Links - 27th February 2026 (2 - Star Wars)

Meme - "Finn to Rey: "How did you do that?"
Spmehow
Tracked through lightspeed
Somehow
Palpatine returns
Somehow
Maz has Luke's lightsaber
Somehow
A random dude knows how to disable the tracker
Somehow
Rey using force heal
Somehow
Rey does a jedi mind trick
Somehow
Snoke: Can't sense Kylo's intentions
Somehow
Rey Skywalker
Somehow"

Meme - George Lucas: "I put a scene in Star Wars that's a shot-for-shot remake of the Nazi rally in Triumph of the Will"
Padme: "Depicting the Empire, right"
George Lucas:
Padme: "Depicting the Empire, right"
*The Throne Room*

No, George did NOT sell Star Wars because angry fan reactions hurt his feelings : r/saltierthankrait - "I saw this getting thrown around today by some anti-fandom crusaders, and frankly, I'm tired of people saying this. Sure, George Lucas once said "why would I make more when everyone yells at you about what a terrible person you are?" but he also was in the process of making the sequels, and the man has a history of doing what he wants at the expense of everything else, he even admits the fans would have hated his sequels. During the Charlie Rose interview, he said he wanted to make sure his employees kept their jobs, he had an obligation to them, and sources close to him also suggest that because he was in the process of making his sequels, the deciding factor to sell was his mortality, he worried he might die before he could make all three of them.  And think about it, George never reversed course when making the prequels, he never stopped making them, despite the hated coming at him from all sides. So why would he sell if the fan reactions were the deciding factor when he was already making sequels he knew the fans would loathe? Hell, there's quotes he gave before Phantom Menace released saying he knew then the fans would hate it because it showed Darth Vader being a good little kid, and that was one of their complaints. He recently said at a public event that he doesn't care what people think about his movies. This tired anti-fandom talking point needs to die, it just fuels Lucasfilm's attempts to discredit legitimate criticisms by labeling it all as "toxic fandom." You're helping those corporate swindlers smother the life and the creativity and the artwork out of Star Wars."

We should discuss WHY the sequels won't became beloved as the prequels : r/saltierthankrait - "We always say that the sequels won't become popular, but never specify why. So my opinion is that we look at prequels and see :
1.    A cohesive vision and narattive
2.    That they've tried really hard
3.    Respecting the characters But looking at the sequels, we don't see any of it. But that's just me."

Krayt thinks the sequels will be beloved someday, lol : r/saltierthankrait - "Except, we're coming up on the tenth anniversary of Force Awakens, and it's the complete inverse to how it was a decade ago, where everyone loved it and wanted to give it a chance despite being a shallow reskin of A New Hope. Well, fandom sentiment has turned since then, and I see a lot more people who admit to that and agree that it's a derivative copy.  Also, the sequels getting a reevaluation is contingent on Disney Star Wars releasing something worse, and for my money, since most of it has been stale, focus-grouped corporate for the last thirteen years, I really see reaction to it being just more of the same, shifting in neither direction."

So i genuinely didn’t know these guys existed : r/StarWars - "I have always said that Solo is a great time AND a fantastic Star Wars film.  It's just not a good Han Solo film.  Swap out Han Solo with an original character, change the pacing so you don't have to put Han Solo's entire life in there, keep Lando and the Falcon, and you seriously have one of the best Star Wars movies to come out of the Disney era.  It was just a weird move to recast Han Solo and fit every little bit of lore about him in one movie. It doesn't work because no one else can ever be Han Solo. I think we found that out. Ewan McGregor became Obi-Wan in the eyes of the Fandom because Obi-Wan was a very understated but important character in the OT. Han Solo was life-blood in the OT. No one else could ever be him but Harrison Ford.  On the other hand, I don't disagree at all with recasting post ROTJ Luke or even maybe Leia, if it's done right. I think young Leia was done very well in Obi-Wan Kenobi, and I think they should seriously consider recasting Luke, no matter how well the CG works.  The truth is, we do need to see more of these guys on screen again. I think fans want it, but it has to be done right. Disney tried and it wasn't received well, but that's because I don't think the execution was done well."

