Do you want a Rogue Squadron movie?

I think I meant that Solo tried and (maybe) failed to bring in a ton of fan service in the form of answers to questions we supposedly had. Where did he get his last name? How did he and Chewie/Lando meet? etc. The entire plot seemed constructed to deliver those answers. Whereas Rogue One's story was surprisingly original... within the context of expanding the first paragraph to the opening crawl of SW77.

 

I feel that if you are supposed to make a Solo origins movie, then NOT including those things would be a very bad choice. I don't consider expanding the past of established characters as fan service personally, but that might just be me. And the introduction between Han and Lando was perfection. I know a lot of people hate the explanation behind his name, but I actually liked it, I find nothing wrong with it.

 

They’ll never get anywhere interesting if they try and navigate. Choose a path and drive a flail tank into it.

 

Being relatively directionless, overly cautious and walking on eggshells has severely hampered their output and given us stuff like TFA and IX. They clearly aren’t opposed to trying something distinctive in principle, since they tried it with TLJ and they took a relatively big risk with Andor to be honest.

Playing it safe not only doesn’t guarantee good and profitable content to sustain the franchise, it also is extremely limiting. There are only so many movies you can produce which can be both good and within the arbitrary boundaries which fandom sets. At a certain point they are going to have to be willing to blow up a few of those land mines or the franchise will start to wither, and that’s definitely not good for shareholders.

 

We’re not just talking about sticking with nostalgia though. We’re talking about them navigating a minefield of fan expectations, and being careful not to blow any. Such a task is impossible and, if they haven’t already, they’ll find that out soon. Being conservative in your approach is one thing, which they’ll probably keep doing, at least in part. Trying to navigate the minefield of fan expectations to create something that pleases everyone, is something they really shouldn’t be paying much mind to at this point.

Can it be navigated? Sure. But it’s not a good idea from basically any point of view.

 

IMO, the biggest break from the familiar has been Andor by a long shot - namely due to its almost total lack of appeal to young viewers. It being set in the OT era is superficially familiar, and doesn't at all make it more familiar than High Republic, as High Republic stuff is written very much in the family-friendly adventure style of classic Star Wars.

This break from the familiar might be apparent in Andor's lower viewership numbers relative to the other live action shows, and I do worry that the studio will see this as a reason to not push the envelope that far anymore. Fingers crossed.

 

I'm not saying there's anything "wrong" with it, or that I dislike it. I'm calling it fan service, and given the low critical and audience opinion of Solo, I'm saying those decisions were unsuccessful in terms of pleasing viewers.

 

Driving a tank into a minefield is exactly what they did with the sequel trilogy.
They chose a direction, and it was the worst direction.

 

I don't disagree with any of that, but your post could describe TFA alone.
There is no way they didn't know that TLJ and TROS are movies that are walking on a minefield.

 

I do wonder what the hook would be for a Rogue Squadron movie other than, "we're REALLY hoping the nostalgia for X-Wings going pew! pew! in the OT era can carry this film!"

I feel like all the upcoming Disney+ shows have a pretty clear, intriguing hook even if we only have a little bit of information about them. With Rogue Squadron, what's the hook? That only this elite squadron can blow up the Empire's latest threat? Does that really need to be a movie? Sounds like a comic book or video game to me.

 

Their problem was that they didn’t commit to a direction. They were cautious with the first film, not cautious with the second, and then went back to being cautious with the third.

 

I voted yes, but I wish we could get a movie about a squadron of B-wings. I love those birds, and I’m a bit tired of X-wings, even though I still like them well enough. I think B-wings have a lot of potential, and the technical reasons that prevented them from shining in ROTJ are no longer a factor. They haven’t been a factor for a long time, in fact.

But no, nostalgia demands X-wings. Always.

 

If this movie gets made I hope there's an in-universe explanation for why X-Wing's are called X-Wings when the Latin alphabet isn't used in the GFFA.

Character 1: Hey how did the X-Wings get their names?
Character 2: Well because when the wings are in attack position they look like an X.
Character 1: Oh...what's an X?
Character 2: That's a story for another time.

 

Personally, I'd love to see some A-wing action. Those things are real hot rods.

 

I hope it never gets made. @Sarge's sadness grants me eternal youthfulness.

 

Indeed.

 

What am I, the Portrait of Dorian IATI?

 

The title "Rogue Squadron" doesn't limit the ships featured to just X-wings. I hope we'll see all the wings! They could be like characters in the movie, with their special features highlighted, their strengths and weaknesses listed as different scenarios pop up in the story.

 

Rogue B Movie!

But I am in! I love those ships.