The Future of STAR WARS is Exciting, Even If THE FORCE AWAKENS Sucks

For the record, I do not think Star Wars: The Force Awakens is going to suck. From everything I've seen (a handful of images and the domestic trailers), it looks like it's going to be fantastic, and all of the behind-the-scenes stuff I've heard points to the movie actually living up to gargantuan fan expectations. That being said, I also don't want to be seen as one of these people in a few years, so I'll be walking into it with an open mind and fully aware of the chance that it could be terrible.

Here's the thing, though: even if The Force Awakens turns out to be utter garbage, this is the first time since the original trilogy that Star Wars fans can keep hope alive for future films. George Lucas wrote and directed all of the prequels, so even if you thought that The Phantom Menace wasn't good when you first saw it back in 1999, chances were pretty good the next two movies weren't going to be too different from what you'd just seen. There was one creative mind behind that trilogy, and after Episode I, you kind of knew what you were going to get (at least from a stylistic and story perspective) from the next two films.

Now we're living in a world in which Lucas has almost nothing to do with the new trilogy. Kathleen Kennedy's story group at Lucasfilm is working to redefine how storytelling works across multiple platforms and different media, and she's done a terrific job so far bringing on talented filmmakers to build on Lucas's legacy. Let's say Abrams completely blows it with The Force Awakens. That will be disappointing, yes, but since he's not writing or directing the next movie, instead of having a sneaking suspicion that Episode VIII and beyond are also going to be terrible, there's a new hope (get it?). I like Rian Johnson's movies (Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper) even more than I like Abrams' movies, and considering Johnson is writing and directing Episode VIII, I'm understandably excited about how that film will turn out. The Force Awakens can't do anything to negate that excitement, it can only increase it. If it's bad, I'll look forward to Episode VIII as a redemption piece for the saga, and if it's good, I'll look forward to Episode VIII as Johnson builds on top of puzzle pieces Abrams laid out.

Plus, with the prequels, you knew that the narrative would end with Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader. Here, the options are limitless for what could come next. There's no inevitability to the story, no path we know the filmmakers must tread — from a story perspective, it's all fresh. Since I liked Jurassic World (review here), I'm also excited — though admittedly a little less so — for Colin Trevorrow's Episode IX. Gareth Edwards' Rogue One looks great, too, and the standalone films deserve a whole separate discussion of their own. And it sounds like Kennedy has plans to include a bunch of different kinds of filmmakers into the future of the franchise as well, not just a bunch of white dudes, so that's also something to be happy and curious about.

So if the unthinkable happens and you walk out of The Force Awakens in utter disappointment this week, raise your head high and know that the future of Star Wars looks very bright. This is only the first chapter in what's essentially going to be a never-ending story, and with a bunch of different filmmakers and storytellers involved, there are plenty of chances for greatness in its pages.