The Rey Star Wars Movie Can Save The Franchise, Here’s How

The Sequel Trilogy had many connections to the earlier movies, but the strongest connections came from the return of Original Trilogy characters like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa. Those characters were systematically killed off in increasingly stupid ways, and some cynical fans have wondered if the next Star Wars film can succeed without familiar faces. However, we’re glad that Disney took Kylo Ren’s advice of killing the past because, quite frankly, the lack of legacy characters may be one of the best things about the Rey movie.

It all goes back to the need to tell an original story, and we’ve found out the hard way that it’s difficult to do that with legacy Star Wars characters. As soon as someone like Luke Skywalker is onscreen, he’s all fans want to focus on; conversely, the lack of such familiar faces means audiences must engage with new characters like Rey. Since her solo movie will be devoid of cringe cameos from characters nearly half a century old, the movie can introduce us to new heroes and villains that can drag this franchise (kicking and screaming) out of the nostalgic muck and firmly into the modern-day.