Meme - ""PeOpLe dOn'T LIKE ReY bEcAUse ShE wOmAn"
Meanwhile:
*Ahsoka Tano, The Armorer, Bastila Shan, Nomi Sunrider, Asajj Ventress, Juno Eclipse, Satele Shan, Darth Talon, Leia Organa, Padme Amidala, Kreia, Meetra Surik*"

Mark Hamill says he won't return again as Luke Skywalker “I had my time ... I really think they should focus on the future and all the new characters” : r/StarWars - "Its been 10 years since TFA and just don't see the reception for the sequels being near the positive levels the prequels were 10 years after TPM.  I feel the feelings towards the prequels softened over the first 10 years, mainly thanks to the trilogy ending on a relative high along with all the merchandise and extra content they received over those years. With RoS being a massive dud, the lack of good sequel merchandise and content and opinions of Disney's running of the franchise being rather low, the opinions of the sequels have declined massively over their first 10 years.  I doubt the sequel generation will have quite the same impact on their reception as the prequel generation has had...   Video games are really good examples. Even though people may not have liked the prequel films there were still aspects of them that they were really interested in playing in video games. Whether thats racing games with podracers, starfighter games with lots of new ships, playing as lots of new Jedi, or playing as interesting new factions like droids or clones, there was lots of fun potential with the prequel content.  Now what would people want from a sequel game? Well there are a couple of new characters and some interesting new locations but is there anything particularly new or creative? The factions are just reskins of the OT Rebels and Empire, ships are basically OT ships, the battles and conflicts aren't that original either. There just isn't a great deal to be interested in that isn't already done better before."

Meme - "Acolyte gets canceled: Kathleen Kennedy be like "It's because prequal fans are sexist and racist!"
Meanwhile, prequal fans favorite characters be like: *Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano*"

Meme - Young Anakin: "...So, when I die, will I be set on fire like Master Qui-Gon?"
Obi-Wan Kenobi: "No, you'll be alive when it happens."

Anakin’s turn to the dark side (in the movies) wasn’t “sudden” : r/StarWars - "One of the most common complaints about the prequels is that Anakin turns to the dark side too quickly. But I don’t think that’s fair at all. His fall doesn’t even start in Revenge of the Sith, it begins way back in Attack of the Clones.  When Anakin slaughters the Tusken Raiders after his mother dies, it’s not just a moment of grief, it’s a full-on act of hatred and revenge. He even admits to Padmé, “I killed them all… I hate them.” That’s pure dark side energy, and it’s the first major sign of where he’s headed.  He also says some pretty alarming things to Padmé throughout Attack of the Clones, like talking about wanting to become “all-powerful” and forcing people to agree through dictatorship. He’s not acting on those ideas yet, but it shows how easily he could justify dangerous choices if he believed they were for the greater good.  You also see his pride and insecurity show up constantly, like when Obi-Wan tells him to “know his place,” or when Padmé brushes him off as “just a Padawan.” He gets defensive and frustrated, always needing to prove himself.  In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin’s choices become harder to ignore. He kills Count Dooku at Palpatine’s command, something he immediately regrets and admits isn’t the Jedi way. But he does it anyway.  The Jedi Council also doesn’t help. Despite how powerful he’s become, they still treat him like a kid, shutting him out and questioning his loyalty. At the same time, he’s having terrifying visions of Padmé dying in childbirth. He becomes obsessed with the idea of saving her no matter the cost.  So when Palpatine tells him the story of Darth Plagueis and hints at the power to cheat death, Anakin doesn’t reject it entirely, he holds onto it. Even when he finds out Palpatine is a Sith Lord, he doesn’t turn him in right away. He’s already convinced that the Jedi won’t help him save Padmé (which they won’t), and that Palpatine might.  When Mace Windu goes to arrest Palpatine, Anakin tries to stay out of it but ultimately makes a desperate choice. He intervenes, helps Palpatine kill Windu, and immediately regrets it. He knows it’s wrong. He’s not thinking like a Sith yet, he’s just afraid, and thinks he’s out of options.  Some people argue that Anakin pledging himself to Palpatine right after helping kill Mace Windu feels too sudden. But I think once he takes part in the death of one of the Jedi Order’s most respected Masters, he sees no way back. He already felt like the Jedi didn’t trust him, now he knows they won’t forgive him. From his point of view, he’s a traitor, and the only person offering him protection and a way to save Padmé is Palpatine. Switching sides wasn’t just a choice it felt like the only option left.  After pledging himself to Palpatine, he’s sent to the Jedi Temple. And yes, he kills the younglings. It’s horrific. But his face shows pain, not pleasure. His Sith eyes don’t appear during this scene, which tells us he’s still not fully gone. He’s following orders, but he’s not embracing the darkness yet.  Later, on Mustafar, he wipes out the Separatist leaders and that’s when his Sith eyes finally show up. He’s gone further than ever before. But even then, we see him cry while standing alone. He’s not proud. He’s not celebrating. He’s broken.  When Padmé arrives, his eyes are normal again. He tells her he’s done everything to save her, he even says they can overthrow the Emperor and live together in a desperate attempt for her approval. He’s spiraling, but his goal is still to save her.  When she refuses and Obi-Wan shows up, Anakin completely loses it. He feels betrayed. In his mind, she’s turned against him because of Obi-Wan. The duel starts not because he wants to kill Obi-Wan, but because he feels like Obi-Wan is the last thing standing in the way of his future with Padmé.  During their fight, it’s when he’s burning with rage, literally and emotionally, that his Sith eyes return. That’s the moment the last piece of Anakin starts to fade.  After he’s rebuilt in the Vader suit, the first thing he asks is: “Where is Padmé? Is she safe?” That line alone shows he STILL hasn’t fully turned yet despite being in the iconic suit. But then Palpatine lies and tells him he killed her and that’s it. That’s the moment “Anakin” dies, and “Vader” fully takes over, if you believe in that idea.  From that point on, his actions aren’t about saving anyone. They’re about power, pain, and control."

