Age of the Geek

By: 
Travis Fischer

Primer time
     It's December! And you know what that means?
     That's right. Star Wars!
     Now, if you're a regular reader of this column, we know you're a cool person that knows the ins and outs of Star Wars lore, but just in case somebody happens upon these words and is a bit confused about where everything goes, here's how it breaks down.
     The first three movies, released between 1977 and 1983, are what we fondly call the "Original Trilogy." This trilogy is about Luke Skywalker joining the rebel alliance against Galactic Empire and fighting Darth Vader while blowing up the occasional Death Star. These movies were called Episode IV, V and VI, but those numbers really didn't mean anything until 20 years later.
     Outside of a couple cartoons and a Christmas special that would make you question your own sense of reality, that was pretty much it for the on-screen adventures in a galaxy far, far away. The stories largely continued in the novels, comics and video games that made up the Star Wars extended universe.
     Then came the late 90s and George Lucas decided it was time for another trilogy of movies, this time a Prequel Trilogy going over the rise and fall of Luke Skywalker's dad, Anakin. (Spoiler Alert: Darth Vader is Luke's father).
     "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" hit theaters in May of 1999. It was the most anticipated movie of all time and everybody loved it.
     For about 15 minutes.
     Once the rush of watching the first Star Wars movie in nearly two decades wore off, people realized that not even awesome lightsaber fights set to an amazing soundtrack could distract away from the fact that the rest of the movie is about an annoying kid, a racist caricature and trade negotiations.
     Episodes II and III were better, but not by much. Yes, we do get to see the legendary Clone Wars in action and witness the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. Unfortunately such grand moments in history were portrayed by the completely unconvincing and wooden performances by Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman.
     For 20 years people begged George Lucas to make more Star Wars movies. After the Prequel Trilogy people begged him to stop.
     Lucas listened. He sold the franchise to Disney in 2012 for $4 billion, most of which he has donated to charity, which almost makes up for Jar Jar Binks.
     The good news, George Lucas can't do any more damage to the Star Wars franchise.
     The bad news, now it's in Disney's hands.
     Immediately after the sale, Disney went to work to make sure that their investment would pay off. No more waiting decades between Star Wars movies. We'll be getting a new entry in the franchise every year until we are old and grey, starting with "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens."
     Kicking off a whole new era of Star Wars, last year's Episode VII was the most anticipated movie of all time and everybody loved it.
     For about 15 minutes.
     Once the rush of watching the first Star Wars movie in a decade wore off, people realized that most of the movie consisted of repeating things that happened in Episode IV and setting up mysteries to be answered in future movies down the line.
     Which brings us to this week and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
     Rogue One will be the first in a series of Star Wars anthology movies, telling stand-alone stories from various eras in the Star Wars timeline. In this case, Rogue One tells the story about the rebels that stole the plans to the first Death Star, setting off the chain of events that led to a farm kid meeting two droids and saving the galaxy.
     In other words, the eighth Star Wars movie will take place after the sixth Star Wars movie and immediately before the first Star Wars movie, which is the fourth episode in the overall saga. Simple, right?
     Then, next year, we'll get to see Episode VIII, continuing where Episode VII left off and hopefully telling an original story this time instead of making another homage ridden reunion special. Following that, in 2018, we'll get a standalone movie about a young Han Solo, also set between Episode III and IV. And finally, in 2019, Episode IX will wrap up the first trilogy of the Disney era.
     And from there it's anybody's guess. With Disney in control, Star Wars movies will probably continue for infinity and beyond.
     (Speaking of which, "Toy Story 4" is also slated for 2019.)
     Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and hopes to see an Obi-Wan anthology movie somewhere down the line.

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