If you have a conversation with most average Star Wars fans, one of the things that will be brought up is the Sequels, whether good or bad. We will take a look at both sides of the coin and why both display very compelling reasons as to why these movies should be remade, and shouldn’t.
After the article, you can form your opinion on whether or not you believe they should be remade. The reason why I’ve chosen to do this article is that it’s something I read about on a daily basis.
These consist of the following 3 movies;
- Episode 7: The Force Awakens
- Episode 8: The Last Jedi
- Episode 9: Rise of Skywalker
Why they should be remade
1. The Force Awakens marketing
The initial marketing from Disney portrayed Episode 7 in a completely different way to how it ended. Finn (John Boyega) was built up to be a Stormtrooper turned Jedi, and honestly, it’s something I was on board with. It felt different, unique, and John is an amazing actor. In the final episode, Finn mentioned to Rey that he needed to tell her something. We never actually found out, until after the movie where JJ Abrahams mentioned that Finn was in fact force sensitive. This was a hugely missed opportunity for the franchise to be so much better than it was.
2. Rey just wasn’t an amazing protagonist
Don’t get me wrong, before you destroy me in the comments. I liked Rey, she was great, but she wasn’t Obi-Wan, she wasn’t Luke Skywalker. Her backstory was trash, especially with the reveal that she was Palpatine’s granddaughter which was a cheap move in the first place, she never brought anything else to the table. When she’s around Luke in Episode 8, she comes off as annoying instead of being the Jedi the good guys need. We also, to be fair, never saw enough of her in combat which affected her position as a Jedi. The movies should have more center focused on her instead of pointless arcs (*cough casino scene cough*). Sorry, I had a dry throat.
3. Palpatine was a cheap move
Yep, you read that above too. Gotcha. In all honesty, bringing back Emperor Palpatine completely and utterly undermined everything the Original trilogy did. In Return of the Jedi, we see Darth Vader eventually turn back to the light in finally killing Palpatine to save his son, killing himself in the process. I know Palpatine has backup plans for his backup plans, but this surely isn’t one of them. By doing this in the way they did made it so Vader’s death was effectively a waste of time, considering Palpatine was still controlling everything in the background. It should have remained Snoke, as a standalone character, not a clone.
4. The Knights of Ren were wasted
This is something many fans wanted more off, and instead, we got to see them get their ass handed to them with very little effort by Kylo (now Ben again). We knew these guys existed because of the flashback scenes to Luke having his newly found temple annihilated, but we actually only got to see the Knights in Episode 9 and very briefly too. We got some cool shots of them standing in the desert but that was about it. This is more wasted potential to make these movies perfect, and the Knights should have had a much bigger story than they did.
5. Luke Skywalker’s entire legacy was diminished in a couple of hours
Mark Hamill himself hates how Rhian Johnson portrayed Luke in Episode 8, and I think the vast majority of fans do too. Luke Skywalker is the beacon of hope for the Jedi. We see this in a major way in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. He’s one of the most powerful beings to exist, more so considering he’s the son of one of the most powerful Sith to ever live in Vader. In Legends, Luke is overpowered, but he’s so pure of heart and good, that the way they portrayed his character throughout just never felt like Luke at all. Another wasted story that undermined the Originals. This is perhaps the biggest reason why I’d prefer the movies to be remade. Mark Hamill deserves and deserved so much better.
Why they shouldn’t be remade
1. The great Carrie Fisher is no longer with us
Carrie Fisher believed in the production and directors. Even Rhian. Unfortunately, if the movies were to ever be remade, it would be difficult to not have our Princess Leia involved in there. She passed away before Episode 8 came out, hence the reason why Episode 9 was scenes of her that were filmed during the other 2 movies. I think by remaking these movies, it undermines what Carrie did for the franchise, and it would be devastating to have these movies wiped from history.
2. The movies weren’t that bad
Out of the 3 trilogies, the Sequels were definitely the weakest out of the 3, but they’re not unwatchable. The Last Jedi is horrific, but it still has some memorable scenes in there. Despite the way they portrayed Luke, at least Rhian did push the scene forward where we see how powerful Luke actually is. How he’s able to fight Kylo Ren and not even be there. I enjoyed the end of Episode 9, and Episode 7 was enjoyable throughout. So they’re not horrible movies where I would rate them 0/10.
3. They did really well at the Box Office
Collectively the 3 movies earned a total of $4,478,996,102 at the Box Office. Individually Episode 7 earned $2,068,223,624. Episode 8 earned $1,332,539,889 and Episode 9 earned $1,078,232,589. This isn’t even including merchandise, blu-ray/DVD sales, etc, this is purely Box Office. In Disney’s eyes, the movies were an absolute success and a win for the company. We have to remember as fans, even if we think the movies could have been better, they were a massive success for Disney and the franchise.
4. Remaking the movies would confuse a lot of fans, especially the casual fans
The vast majority of casual fans I speak to had never heard of Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian, never knew that Darth Maul survived Episode 1, or that Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc Pit. A lot of these are explained in different methods such as animated shows, comics, books, games, etc. My Mother is the same, she never knew all of this and was blown away when I told her some of this stuff because she’s a huge fan of the movies. She never knew the extent of how far the Star Wars universe actually stretches. I think “deleting” these movies, and redoing them would confuse a lot of people. Trying to explain to someone that the 3 movies we got don’t matter anymore, but the new ones do just makes the entire idea look unprofessional.
5. It’s probably time to move on now
In the end, the movies happened, we got them, we watched them, we formed an opinion but what’s the point of backtracking? These movies have millions upon millions of dollars worth of budgets, productions, cast, and more. By redoing these movies we’re effectively taking that time and money away from other stories within the Star Wars universe that deserve to be told. We’ve had 9 movies in the Skywalker saga, we’re still getting content in between those times but it’s time to move on. I would rather them make a standalone Vader movie, or a movie about the Old Republic, or even a story that’s set 50 years from Episode 9 than go back and tell a story that ultimately will end in the same way.
There you have it. Which side are you on and why? Let me know down in the comments below.
