Star Wars is running a real risk of creative bankruptcy

‘The Book of Boba Fett’, the once highly anticipated spin-off series to the stellar Disney+ show ‘The Mandalorian’, limped to its first season finale on February 9. To say the show went out with a whimper would be a massive understatement.

When the series premiered back in December, I wrote that it was bursting with potential but had got off to a very slow start. Unfortunately, ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ never morphed into a page turner, as it got bogged down by atrocious writing, anemic acting, derivative direction, lethargic action sequences, and second-rate sets, costumes, and special effects.

Boba Fett has long been one of the most mysterious and beloved Star Wars characters. Despite not appearing in the first film and only having four lines of dialogue in the entire original trilogy, Boba Fett became a fan favorite because he was such a mysterious, intriguing presence.

Boba sparked the imagination of Star Wars fans like few other characters could. But the series dedicated to telling his story has disappointed them, because their imaginations are no doubt more vibrant than those of the suits at Disney, who saw Fett as little more than a vehicle for flaccid fan service and a nostalgia delivery system.

It's an act of creative malpractice that ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ turned the titular bounty hunter from badass into boring. And considering that the character was the franchise’s most iconic and interesting untapped resource, wasting this storytelling opportunity is an egregious sin. 

The failure of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ – and make no mistake, the series is an abysmal failure – could be seen as merely a blip, especially considering the dramatic success of its immediate predecessor ‘The Mandalorian’. But it could also be an ominous sign of the road ahead for the Star Wars franchise as a whole.

Despite hitting some major bumps in the road, like the cringeworthy prequels and the woke-ified and feminized sequel trilogy, Star Wars has been a consistent cash cow for the 45 years it has been in existence. But you can only hit so many bumps before the wheels fall off the wagon, and in the wake of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, one wonders if the franchise has an especially rocky ride ahead.

As of right now, Star Wars has no movies lined up to hit the big screens until December 2023, a full four years after ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, and even that date might be optimistic. So, the only thing for the Star Wars faithful to watch for the next two years is a bevy of TV series, each of which could be awesome or awful.

‘The Mandalorian’ season three is set to premiere in the second half of 2022, and if it’s anything like the previous two, it should be terrific – although one of the most dynamic characters from the series was Cara Dune, who was played by Gina Carano. She was fantastic in the role, but after she was labelled a heretic by the woke inquisition for a comment on social media, Disney kicked her to the curb, and it remains to be seen if the show can adequately replace her and keep its creative momentum.

Also expected to arrive on Disney+ this year is ‘Andor’, a prequel to the Star Wars film ‘Rogue One’, which tells the backstory of Rebel spy Cassian Andor. The series stars Diego Luna, and the biggest question is if, like Pedro Pascal in ‘The Mandalorian’, Luna can carry a show… or whether, like Temuera Morrison in ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, he lacks the required gravitas to captivate audiences for a full series.

After ‘Andor’, the series ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ is scheduled to premiere in the latter half of 2022. The show is set ten years after ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and features Ewan McGregor reprising his role as Obi-Wan from the sequel films.

With McGregor starring, ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ has no concerns about whether its lead is compelling, but there are still some concerning red flags. For instance, the series was scheduled to shoot in July 2020, but Disney put it on hold because the scripts were so bad. Considering that the abysmal writing for ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ passed muster at Disney, one can only imagine how god-awful the ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ scripts must have been.

And when you realize that the paper-thin story of Boba Fett could only be stretched out into seven episodes, two of which ignored the lead character, and that ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ is set to be just six episodes, it’s easy to think that this series might be, like ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, nothing more than empty nostalgia.

Other series without set release dates which may or may not hit Disney+ before December of 2023 are ‘The Acolyte’, ‘Ahsoka’, ‘Lando’, and ‘A Droid Story’. 

Star Wars has always attracted viewers and made money, but with Disney exploiting the fans by expanding the franchise, the very real possibility of overexposure, market saturation, and creative bankruptcy, which will lead to either fan disinterest or outright rebellion, exists.

If Disney goes for quantity over quality with its Star Wars TV shows and movies, eventually the brand will lose its luster and, like an imploded Death Star, will be left a useless, hulking shell of its former self, as well as a stark reminder of the consequences of bad decisions by leadership.