the technology that was presented to movie goers was new and revolutionary. But don't kid yourself into thinking that anyone thought it was real. It was just really amazing to see what they achieved on screen. Why audiences today can scoff and suggest they simply shouldn't have bothered, defeats the point. It's not about being photo accurate, it's about telling a story with all the tools you have at your disposal.

Future Films

Real complaints about Rogue One exist and I hope Disney listens to them and uses that as motivation to create something truly spectacular in the future. Personally I don't think they nailed The Force Awakens for different reasons than Rogue One, but TFA's story isn't complete and we're bound to have our opinions change once Episode VIII arrives. Though considering Episode VIII's position as the 'candy' episode in this new trilogy, we shouldn't be surprised if many of the same complaints start to show up after the credits roll. I could only hope much like Empire, the characters become richer, the universe deeper and the new tech cooler. 

An 'Old Republic' Introspective

Disney's Next Big Saga is Closer than You Think

Many should not be surprised if they've heard little to nothing about Disney's future plans with Star Wars. Though they have officially revealed the general plan to shoot the Han Solo film, Episode 8 & 9, and a yet to be titled spin off- that's about as far as the current agenda goes. But that's not to suggest it's the only endeavor Disney appears to be organizing. 

Which brings us to the Old Republic. A time period that's been brought up over and over again, without many star wars fans directly realizing what Disney has been shaping in our minds. Episodes 8 & 9 will undoubtedly finish the storyline for the Skywalker saga- at least in regards to to Luke and Leia, but where does Disney go beyond this? Though I wouldn't put it past Disney to flesh out Rey and Finn's storylines over the course of additional Episodic films. I also wouldn't put it past Disney to delve into a more ancient timeline that may effect our hero's, Rey and Finn. Resulting in Disney releasing numbered Episodic films every few years- in the same way that Avenger films are released once the cumulative plot lines from the stand alone films merge. This would provide some breathing room for the episodic films, but also rake in some additional cash for the already profitable franchise. 

For Disney, this could prove to be a very creative way of telling the Star Wars adventure. For the basis of this argument, you could envision an enemy with roots both in the modern Star Wars tale- but also some thousands of years prior. How might this work?

What Does the Canon Tell us?

With so much new content emerging from novels, tv series and movies- what can we say about the Old Republic now, and what might a movie or tv series set in that time be about? For one thing, there's been some major upgrades to the existing timeline.

Official New Canon information will be labeled in Blue.
Where as Old Canon references will be labeled Red.

Hundred Year Darkness (6000+ Years before 'A New Hope')

The Jedi form the first Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, while considering planets such as Coruscant, Ossus and Tython.

Some members of the Jedi began to follow a path to the Dark Side by distorting the force to breed new lifeforms into existence- with the potential to even prevent death. The High Jedi Council demanded these new discoveries be halted immediately, leading to a conflict within the Jedi Order. Eventually the High Jedi Council banished these members, leading them to form 'The Sith' on Korriban, after enslaving the local populace. The term 'Dark Lord of the Sith' was born from this. After the Hundred Year of Darkness and the fall of the Republic due to the massive war among the Jedi, the galaxy was reorganized as the first 'Galactic Republic.'

At some point the 'Darksaber' is created by Tar Vizsla, first Mandalorian inducted into the Jedi Order. After his death, the Jedi kept the saber in their temple.

The Mandalorian War (4000+ Years before 'A New Hope')

A number of wars among the Jedi and Sith transpire prior to this, leading to the Sith to be brought to heel once more and generally considered wiped out.

Seeking the 'Great Last Battle' that legend spoke of, 'Mandalore the Ultimate' seeked to wage a war unparalleled to anything the galaxy had seen before. Mandalorian Crusaders under house Vizsla stole the 'Darksaber' from the Jedi Temple. With this saber, they unified the Manadlorian's under one banner. Attacking the outer rim his forces took large sections of the galaxy under Hutt or minor faction rule, before the Republic could be tempted to protect itself. At this point Mandalore had gained a massive number of resources and was poised to strike hard against the Republic. The ensuing battle for the Republic cost the Republic dearly.

The Jedi however could not be tempted to join the war, leaving the Republic to fight on its own. This did not settle well with a Jedi named Revan and lead to him and other Jedi to take up arms within the Republic military to lead a successful campaign against the Mandalorians. Taking great strides to reclaim territory lost, Jedi Revan became the hero of the Republic.

