#han seoul-oh
I was thinking the other day that the closest comparison for Star Wars isn’t fantasy epics like Lord of the Rings, or science fiction series like Star Trek - it’s Dungeons and Dragons.
(yes, I’m aware Galtar has nothing to do with Wizards of the Coast, but look at that thing - that’s a reflavoured light-sabre right?)
Part of the appeal is the structure of the universe allowing for free-form storytelling within it. And that should give licence to tell stories set around the major milestones of events like the Clone Wars, the Battle of Yavin, or Luke joining the leadership on Hoth - what other characters are inspired by the adventures of the heroes to rise up?
Or, alternatively, what are the unintended consequences of the Death Star blowing up on characters who were raised on a planet being strip-mined for its ores, now further oppressed by the Empire with the rush to build a second Death Star.
It’s the stories taking place elsewhere that have potential to resonant more with audiences, because we don’t know if new characters will live or die, and smaller scale stakes do not mean less thrilling than a fight to save the galaxy etc. etc.
Series like The Clone Wars (both versions, although I still rate Tartakovsky’s higher) and the Jedi: Fallen Order to a greater or lesser extent scratch this itch for smaller stories. But if we could not have a Skywalker or Kenobi (or, ugh, Palpatine) pop up with so much regularity for a while, the dual bad tastes of J.J. Abrams’s weirdly dynastic Risefilm, and Disney’s corporatist recycling of market friendly stories might dissipate.
So yeah, a little more ‘emergent storytelling’ in the D&D style for Star Wars strikes me as a good idea.
Which is to say, I watched the latest Obi-Wan Kenobi show and it was fine so far.
Sung Kang’s casting really brought that silly Fast and Furious gag about Han Seoul-Oh full circle huh?
