Fans Think Star Wars Has Finally Solved Its Villain Problem

George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise is a cornerstone of modern science fiction. What began as an ambitious space opera has evolved into one of the most lucrative and beloved franchises in history. Over several decades, Star Wars has captivated multiple generations of fans, solidifying its place as one of the greatest fictional universes ever created.

However, despite its iconic status, the Star Wars universe has faced its share of criticism, particularly since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm. Beyond political and ideological debates, there are objective and well-founded critiques of the new Star Wars installments.

One of the major complaints has been that Star Wars villains are becoming less compelling. However, our colleague Liz Declan from ScreenRant recently published an opinion piece expressing her enthusiasm for the franchise’s new villains, suggesting that the series is finally heading in the right direction.

Declan argues that the Sequel Trilogy struggled with its villains for two main reasons. First, they felt repetitive, as illustrated by Kylo Ren. He was too similar to Darth Vader to become a breakout character. While fans liked him, he never achieved the iconic status of Vader or Palpatine.

This leads to the second problem: the franchise’s reluctance to move beyond Vader and Palpatine. Many Disney-era works, whether explicitly or implicitly, kept these characters as the primary antagonists, which hindered the development of new, compelling villains.

However, with the introduction of Ahsoka’s Thrawn, The Acolyte’s original characters, and Darth Plagueis, Declan believes that Star Wars has finally resolved its villain problem. She concludes:

Hopefully, the franchise will keep up this momentum. There are a number of upcoming projects that could introduce truly inventive villains. One such project is Rey’s upcoming Star Wars movie, rumored to be titled New Jedi Order, which takes place 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker. Given its place in the Star Wars timeline, this movie could make several thrilling choices for villains, be it the Yuuzhan Vong or something new. Either way, though, it seems Star Wars may finally be fixing its villain problem, nearly 10 years after the sequel trilogy began.

Got any thoughts to share? Drop them in the comments below!

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