The Great Scourge of Malachor

The final battle between the Galactic Republic led by Revan and Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders occurred on Malachor V. Here, the canon remains unclear- presumably, at a hidden Sith Temple/Academy, Mandalorian Warriors, Jedi and Republic Troops are turned to stone after the activation of a Sith super weapon contained within the temple. A weapon that if used could destroy all life, by ripping the force from the object itself. The temple itself contained much writing considered to be of 'the old tongue.' 

At around this same time, the end of the war brought about great destruction to the surface of Mandalore, scarring the surface and making it inhospitable to life, it is unclear if the two events are connected, as much information from this time has been tweaked. After the scourge of Malachor, Malachor was deemed off limits by the Jedi. 

Interestingly, Kylo Ren's lightsaber design dates back to this same era.

Jedi Civil War

Following the events of the Mandalorian War, the Jedi find themselves at odds with each other, leading to the Jedi Civil War. Namely, Revan and his apprentice Malik dive into the unknown regions of the galaxy to confront 'a greater evil' they can still sense. Only to discover the Sith Empire. This knowledge corrupts them as they return to the Republic not as hero's but conquerors, intending on taking power over the Republic to protect it from the greater Sith threat looming on the horizon. This plan fails however when Malik betrays Revan and follows his own passions to rule the galaxy.

After these events, there's about 3000 years of history that hasn't been touched on by the new canon. For those reasons, I'll skip over the old canon.

The Jedi Sith War (1000+ Years before 'A New Hope')

In the words of Sio Bibble, "There hasn't been a full-scale war since the formation of the Republic." The Jedi Sith War, a conflict that would see the end of the Sith Order as far as the Jedi were concerned. This war would see the rise of the Sith Order and transformation of the Jedi into a militant power in the Republic once again. The war ended on Ruusan where it was believed all the Sith had been defeated. While in reality, Darth Bane survived and transformed the Sith order with the 'Rule of Two.' This transformation in Sith society would bare fruit in the likes of the Emperor and Vader.

The Dark Age (1,000 Years before 'A New Hope')

A period of slow recovery for the Galactic Republic and it's slow rise to power on the galactic grand stage.

Where Does this Lead Us?

After getting a greater sense of what history lies before us due to what's been filled in behind us, we can quickly see where Disney is choosing to put most of their eggs in this galactic basket. Namely around the events of the Great Scourge of Malachor. What this tells me is they're looking to flesh out details of one of the more interesting parts of Star Wars lore. Perhaps what I love most about this era are that things weren't as 'black and white' as they perhaps are now in Star Wars. For instance, in the old canon it was Jedi Revan and his command that commissioned the creation of the super weapon, not the Sith- and it was Revan's men who used the weapon during battle, killing both friend and enemy in the process.

The changes that Disney appears to be making, or Dave Filoni in this case (as he's been the most invested in Old Republic history as of late) appears to be paving a path for Revan in that they're kindly putting aside stories that previously involved him. That is to say, Revan is a blank slate at this point and forging a new or 'updated' story for Revan will prove even easier if he's burdened by less old canon.

Another fascinating nugget of information is how things seem to align themselves up nicely for a new canon explanation for Mandalore's surface being rendered useless, around the same time a weapon that destroys life is discovered and used at least on Malachore. Are the two events connected? Perhaps. Perhaps not? That question and more may be something Disney is choosing to reveal with Revan. It may even be likely that they're prepping Revan's character to be even more twisted than previously- with not being responsible for the Great Scourge of Malachor- but perhaps responsible for using the same Sith technology to be responsible for the Scourge of Mandalore. Perhaps it wasn't just a battle of thousands of lives Revan would claim, but a planet of millions?

Malachor

Malachor

Malachor

Top 5 New Star Wars Stories!

The New Star Wars Hope

One of the aspects of Rogue One: A Star Wars story, that has interested me since I first heard about it's premise would be the potential for a new expansive universe within Star Wars. While many a deeply ingrained Star Wars fans who have read the comics, books or played the various forms of Star Wars media can tell you about the adventures of hundreds of characters outside the films. Those stories have yet to see the light of day on the cinematic theater screens across the world. Those days however, may be behind us if Rogue One has anything to say about it. 

Not only this, but with Bob Igor's push to expand the Star Wars property with the upcoming untitled Han Solo film, we're set to have a new and riveting Star Wars cinematic universe, on par with Marvel's theatrical ambitions, if not even more ambitious as all the lessons of building a cinematic universe will be pushed into Star Wars from the start.

