Star Wars is one of pop culture's most beloved franchises and all of that started a long time ago in a theater far, far away. The Original Trilogy started a sensation, kindling a fire that would continue to burn almost a half-century later. Even through slumps, Star Wars remains an entertainment juggernaut and a blueprint for other franchises to follow.
The Disney acquisition brought an all-new canon and a Sequel Trilogy that built off the OT. For many fans, this new canon isn't exactly the boon that many thought it would be, including Disney accountants, as there are many examples of ways the new canon has hurt the stories of the Original Trilogy.
10 The Fan Service Of The Sequel Trilogy Renders The Achievements Of OT's Heroes Worthless
For many, the Prequel Trilogy represented a departure from what they thought Star Wars should be, so the Sequel Trilogy leaned heavily into fan service. The conflict of the OT was basically reset, with a new Rebel Alliance, the Resistance, facing a new Empire, the First Order. The problem comes in that this renders everything that happened in the OT worthless.
The galaxy wasn't saved from tyranny and the same conflict would just play out all over again. Conflict is the key to the type of story Star Wars tells but this is the exact same conflict, using the exact same things that the OT did. None of the character's accomplishments mattered.
9 The Central Plot Of Rebels Robs Luke Skywalker Of His Importance To The Rebellion
One of the big things about Luke Skywalker was that he was the Rebels' only Jedi and as far as fans knew. He was treated with awe and respect by Rebel forces but new canon stories found a way to take this from him in Rebels. The central hero group of Rebels counted not only a former Old Republic Padawan, Kanan Jarrus, but also a young Force-sensitive for him to train, Ezra Bridger, among its number.
On top of that, one of the guiding lights of the early Rebellion was Ahsoka Tano, herself a former Jedi. The Rebellion had just about always had Jedi among their ranks and it makes Luke even less special. This would become a continuing theme throughout these newer stories.
8 It's Reduced Chewie To A Glorified Taxi Driver
Fans of the OT have a lot of problems with how many of its characters were treated and nowhere is that more evident than with Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a difficult character to make work because he doesn't speak English but he was always given something to do in the OT. Fans got a feel for who he was as a character, but canon hasn't been as kind to him.
In the Sequel Trilogy, he's little more than a glorified taxi driver and doesn't really get anything to do. He's reduced to little more than a plot element, which is sad for such a fan-favorite character.
7 Trying To Explain Exegol In The Darth Vader Comic Breaks Nearly Everything
In recent issues of Darth Vader, they've tried to explain how the Emperor had the Sith Eternal on Exegol working on his clones and the Xyston-class fleet of Star Destroyers for years by having Vader go there. On the one hand, this is the kind of thing the old EU would have done - expanded on things from the movies and fit them into existing canon. On the other hand, it destroys the story.
If Vader knows about Exegol, why doesn't he warn Luke any time? If Palpatine had Star Destroyers with Death Star lasers, why even build the second Death Star? The story pretty much breaks Star Wars.
6 It Continually Highlights The Failures Of The OT's Characters
One of the problems with a lot of canon stories is that in order for them to work, the heroes of the Original Trilogy have to fail. In the comics, they can't ever actually triumph or beat their foes, they just have to survive until the next fight. In the Sequel Trilogy, their failures as leaders, Jedi, and individuals are why the galaxy is the way it is.
The OT wasn't shy about pointing out the failures of its heroes but it didn't predicate its entire story on those failures. Canon is completely built on the heroes of the OT failing at every turn and when it tries to show them as heroes, their feats don't match their failures.
5 It Builds Its Characters By Destroying OT Ones
Rey is the definition of a Mary Sue. She can do everything, nearly everyone loves her immediately, and she rarely fails in any meaningful way. Now, this isn't always a bad thing - Luke Skywalker is essentially the male equivalent, a Gary Stu, as is Anakin Skywalker. The problem comes because, in order to make Rey the best, it has to hurt OT characters.
Leia and Han both think she's greatest and she fixes Han's ship better than he can. She rekindles the fires of hope in Luke and is more powerful than him. She's the best and everyone else is in awe of her. In order for her to be this way, she has to outclass everyone else. That's not a good way to build characters.
4 It Completely Wastes Beloved Characters
Admiral Ackbar is in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. It's easy to miss him because he doesn't do anything Admiral Ackbar would and then he's killed in the battle between the Raddus and the First Order. R2-D2 was one of the most heroic characters in the preceding trilogies and he did nothing in this one. Lando lived on a desert backwater for decades just waiting.
Sien Sovv is also in the movies but he does nothing. The Sequel Trilogy takes many of the OT's beloved characters, throws them onscreen for fan service, and does nothing with them. It's just a waste.
3 The Sequel Trilogy Never Reunites Everyone
One of the biggest missed opportunities of the Sequel Trilogy is that it never brought the main characters back together. Han and Leia got a scene. Luke and Leia did, as did Luke and Chewbacca while Lando saw Chewbacca again. At no time were all of these characters on screen together, which is something that fans wanted to see at least once.
It makes the friendship between them seem weak because they never even try to get all back together at any time. Never getting to see all of them together again after the trials of their life as well as teaming up with the new heroes is probably one of the biggest problems with canon.
2 The Regression Of Han Solo Completely Destroys The Character
Han Solo is an iconic character that has inspired heroes from many movies. His arc in the Original Trilogy was all about overcoming his criminal past and becoming a better person. The Sequel Trilogy, in its race to reset everything to something that fans recognized, regressed him to a criminal again and it just felt weird.
Having Han Solo completely go back into what he was at the beginning of the Original Trilogy was just another example of canon undoing the developments of the Original Trilogy. It was a huge disappointment for fans of the character.
1 The Movies Ruined Luke Skywalker To Make The Backstory Work
For many fans, Luke Skywalker is the greatest Jedi of them all and seeing him in the Sequel Trilogy was a shock. However, as much as fans want to blame Rian Johnson for how Luke turned out, there was pretty much no other way for the story to go. Luke abandoning his friends for any reason is out of character and The Last Jedi did what it could to redeem him.
Breaking Luke Skywalker to make one of the Sequel Trilogy's McGuffin fetch quests work is completely disrespectful to the Original Trilogy. For many, it takes everything Luke went through and learned in the OT and cheapens it. TLJ gets a lot of flack but it does what it can to make things better.
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