Anakin’s turn to the dark side (in the movies) wasn’t “sudden” : r/StarWars - "His mom being left as a slave lol the Jedi could’ve saved his mom."
"but that's in line with Jedi philosophy, severing all prior attachments. which underscores how flawed the order was."
"This was the point where the Jedi Order displayed its inflexibility. It chose not to do the morally correct thing because it went against doctrine. The Order could not bend to meet new circumstances (a nine-year old child with a strong maternal connection that was incredibly force-sensitive and had potential to rival the Grand Master), and thus it broke into pieces in but a fraction of its total lifetime, a mere fifteen years to destroy millennia of history and tradition."
"It's also why I hate Mandoverse Luke that is so rigid with the old order's dogma. It makes a lot of sense why old EU Luke did things differently with attachments and allowing Jedi to have families because the old ways are part of the reason the order failed."
"Regarding EU Luke, it made a lot of sense that he allowed Jedi to have families.  After all, it was father-son love who allowed Darth Vader to turn back into Anakin for his ultimate redemption.  Familar bond managed to turn back a Sith Lord to the Light side. That was a proof that family bonds WERE compatible with the Jedi ways."
"I feel like the sequels make it so Luke has to be set up to be a putz."
"Yeah pretty much, otherwise he wouldn’t have tried to kill “Kylo Ben” over a bad thought. OG Luke and Sequels Luke are two different personalities, so now you have to make it where you show of roots of how he becomes the guy you see 30 yrs later."

Anakin’s turn to the dark side (in the movies) wasn’t “sudden” : r/StarWars - "The scene with Mace, Palpatine and Anakin together mirrors the Dooku execution scene perfectly and IMO is the final straw.  Mace/Palpatine wants Anakin to kill Palpatine/Dooku, with both giving the same justification despite Anakins obvious hesitation in both scenes: 'he's too dangerous to be left alive'.  Suddenly, Anakin is faced with the hypocrisy and confusion of his biggest critic reenacting something he deeply regretted doing and was ashamed of. All respect is lost and any hope of elevating the survival of the jedi over Padme goes out the window (hehe). A decision that paves the way for Padme to die."

I just recently reached episode 1. What was the purpose for this huge location under the palace on Naboo? Is there a cannon explanation? : r/StarWars - "Obi Wan and and a Naboo engineer having a conversation at the celebration after the battle of Naboo:
O: So you’re the guy who designed that giant energy reactor room?
E: I can’t take all the credit, my team and I put in a lot of hours to build the perfect energy…
O: Sure sure. Listen, I wanted to ask you about those laser wall things?
E: The what?
O: like half a dozen red laser walls that turn on and off in an annoyingly asynchronous oscillation? What are those for?
E: uhhh… why?
O: well they kind of got my best friend killed. We were fighting this goth guy in there and your little laser walls really got in the way. So what’s the point of those things? Because if you ask me, they seem like pointless obstructions to the room with the big hole in it.
E: wait you guys went in there? That’s the primary radiation exhaust port. Those red laser walls filter out deadly radiation. Anyone who went in there will either be dead soon or look like they’re 80 when they’re in their fifties."