Looking to the Future

We see a few new paths for Disney to take the Star Wars franchise based on the evidence we now have of Rogue One, Han Solo and the episodic films. Here's our list of potential spin offs, sequels and prequels and our reasoning behind them!

A New Sith Empire

Looking at evidence from Episode 7 and some of the canon tie in novels we are beginning to see the shadow like organization of the First Order take shape, but we're left unsure of exactly who runs this military organization. For one, we know the First Order was formed from remnants of the Galactic Empire run by the former Emperor fleeing into 'Unknown Space', the real wild west of the Star Wars galaxy. Then, with support from splinter political groups within the New Republic (formerly known as the Rebel Alliance) we see the First Order take shape. But there's a few red flags we're missing important elements of this process.

For one, every military organization requires supplies to feed, cloth and otherwise organize a massive military force. Not only this, but we see clear evidence of Imperial progression in weapons and technology, showing that not only have these fringe elements fled the known Galaxy, but they've profited greatly from doing so- driving the question, who or what has managed to feed into the military R&D department of the New Order?

One of these answers may come in the form of Disney XD's Star wars: Rebels tv series, which as of season 3 has introduced the character Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn, was not human but Chiss. Humoniod and considered to be extremely intelligent. Not only this, but as as old canon goes- the Chiss provided a number of technological advances for the Empire and resided in the 'Unknown Regions' of space. Choosing to not make official contact with the greater galaxy. Though no mention of this has been made yet, there's a lot of room for expanding this idea as you may imagine. Perhaps the First Order recognized this advantage and capitalized on it upon returning to the Unknown Regions?

While the clear leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke is an obvious indicator that a Dark Side user has once again reclaimed leadership over the Empire, we have yet again a list of questions as to who Snoke is and where he came from. A powerful Sith would not simply exist undetected in a universe like Star Wars unless perhaps because he existed for a time in the unknown regions.

This really leads to our theory, that Episodes 8 and 9 may lead to the reveal that the New Order has been hijacked if you will- by the formerly hidden Sith Empire that has laid in wait for thousands of years

So while jumping into all this former lore may be a bit bulky for Episodes 8 and 9, introducing the idea that a slumbering Empire or failed state of Sith (or likely their offspring) energized and capitalized on their encounter with the also failed remnants of the Galactic Empire to combine their forces, power, supplies to produce the resurgence known as the First Order. Even the name itself, would hearken back in this sense, as a reclamation of the Galactic Empire back into the 'original sith' if you will.

And to be frank: It's not even that original of an idea. As fans of the series 'Knights of the Old Republic' can tell you, something very similar to this happened when Jedi Revan and his followers went searching for 'a dark force' in the unknown regions. When they returned they were Sith and had a Sith Armada with them. This wasn't even the full force of the Sith Empire either- rather an elaborate test of strength against the Republic, but the parallels between Revan's Sith Armada and the New Order's Navel Fleet is worth taking note to.

The Old Republic

Jumping off from Episodes 7, 8 and 9 this would be a great opportunity for Disney to jump into the Old Republic, in particular if they've introduced the idea of the former Sith Empire and are looking to create another profitable saga of films. While the Old Republic is a vast, sprawling time period with hundreds of former Legends stories already populating its past, now Disney would have the opportunity to selectively tell its own story.

The largest challenge with an Old Republic style film (much less series) would be the connective tissue to Star Wars as we know it today. Though they may have lightsabers, locations and mythology in common, much of what makes up the Old Republic as we see in Legends is still distinctly different in artistic approach. This could lead to issues of convincing your average movie goer that this is still Star Wars and not just a cheap trick to get people into theater seats by slapping a Star Wars logo on a sci fi adventure film. 

Worse yet, there would be the challenge of bringing in brand new characters and building this time period's lore from essentially scratch. Though I wouldn't call it impossible, considering a film like Guardian's of the Galaxy did just fine, despite average theater goers not having read any of the previous comics, or Guardian's having a direct relation to any of the former superhero films. The key to this you may note was Guardian's nemesis. By keeping Thanos the overarching bad guy in Guardian's as he is in the rest of the Marval universe this kept the film afloat with the understanding that these characters would later have a role in the larger MCU.

How Disney chooses to go about the Old Republic is still up for debate- if they choose to go down that path. But considering the amount of lore in this time period, it's hard to imagine they'd outright ignore it.

