Star Wars Has Learned To Love The Prequels… But Now It Needs To Let Them Go

Summary

• Star Wars has embraced the prequels, but it’s time for the franchise to explore new eras and stories.
• Star Wars has struggled to truly let go of the prequels.
• Upcoming Star Wars projects may finally move beyond the prequel trilogy and the Skywalker Saga.

Over the years, Star Wars has finally come to give the prequel trilogy the love and recognition it always deserved; however, now the franchise needs to move on. The prequel trilogy truly did introduce some of Star Wars’ best characters and has become beloved among Star Wars movies and TV shows. Yet, at first, they were considered to be some of Star Wars’ worst movies.

In fact, initially, the prequels received a significant amount of backlash. In the years since the trilogy was released, though, the fanbase has grown increasingly fond of this era and these characters, and, for this reason, the franchise has revisited this point in the Star Wars timeline in several new projects. While many of those additions have been among Star Wars’ best TV shows, it truly is time for Star Wars to explore new eras, new characters, and new stories.

Disney Initially Tried To Avoid The Prequels

Star Wars: The Force Awakens makes it clear that, originally, Disney Star Wars believed the prequel trilogy was best ignored. In fact, this led to one of the biggest complaints about the sequel trilogy. The Force Awakens has a jarring number of similarities to the original Star Wars trilogy, A New Hope in particular, making it clear that Disney anticipated the nostalgia for the original movies being the pull for audiences.

This impacted the villains, the heroes, and the actors in the sequel trilogy. Kylo Ren, who was arguably the biggest villain in the sequels (despite that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker twist) was not only Darth Vader’s biological grandson but also mirrored his appearance and his role. Rey, like Luke, was a seeming nobody from a desert planet who learned she had incredible power in the Force. And, of course, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill (to a lesser extent) all played a role in the movie.

This largely backfired for Disney
Star Wars
, as many viewers perceived these choices as redundant and unoriginal.

However, this largely backfired for Disney Star Wars, as many viewers perceived these choices as redundant and unoriginal. By contrast, the sequel trilogy had very little connection with the prequel trilogy, and it avoided repeating those story arcs. In fact, even with the love triangle between Finn, Rey, and Kylo Ren, the sequel trilogy steered clear of a romance like Padmé and Anakin’s, which was a large part of the prequel trilogy arc.

Star Wars Has Learned To Love The Prequels

Despite the avoidance of the prequels the sequel trilogy exhibited, Disney Star Wars has since paid considerable attention to the prequel trilogy stories, characters, and actors. For one, shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and Star Wars Rebels have either directly intersected with the prequel trilogy or have had strong connections to that era and its characters. More recently, Star Wars shows such as Ahsoka and Obi-Wan Kenobi have also directly built upon the prequels, including by seeing the return of fan-favorite actors Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor.

Even shows that seem distinct from the prequel trilogy have proven to be connected to this era.

In fact, even shows that seem distinct from the prequel trilogy have proven to be connected to this era. The Acolyte was an excellent example of this. Although the show was set 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and was billed as a show without prequel trilogy connections, it was more or less a setup for the issues that would arise in the prequels. This was proven not only with the clear parallels between Osha and Anakin Skywalker but also with the shocking Master Yoda cameo in the show’s finale.

In truth, many of these have been wonderful additions. The Bad Batch fleshed out the clone troopers in a way that finally respected their humanity and gave them full arcs (including, shockingly, several happy endings), and The Clone Wars and Rebels revealed so much more about the fall of the Jedi and the ramifications of their demise. Moreover, Christensen and McGregor are truly some of Star Wars’ best actors, and their returns have been incredible. Even so, Star Wars may now be relying too heavily on the prequel trilogy.

Star Wars Needs To Evolve Beyond The Prequels

It’s been a positive turn in the franchise for the prequel trilogy to finally be receiving so much love and appreciation; however, there can be too much of a good thing. It’s true that the prequels did not deserve the hate they initially received, and the stories in the prequels are undoubtedly some of the most important in Star Wars. After all, the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the creation of the Empire are paramount in the franchise.

The
Star Wars
universe is expansive, and there is so much more to explore.

Even so, though, the Star Wars universe is expansive, and there is so much more to explore. Needing new stories doesn’t detract from how great the prequels were; it just means that the franchise needs innovation to move forward, especially now that the Skywalker Saga is over. It remains to be seen whether Star Wars is truly ready to move on from the Skywalker Saga, however.

As mentioned, even shows that seemed new, such as The Acolyte, were not truly all that separate from the prequel trilogy. Moreover, the shows set during the Dark Times and the New Republic era—including genuinely innovative shows like Andor and The Mandalorian—are inherently linked to the Skywalker Saga. Thus far, then, Star Wars hasn’t really pulled away.

Upcoming Star Wars projects might be a bit more promising in that regard. Many of Star Wars’ upcoming movies remain heavily under wraps, from Rey’s Star Wars movie rumored to be titled New Jedi Order to the movie about the original Jedi thought to be titled Dawn of the Jedi. Yet, New Jedi Order is confirmed to take place 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker, and Dawn of the Jedi will be set 25,000 years before the prequels.

Theoretically, new Star Wars movies will therefore truly begin to move beyond the prequel trilogy and the Skywalker Saga. Notably, though, comments about New Jedi Order have already indicated that the prequel trilogy Jedi Order’s rule against attachments will be implemented in Rey’s own Order, suggesting that Star Wars’ Jedi will continue to be shaped by that era. This raises questions about whether the franchise will ever completely move on from the prequels and the Jedi Order that George Lucas created.

George Lucas would have wanted to constantly bring something new to
Star Wars
.

In part, audiences may be hoping that’s true; many have been disappointed to see Star Wars change hands from Lucas to Disney. However, the inability to move on from Lucas’ prequels isn’t what Lucas would have done or wanted had he still been at the helm. Rather, George Lucas would have wanted to constantly bring something new to Star Wars. Hopefully, with the many upcoming projects in the works, Star Wars will finally do just that and move on from the prequels while still respecting how incredible they have been.