George Lucas Rejects ‘Star Wars’ Critics Who Think the Films Are ‘All White Men’: ‘Most of the People Are Aliens!’ - "George Lucas stated “Most of the people are aliens! The idea is you’re supposed to accept people for what they are, whether they’re big and furry or whether they’re green or whatever. The idea is all people are equal.”  Lucas went on to say that the only beings in the “Star Wars” universe who were discriminated against were the robots...   Lucas also responded to criticism about the depiction of women in the “Star Wars” films, saying: “Who do you think the heroes are in these stories? What do you think Princess Leia was? She’s the head of the Rebellion. She’s the one that’s taking this young kid who doesn’t know anything and this boisterous, I know-everything guy who can’t do anything and trying to save the rebellion with these clowns … And it’s the same thing with Queen Amidala even thought she has Jedi on her side.”  He continued, “You can’t just put a woman in pants and expect her to be a hero. They can wear dresses, they can wear whatever they want. It’s their brains and their ability to think and plan and be logistical. That’s what the hero is.”"

Meme - "Rey and Finn when a dude they just met died
Luke when he saw burnt bodies of people who raised him"

Meme - Buzz Lightyear toy: "I AM ONE OF THE WERY FEW JEDI WHO SURVIVED ORDER 66."
DISNEY STAR WARS: *Shelves of Buzz Lightyear toys*

Meme - "r/StarWars
“While Anakin kinda forgot about the sith fleet.”
"...A FLEET OF STAR DESTROYERS A THOUSAND TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN THE GALAXY HAS EVER SEEN."
"WHA..."
"IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE?"
"This is incredible absurd, they made this comic just to justify the absurdity of the sith fleet in Exegol.  Makes little to no sense they were building the second Death Star when they have this kind of power.  Making the Destroyers able to destroy planets is also absurd. It's all bad writing, infinite powerscale instead of something smart.""

Why do stock stormtroopers and “related environment” troopers seemingly get randomly grouped together? : r/StarWars - "Somone did a shoot/kill ratio and even based on what we see on screen the storm troopers are an elite fighting force.  Iirc they have 300/1 shots to kill while the US marines have a 100,000/1 shot to kill."
"That 100,000 to 1 shots to kills is somewhat misleading, as it includes training.  That said, the opening scene where we see the Stormtroopers board the Tantive IV is actually very impressive- they’re attacking down a funnel of death, but they break through it and only suffer equivalent casualties with the defenders."
"1. In real-life, gunfights usually happen over hundreds and thousands of meters. Usually it actually takes a while to know where you're actually getting shot from. In Star Wars, engagements are usually at a distance of tens of meters or point blank. That's a huge factor.
2. In real-life, suppressing and covering fire is used extensively. Squads literally have a guy with a machine whose job is to put as many bullets down range as possible to suppress the enemy. That's rarely ever used in Star Wars, and honestly, most blasters seemingly have no where near the RPM of our machine guns.
Those are the two most important factors. I think I read that the statistic included every bullet fired, meaning also those fired in training. If true, that would be another big factor. All in all, ECHenry's video really doesn't show much of all. Its pretty easy to hit your targets when they're just standing a few meters away from you. Plus, blaster bolts seem a lot larger than bullets, which makes hitting someone at such a range even easier."

Meme - "When you perfectly capture what an awkward teenage/ young adult boy is like but critics don't like it because it's awkward: *Hayden Christensen*"

‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ Sets a Viewership Record—But Not the One Fans Hoped For - "Even though the show is good, it didn’t seem to stick with most Star Wars fans. According to Nielsen’s streaming data, its debut wasn’t very strong. In its first week, the show had the lowest viewership of any Star Wars series, with less than 382 million minutes watched for its first two episodes combined... The show’s performance was about 20% worse than The Acolyte. Because of this, Skeleton Crew didn’t make it into Disney+’s Top 10 Originals, which is the first time this has happened for a Star Wars series. The premiere also had much fewer viewers compared to other Star Wars shows on Disney+."

