This last weekend we saw the opening of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. As the replacement for a fourth season of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, it was only ever going to perform so well. It has been three years since the third season, and even by that season, the quality for some was already slipping. That first season was some of the best Star Wars for me, and it was mainly because it didn’t really have the stink of the main storyline to worry about. It was the later two seasons when Luke shows up to train Grogu, and Filoni really starts to merge things with The Clone Wars. I bring up all of this to highlight that the Mandalorian storyline was never going to be a big moneymaker. Well, Grogu exists, so I guess that is the moneymaker. Still, my point remains. I have seen so many people bringing up how disappointed they are with this new film, and while I am not here to say anyone’s feeling are invalid, I do wonder one thing: how do they think this movie was ever going to be a billion-dollar, critical darling? The free market spoke in Mando’s first weekend: it brought in a franchise low $79 million. So, not a great start at that billion.

We have had 12 theatrical releases in the franchise, counting this new release, and there is one common thread that runs through all of them, save Mandalorian and Grogu for the most part: They are attached storywise to the main 9 episodes. 2008’s The Clone Wars involves Anakin and Obi Wan shortly after the events of Attack of the Clones, Solo is obviously the origin of Jar Jar Binks, and Rogue One, which I have seen many compare this new film with, is a prequel to the events that kick off A New Hope directly. There is a big universe in the Star Wars franchise, and it is what makes The Mandalorian so cool to me.

The problem is when things veer off too much, you lose a section of the fanbase. We know very little about next May’s Starfighter, only that it is set 5 years after The Rise of Skywalker. This will make it the first true entry that exists after the episodes in the timeline, and is something truly new. I say that now, and watch Filoni will cram a few characters in there to make the dorks comfortable. Starfighter will be the first true test in my mind to see if Star Wars is capable of surviving without a Skywalker being involved. It is getting next year’s Memorial Day Weekend release date, so everything is there for it to succeed. The problem now (as we approach 50 years since Star Wars was first released) is are we past “the point of no return”.

“The point of no return” comes for every film franchise. I will define that as the point where you have possibly lost the casual viewers for good, and even the fans are starting to fall off. As an example, I will bring up The Terminator. Those first two films are in the discussion for greatest Science Fiction film of all time, just like I would say A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back would be too. It is also coincidental that T2 and Empire are thought of as the high point of the franchise, as they are both the first sequel. The problem for Terminator is also the same for Star Wars. Every story in the franchise has to go back to Sarah and John Connor somehow. Over 6 films, we have had: Sarah, Sarah/Young John, Slightly older John, Christian Bale John, T-3000 John. and then Old Sarah. If we dip over into TV, we also have two seasons of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX. Unlike Star Wars, the Terminator franchise has never attempted to leave Sarah/John alone. Yes, I know John is the one who leads the fight in the future, and the whole purpose of Skynet is to eliminate him. However, Dark Fate showed there are other resistance fighters Skynet are also concerned about. It would be really interesting if the franchise would create a film that makes no real connection to the Connors to see if this, honestly, fledgling franchise still has life.

The comparison to Terminator might sound comical on its face to a Star Wars fan, and I get it. The Star Wars fanbase is so much larger, not unlike a Death Star. However, the fall from the peak that Terminator has seen is also happening to Star Wars, only on a much slower decline. You can also make the same argument for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that is a post for later is Doomsday goes a certain way. In the world, it is adapt to survive. The upcoming schedule for Star Wars doesn’t fill me with a lot of hope. After Starfighter next May, there is an Untitled New Jedi Order film (which I believe is the Rey film), an Untitled Dawn of the Jedi film, and an Untitled New Republic film (that will be a crossover film of the Disney+ shows). Those last three don’t sound that exciting, and going by the last 9 years and the dozens of cancelled projects, not for sure going to happen.

Star Wars is mostly good. That original trilogy will be the only good part to so many people. Some will point out Rouge One and the accompanying series Andor are the best things to come out of the modern era. Right now, as we finally veer into the after period following the Episodes, for the Star Wars franchise to survive, it will be important for Filoni and crew to be creative and create new, engaging stories, and stop chasing the Force Ghost of what came before. Nostalgia is fun, but eventually the party has to come to an end. That might be what we are seeing now, but there is still time to find the Force again.