Boba Fett

Though not officially announced as a film lined up by Disney it has been hotly suggested from rumors swirling from within Disney itself. A Boba Fett film would likely fit into the classification of a character piece, as Boba Fett as far as we know, has not had a notable role in the Star Wars universe (such as stealing the death star plans). Not only this, but Boba Fett is arguably a villein which leads to the issues of making his character likable on screen. Though we may love to root for the bad guys in a film because of simply how freakin' cool they are. Putting them on the screen for two hours may prove too much. As we know, Fett isn't one to talk a lot on film and even the younger Fett we see in shows such as The Clone Wars provides evidence of an angry, lustful for revenge youth, who only is in it for himself (mostly).

One method that could be used to tell Boba Fett's story would be to have a sort of Suicide Squad type story. In which all the characters are on the same side, yet possibly pitted against one another. A Boba Fett film will be a difficult challenge for whomever pens this story, as the iconic character is at a great threat of becoming boring, dumbed down, or unappealing if not written into the story correctly. Not only this, but due to Boba Fett being a clone of a previously cast actor- this does limit Disney to having to use that actor unless they simply recast. Which by no means am I suggesting that Temuera Morrison did a poor job as Jango Fett- simply that this may deter Disney as their options for this character now become limited due to being previously cast some years ago.

The next challenge for Boba Fett would be time period. An early Boba Fett during the height of the Empire might be appealing to some, but personally I would love to see Boba Fett crawl from the jaws of the sarlacc that was intended to kill him- and essentially be forced to start over in a galaxy that was also about to change with the destruction of the second death star- and death of the Emperor.

On the flip side, Star Wars Rebels mid season 3 trailer has suggested that the Mandalorians may fight with the Rebel Alliance, now Boba Fett himself is no Mandalorian, but wears the armor none the less. Providing an interesting story regarding Boba Fett defending himself and the people he chooses to be apart of.

Rogue Squadron

If you haven't seen Rogue One you should But regardless you can expect this: The Rebels go on to fight another day. So what's this say about a sequel to Rogue One? Outside of the laughs that have been made that 'A New Hope' is a sequel to Rogue One we have another thought. I wouldn't call it a direct sequel, but a film that focus' on the infamous Rogue Squadron may be a proper spiritual sequel to Rogue One. With a recent marathon of Star War's films, it became very clear to us one thing in particular: the in universe 'Rogue Squadron' certainly must have been created in honor of the in universe 'Rogue One' crew who's daring mission stole the death star plans.

For those who don't know, Rogue Squadron was promoted to near stardom within Star Wars thanks to writers such as Michael A. Stackpole who wrote half of the Rogue Squadron book series. Made up of elite pilots taking on daring top secret missions for the Rebel Alliance, Rogue Squadron was as much about ace combat pilots as it was these soldiers pulled into entanglements on the ground. So essentially, as Rogue One is about Rebel spies on the ground, this is akin to the same but in space. It's hard to really pinpoint what story a Rogue Squadron centered story could take, but seeings as they provided a backdrop to many of the larger operations in the original trilogy, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Rogue Squadron setting up the events of Return of the Jedi or aiding in the recovery of the plans to the Second Death Star- in which many Bothans died as a result of.

Obiwan's Lost Years

This theory has gained some traction since the popular Rey is Obiwan's granddaughter theory started to spread online. For the record, there is no concrete proof Rey is Obiwan's granddaughter until we learn something new in Episode 8. But, assuming this is true for even a moment, there's an opportunity to bring back Ewan Mcgregor as Obiwan sometime between the events of Episode 3 and 4. 

As many will remember, Obiwan devoted his life to watching over Luke Skywalker in this time and while many assumed this was a pretty boring job in the desert, new canon comics however show that wasn't entirely true and Obiwan found himself on a number of mini adventures even while keeping an eye on Luke. While this isn't any kind of proof that Obiwan found love on the desert, this isn't to say it couldn't be true either.

This is certainly an interesting idea, even if Obiwan and Rey aren't related, it still would be a fascinating character piece to understand Obiwan's role over Luke, his struggle to cope with a changing galaxy, learning new aspects of the force and possibly additional motives to his character removing himself from such a central position as member of the Jedi council. One would imagine that if Yoda's last words were to go separate ways until the time was right- after a few years Obiwan might start to get an itch to find a way to help the Rebellion. Especially with Bale Organa knowing where he was and was available for use (remember it was Bale who sought out Obiwan to bring the death star plans to Alderaan)

But at this rate, we may learn new evidence of Obiwan's early involvement within the Rebel Alliance from the likes of Rogue One.