It’s Official, Disney Buys Fox and Star Wars, Not Marvel Will Benefit From It Most
Finally, it’s official. Disney buys Fox and with it, The X-Men, Fantastic Four, Deadpool, and every character that they’ve been missing.
- Dr. Doom
- Galactus
- Silver Surfer
- Annihilus
- Cable
- Hope Summers
- Wolverine
- Cyclops
- Jean Grey
- Magneto
- Franklin Richards
I can hear Kevin Feige quoting The Rock now. “Finally, the X-Men have come back to Marvel!” To say the acquisition is minor is ignorant. Disney buys Fox…this…is…huge…
With fans all over the world screaming Disney buys Fox ! comes The Simpsons and most importantly, Avatar. Avatar is what Star Wars needs. With Avatar in the mix and the world have anxiously waited for a sequel/prequel, Disney can shift its attention and take the pressure off Star Wars
Division
For all that it is, for the fanfare it receives, Star Wars is the most divisive franchise in history. Movies, television shows, and games divide its followers like an Earthquake divides the West Coast. Prequels vs Originals. Dark Side vs Light Side. Jedi vs Sith. Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Darth Vader. The debate is endless and that’s one of the best things about the franchise.
What fans think and talk about amongst themselves of each installment, book, comic, movie has kept Star Wars at the forefront of pop culture for the better part of 40 years. Very few franchises have even come close to that.
Karen Salmonsohn said, “Be patient. Sometimes you have to go through the worst to get to the best. Give time some time.”
For the longest time, Star Wars understood that.
16 years
What Star Wars has done very right in the past is place a considerable amount of time between each outing. Star Wars has a luster about it that shines brightest when it isn’t being forced upon us. Consider this, 16 years passed between The Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace. That space gave the world a chance to breathe, forget, remember, and hope that it would one day return.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm, they immediately announced a slew of projects. Speculation grew rampant as to who, what, where, how, when, and why each would be. 10 years had passed after the conclusion of Revenge of the Sith and it was time to work on Star Wars back. So, they ramped up production and put every ounce of effort into bringing Star Wars to a new generation.
It started with an announcement that Episodes 7, 8, and 9 were going into production. From there, Star Wars spin-offs and movies exploring the backstories of some of the most beloved characters in history found their way to the surface. As fans all over the world cried in excitement, Disney began to count the ways in which they could recoup their purchase. The luster was back and Disney knew it.
A new age
The Force Awakens was a massive hit. It appealed to new audiences all the while gaining the respect, and more importantly, the trust of old audiences. Rogue One, my personal favorite of the new movies, did what it could to bridge the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. While it didn’t have the same level of commercial success as The Force Awakens, it still found a way into the hearts of many.
In 2018, things started to go a little off track.
The Last Jedi, was, well, as divisive as a Star Wars movie has ever been. Fans hated it so much that there was and is a petition floating around asking Disney to remove it from cannon. Actors where chastised, the director was belittled, and Disney, for the first time with their new acquisition, had failed.
Don’t fret. 2019 will be better. One of the most famous and loved characters, Han Solo is on his way. Surely he will right the ship?
He didn’t.
The movie was a commercial and critical failure. Solo, the movie that was supposed to captivate audiences all over the globe, didn’t. It was sloppy, hard to follow, and, at times, unorganized. Solo left Disney wondering if there was even a place for Star Wars in today’s world. Planned stories (Obi-Wan and Boba Fett) were suddenly in talks to be canceled, or best case scenario canceled.
Fast forward to the Fox acquisition and there is hope.
Disney buys Fox and gets Pandora
Star Wars does well when Star Wars has a chance to be forgotten. Think of it as a family reunion that only happens every number of years. We don’t miss our family if we see them all the time. We miss them when we don’t see them. Disney’s buys Fox and thereby Avatar allows for this to happen.
With another blockbuster at their disposal, Disney can spend its time unearthing more of Pandora and less of Tatooine. And that’s a good thing. The word Star Wars fatigue has become synonymous with the last few (The Last Jedi, Solo) outings. As tough as it is to say, we need a Star Wars break.
There hasn’t been a franchise quite like Avatar in the last 20 years. In fact, very few movies garner so much interest that audiences all over the world beg and plea for more of it. When it came out all those years ago, Avatar raised the bar as to what could and should happen in a movie. And now, Star Wars will benefit from it.
I’m not saying that Disney should shelf the franchise for 10 more years but they should strongly consider what they will do after the release of Episode 9.
In the meantime, I imagine I should sit down and watch Avatar for the first time. Yeah, you read that correctly. I have not seen it but I’m starting the think that I should.
Cheers,
Joel
