Do you think The Mandalorian is the best thing Lucasfilm and Disney has done in the last five or so years? Do you think its success is “carrying” the Star Wars franchise on its shoulders?

I was inspired to write this article when I saw this meme posted on one of the many subreddits for star wars that I follow:

The skywalker saga’s failure to deliver

With the mixed success of the final trilogy in the Skywalker saga, fans are divided over their feelings for the three films. Most really don’t agree with any of the major plot points of the trilogy and/or think the writing was poor. Some fans are happy to have seen “Reylo” happen and others are angry that Rey became a Skywalker when the actual Skywalker by blood was killed. There are a lot of things to poke holes at, perhaps too many to say it was a successful end to the Skywalker saga.

But one thing remains clear in the fandom to date and that is that The Mandalorian is heads and shoulders above the sequel trilogy in its fandom appreciation. It is very rare to use social media as much as I do and not see someone say something negative about Star Wars. I have never seen a single person on any of the social media accounts I use say anything negative about The Mandalorian. That is powerful proof right there that the fans are more than satisfied. The only posts I regularly see are praising the creation process, the acting and the storyline of the series. Fans cannot wait for the next season to arrive.

The mandalorian saves the franchise

So it’s fair to say that The Mandalorian is the success story the franchise needed after the sequel trilogy and they know that. Lucasfilm and Disney probably hire people to track and report on social media discussions, comments, posts and articles about their IP’s so they can capitalize on it. Pushing and promoting a successful IP is easy to do when you know the fans are frothing at the mouth to see more. Makes sense, right?

I have written about the future of the Star Wars franchise frequently, and there hasn’t been a single franchise more popular than Star Wars even with the sequel trilogy. Lucasfilm and Disney are planning to release books for the new “saga” with The High Republic. But I have doubts it will be anywhere near as popular as the Skywalker saga has been.

The Skywalker saga has had almost 40 years to run, which is a long time to keep something in the minds and hearts of its fans. But it will be interesting to see where the franchise goes in the next few years. Comparing it to Marvel’s new phase of films, the difference is that Marvel still has Spider-Man to tie-in the next phase. I suppose you could say the new saga has Yoda, but will Yoda have the same impact as Spider-Man will have for its fan-base?

Only time will tell…

Thanks for reading, keep safe out there and I’ll catch you in tomorrow’s post or in the comments if you feel like sounding off about this topic.

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