A celebration of Star Wars

 May the fourth, May the fifth, and now, May the Way. The month of May has become a celebration of all things Star Wars.It never ceases to amaze me that a cheesy movie made in 1977 spawned a global franchise that still recruits legions of fans forty-five years later, and shows no signs of slowing down. The science might be questionable but the Force is with them so who cares?

I loved the first three movies (episodes 4, 5, and 6), especially #5, The Empire Strikes Back. I was so enthralled with the story that it took Isaac Asimov, writing in a magazine article, to point out that if your hyperdrive is broken, bopping around the galaxy before you reach senility isn't very likely. Which simply goes to show that facts never get in the way of a good story. Take note, authors.
 

It took a while after the credits faded on Return of the Jedi for the first spin-off books to appear. That was Timothy Zahn's classic Thrawn trilogy, followed by a slew of titles, a lot dead ordinary, a few very good. Star Wars had become an industry, with fans clamouring for more. After sixteen years, George Lucas dusted off his characters and we waited with bated breath for the prequels to arrive.

Some people loved the prequels. A lot of the old fans... shall we say, weren't impressed? I don't know about you but I never could see Padme falling for that adolescent twerp, Anakin Skywalker. But I still loved the spaceships and the action/adventure.

A few years later, Disney bought the franchise. We saw more of the animated Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and such. I can't say they did a lot for me, though Rebels went up a notch when they introduced Grand Admiral Thrawn. I'd feared he was to be relegated to Star Wars Legends status, not part of the canon storyline.

It was inevitable that Disney would dust off the boys and girls yet again for another block-busting, money making trilogy, set well after the end of Return of the Jedi. Han, Leia, and Luke were all older if not wiser and a the New Order had arisen to threaten democracy.

Suffice to say I thought The Force Awakens was awful, simply another version of the ground-breaking original movie A New Hope (ep 4). The others weren't much better but at least the third movie (which I've only watched once, as opposed to Empire, which I've seen many, many times) drew a line under the Skywalker dynasty. 

 

However, there's plenty of room in the Star Wars galaxy for other stories. I loved Rogue One, almost as good as Empire. Solo was a mistake. It was hard to get my head around Han being played by somebody other than Harrison Ford - but I don't think it was well marketed. Younger fans wouldn't have been quite so hung up.

 

Disney finally grabbed a brain and looked at new characters in a Star Wars setting. Enter The Mandalorian. He has backstory in some of the animated story lines but he's a cool, mysterious guy in a mask in something approaching a wild west setting. And there was Baby Yoda.

And there, of course, is the origin of 'This is the Way' in May.

The Book of Boba Fett was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the depth but I did have to wonder when the series was usurped by the Mandalorian. Never mind. I'm looking forward to the third series of The Mandalorian.

For now, though, I'm hanging out for the new Disney series, Obiwan Kenobi. I do hope they don't stuff it up.