How did the First Order get enough resources to create Starkiller base? : r/StarWars - "Starkiller would have been a great final threat for RoS, that was being built during TFA and TLJ, but having it just show up and get destroyed in TFA felt weird and anti-climactic."
"It also annihilated the New Republic, killing trillions, but it wasn't even mentioned in the next 2 movies."
"This is why I was so mad at The Last Jedi. I had convinced myself that the next logical step would be outright war. Like ROTS style. But nope, casino heist"
"I mean the casino heist wouldn't have even been a bad thing had it not been a complete waste of fucking time. They go there to get a master code breaker, they see him, get captured because they illegally parked on a fucking beach and then SOMEHOW meet ANOTHER code breaker that is apparently just using the FO as a bed & breakfast since he easily gets out of the cell thanks to Rose's pendant.  It's so nonsensical in every single step, had it been revealed that they were master codebreakerS, as in plural and the red lapel fuck was bro in prison's partner or some shit, it could've been salvaged. I'll never not get mad at how ridiculous that entire part of the story is lol."
"I've learned it's easier to just laugh at the absurdity of the sequels than outright hate them. So many people treat them like a joke and just pretend they didn't happen, it may as well not be canon; which is even funnier to me"
"Should’ve been an obvious tip-off when no one came to help the Resistance at the end of TFA.  Best not to go into movies with expectations. Take them as-is, y’know."
"I mean you are right. I don’t think anyone expected episode 8 to pick up minutes (exaggerating) after episode 7.  My thought process was no way th new republic had ALL their ships in one system. Even if they’re demilitarized. Figured it would open with time skip and a battle somewhere else once they’ve regrouped.  But you’re right. Expectations are killers"
"Expectations for some sort of overarching story or even a tiny bit of plot cohesion isn't asking for much!"

John Boyega says if he were to produce Star Wars, it would've been different - • New characters wouldn’t be overpowered — “They won't just grab stuff and know what to do with it” : r/StarWars - ""First of all, we’re not getting rid of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, all these people. We're not doing that. The first thing we're going to do is fulfill their story, fulfill their legacy. We're going to make a good moment of handing on the baton.  "Our new characters," said Boyega, "will not be OP'd [overpowered] in these movies. They won't just grab stuff and know what to do with it. No. You've got to struggle like every other character in this franchise. I'd do that."  "I'd look to the Old Republic stories," the actor continued, "And see what we can add to the continuation of that. I would definitely want to see Force Unleashed stories in there. I would try to expand the Star Wars universe as much as possible while respecting the lore."
"He had me until force unleashed, I feel like that’s really contradicting what he said about not having OP characters"
"That's not what he's saying tho. Starkiller was personally trained by Vader. Starkiller didn't start off as OP in the same way that Rey did, for example.  No doubt that Starkiller is busted OP lol, but he struggled, suffered, and was likely abused on his path to get OP, and that aligns with how Dark Side force users operate and see their relationship with The Force .  Rey was a literal nobody who could force pull a lightsaber and win a fight against an opponent that was not only trained by Luke Skywalker, but was also trained by clone of Palpatine. How does that make any sense lol.  It's about earned OPness.  Saitama in One Punch Man is literally OP beyond all fucking sensibility, but it is entirely earned, and his OPness is actually a point of suffering for Saitama lol.  Rey's success and power doesn't feel earned at all."
Damn toxic misogynist racist! He's just still pissed off that Disney cast a black man as a lead character in Star Wars

John Boyega says if he were to produce Star Wars, it would've been different - • New characters wouldn’t be overpowered — “They won't just grab stuff and know what to do with it” : r/StarWars - "I knew he hated his character getting sidelined after TFA but I didn't imagine he had such disdain for Rey and what was done to Luke."
"Hard not to, especially because TFA, while having big problems, does also potentially set up interesting things, which makes what comes next even more disappointing.  If you don't take what's shown completely at face value, you walk away from TFA thinking there's no way that Rey is really just an abandoned child, there's more to her past, and there's no way Luke really just gave up and ran away, there's more to it. The following movie, however, just confirms the exact surface level statements from TFA.  It retroactively makes TFA completely shit, because if you watch it and TLJ as a duology, there's absolutely 0 hidden depth, no intrigue. Everything is exactly as it's stated. You see a desert girl living as a scrapper who has a mysterious vision about her family, but she really is just a scrapper who doesn't remember what her parents look like. Same with Luke.  I wasn't married to any specific theories walking out of TFA, but my take was that Rey was either Luke's kid or "merely" the kid of one of Luke's apprentices (or even just a random orphan) who had been doing early jedi training and had been smuggled away to survive the destruction of the temple. It would explain why Kylo had such a strong reaction to hearing about "the girl". It would also explain how she seemingly was able to just use the force the way she did.  With Luke, it could have been literally anything. He could have been looking for a solution, trapped, doing something else he considered important, hiding away with surviving pupils that he was protecting because he felt guilty about the deaths of the others, etc... There's a bunch of possibilities, more or less heroic, with a more or less damaged Luke. Any of those are better ideas than "He just gave up and walked away" as Han, who hasn't spoken to Luke, describes it.  Even Snoke, with his giant hologram that gave Wizard of Oz vibes, was intriguing. I was wondering who he was and whether he really looked like that. Well, he did look exactly like that, and who he was was not elaborated on even a single bit. Everything is exactly as you see it on the surface in TFA"
"I agree with what you said, but bro, you're putting more thought into the films than Disney did.  There's no point in analyzing something when Disney wrote the script on the back of a napkin."
"And all of that is because Rian Johnson "Didn't like what was set up in TFA."  Words cannot describe how happy I was when I heard that Disney cancelled Rian Johnson's SW trilogy. He has absolutely no business going anywhere near that property again"

