Anna Daniels
Disney+ is beginning to up the ante, adding more films to the streaming service’s roster, which now includes offering every Star Wars movie other than Solo: A Star Wars Story. Many people didn’t expect The Last Jedi to be added before the world saw 2020, yet there it is.
The intention, of course, was to get everyone fired up into watching all eight episodes in the Skywalker saga to excite those still sitting on the fence seeing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
With Solo likely added to Disney+ lineup at some point this year, what does this mean for the future of competing streaming services? Recent news of Disney+ removing a few titles after just a month and a half in existence may worry some about the Mouse House using the “vault” process all over again.
With ‘The Last Jedi’ available now, has opinion about it changed?
Those who’ve chatted with Star Wars fans on social media over the last several years probably know how some of the diehards feel about The Last Jedi and its director, Rian Johnson. If one can argue that Johnson has been vindicated lately with box office returns for his Knives Out, he might have also been forgiven by some Star Wars purists.
After mixed reviews for The Rise of Skywalker, some who spoke out against TLJ now think it looks like a masterpiece in comparison. One thing nobody can argue is Johnson took the saga in unexpected directions to keep everyone on their toes. Despite not everyone agreeing with the direction (including some of the cast), there seems to be some backpedaling now on agreeing creative risks are maybe worth the ticket price.
TRoS really did fan service on an emotional level, so whether one loves it or not depends on how the viewer feels about the connections to the original trilogy. A general consensus is building, though, about wishing that Star Wars would take more daring directions than what J.J. Abrams managed.
Then again, with other rumors of Disney meddling in what Abrams wanted to really do, it’s making people call out for Disney/Lucasfilm to release Abrams’ original cut of the film.
Will there be any tinkering with the ‘Star Wars’ films on Disney+?
After the original trilogy was released on Disney+ on November 12, everyone found out there were a few surprising edits in A New Hope. Initially, everyone thought it was done by George Lucas in 2019 for whatever reason. It turned out Disney said Lucas made the changes years ago.
One of the most prominent was the Greedo/Han Solo shooting scene where Greedo appears to shoot first and utter the now bizarre, iconic exclamation “McClunkey!”
Not much explanation has gone into why there was such an oddball change to this scene. Because of it, it’s worth pondering whether any of the other films will be tinkered with down the road. Maybe J.J. Abrams’ cut of The Rise of Skywalker will make an appearance when it releases on Disney+ later in the year.
No one should hold their breath for that expectation. Regardless, with Disney recently removing a few titles, it’s entirely possible the Star Wars movies could get the vault treatment down the line.
Maybe Disney+ doesn’t want their audiences too spoiled
Finally having most-to-all Star Wars movies in one place is a longstanding dream come true for those who don’t want to invest in the expensive Blu-Ray/DVD sets of the last decade. How long they’ll last there is now in question with Disney+ clearly being trigger-happy on vaulting some titles, like the Home Alone movies.
Maybe they won’t do this with Star Wars, but a lot of people are doubling down on their physical media just in case. At this point, perhaps it’s a good plan to watch all eight films now in 4K before they’re socked away in a digital vault merely because Disney doesn’t believe in spoiling their audience to complacency.
Written by: Cheat
