Two of the Worst Star Wars Projects Got One Thing Exactly Right

Author: Chris Snelgrove Published 1 hour ago

Disney’s Star Wars era has proven to be quite controversial, but two projects have received particular hate from fans: The rise of skywalker (causing the sequel trilogy to crash) and acolyte (whose unorthodox storytelling ruined the Old Republic). However, these two geeky projects do one thing right that other Star Wars projects must learn from: having a charismatic and intimidating supervillain.

series based on villains

My immediate opinion is that a Star Wars movie is only as good as its villains. The original trilogy remains the gold standard for science fiction storytelling, largely because Darth Vader is the most terrifying villain in Hollywood history. The prequels failed in large part because the movies featured a bunch of lame villains (Darth Maul and Count Dooku felt like rushed DnD characters, and Jango Fett was a lame Boba Fett knockoff) who couldn’t fill Vader’s tall black boots.

The sequel trilogy was a failure, but most people who’ve seen those movies agree that Adam Driver carried pretty much the entire failed franchise on his broad shoulders. He made Kylie Ren sexy, mysterious, dangerous…a character that was mesmerizing every time he was on screen. He has great chemistry with Daisy Ridley and Harrison Ford, serving as a bridge between different generations of fans while anchoring this fictional space opera with passion and pathos (seriously, he’s too good for these terrible scripts).

Speaking of villains, Emperor Palpatine (despite those sarcastic “Palpatine’s somehow back” memes) is hands down the best part The rise of skywalker. Full of campy malice and cackling mayhem, “Emperor” actor Ian McDiarmid seems to be the only one who understands the task, treating the film as what it is: a silly B-movie that just happens to have an outrageous budget. Like Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, one can’t take their eyes off Palpy (the full-headed Sith in charge mode) whenever he’s in a scene.

This leaves us acolyteThe show is riddled with problems, from bland characters to a disjointed plot that might even confuse Quentin Tarantino. But one of the highlights of this chaotic show is Manny Jacinto, who makes the dark side look sexy through a combination of ripped muscle and raw charisma as brooding bad boy Qmir. His sexy Soth is at the center of one of the coolest action scenes in the series, one that’s more visceral than anything in the prequels or sequels.

calm law

Where am I going with all this? In short, future Star Wars movies and TV shows need a strong and formidable character who, in At least If they want to be successful, it would be cool to be like Qmir. This may sound obvious until you honestly look at how lame the villains in most Disney Star Wars projects really are.

For example, the big disadvantage Solo: A Star Wars Story is a human gang leader who seems very boring in a world of droids and Sith Lords. Although he seems quite scary in the context of a political thriller Andordirector Krennic is a boring paper pusher Rogue Onea man who is constantly overshadowed by Darth Vader. While this phenomenon has been seen on the big screen, it’s even Worse on Disney+.

For example, The Mandalorian He’s been terrible since Moff Gideon left, and having worse villains really highlights why his presence is so important. skeleton crew There’s an interesting villain twist near the end, but most of the episodes rely on boring antagonists like space pirates. Same boba fett books An interesting villain was introduced by bringing Cad Bane to life, but it happened so late that our titular Mandalorian mostly had to deal with lame, forgettable thugs and local gangs.

Somehow, good Star Wars is back?

I could go on, but you get the point: A Star Wars project is only as good as its villains, and those characters need to be intimidating and take up some serious screen time. Although they all have flaws, The rise of skywalker and acolyte manages to deliver some of the best series villain moments since the prequel trilogy. If future movies and TV shows take note of this and give fans some equally worthy villains to watch, Star Wars could become great again.

Otherwise, the series will continue to decline until it’s overthrown by the greatest supervillain of all: creative apathy.