Star Wars Learned The Wrong Lesson From Solo

gamerant.com:

As big-budget cinema moves more and more toward a handful of profitable IPs, and those IPs become older with each passing year, the franchises will run into a recurring issue. What does a blockbuster franchise do when the star behind a beloved character is unwilling or unable to reprise their role?

There is a very real chance that Disney will still be trying to make stories about characters George Lucas came up with in the 70s beyond the lifespan of everyone involved in their creation. When the time comes that the members of the original cast age out of their roles, refuse to return, or tragically pass away, simply letting that marketable name go with them is not an option that Disney is willing to consider.

How Solo: A Star Wars Story Could've Been Great

Solo: A Star Wars Story is probably the highest-profile failure to be released with the Star Wars name attached. While it still made a comically massive amount of money, it was also one of the most expensive films ever made. It was considered a box office bomb, which is unfortunate, considering that it is a pretty good film overall. It came off the heels of the intensely controversial The Last Jedi and told a story that most people had no particular interest in. Making matters worse, the only other film in the Star Wars Stories line was Rogue One, which had its moments but wasted most of its time on shameless pandering to fans.

Most likely, fans came off of that film viewing the Star Wars Stories brand as dull and self-congratulatory, making Solo a tough pitch. Very few people were crying out for a Han Solo origin story to begin with, and that was reflected in the lackluster returns. Perhaps worst of all, the film's disastrous production was extremely public knowledge. Solo