John Boyega says if he were to produce Star Wars, it would've been different - • New characters wouldn’t be overpowered — “They won't just grab stuff and know what to do with it” : r/StarWars - "Rey being able to go toe to toe with Kilo Ren in TFA always felt unearned."
"I always assumed Kylo was at far less than 100% by that point having just murdered his father
Edit: and getting shot by Chewie
Edit2: Also it’s not like she dominated him in combat, she successfully fended him off and got away but it never seemed like she might actually kill him.
Edit3: I’m also pretty sure he didn’t actually want to kill her so much as subdue and get the chance to turn her"
"He was still trained by both Snoke and Luke Skywalker. She had essentially no training, except a little bow fighting. Even at 50% he should have made quick work of her... Someone who for years studied and was trained by both Jedi and the Sith, and had achieved a level of mastery over the force isn’t going to struggle against a bo fighter who up to that point hardly even knew what the force was. Blaster bolt wound or no blaster bolt wound. Even Finn was able to hold his own for a while and he’s not even force sensitive. What did Vader do when Han pointed a gun at him? He simply force pulled the gun out of Han’s hand and took it from him. Game over. That’s what trained force users do to non force users. Sorry, the ending of that movie doesn’t work for me. Maybe your standards are just lower."
"Yea kylo can freeze blaster bolts mid air. He shouldnt even need a saber to win"
"While Rey had just been slammed into a tree, to the point of being unconscious for a bit. Hence Finn trying to fight Kylo to save her."
"I'm glad to hear someone else mention this. She probably should have had a TBI and perhaps some neck and back damage. But she can still go toe to toe with Kylo."
"After that kind of concussion she should have been keeling over from bright lights, no doctor recommends light saber battles after a serious concussion."

Links - 10th February 2026 (1 - MCU)

Meme - @nidhoggr8193: "Walker does literally everything to try and keep the peace, and every time, he gets jumped. Then, when he finally actually fights back after his friend is killed right in front of him, he's black listed and called the villain of the situation even though he was fighting actual terrorists. Justified crashout."

Meme - Thor, Mark Spector, Loki, Star Lord: "We lost our mom"
Scarlet Witch: "I lost my boys"
Scarlet Witch with 4 happy babies: "in search of two I got 4"

Meme - "In Avengers: Endgame (2019), Pepper Potts blasts her lasers in all directions... but isn't actually aiming at anyone. It's less "battle strategy" and more "Look guys, I'm Ironwoman now!"
"Somewhere out there, Tony's watching this and whispering, 'That's... not how we practiced"

So This Is Why Marvel Is Failing - YouTube
Very long-winded video. To summarise: too much content released too quickly so quality control is affected and casual audiences can't keep up with the increased homework, no big picture, too many characters so you don't get enough time with each, the heroes not meeting each other enough

For the First Time Since 2011, No Marvel Film Reached the Global Box Office Top 10
Left wingers will claim that this is because they pivoted away from the M-She-U, not understanding that, as with Star Wars, destroying a brand takes a while to show up in the numbers, which are lagging indicators

Meme - "STEVE RETURNED TO THE PAST TO SEE PEGGY
PEGGY BETRAYED HIM
CAP WAS HEARTBROKEN BUT EVENTUALLY FOUND ANOTHER LOVE
**"HE STAYED IN THE PAST AND HANDED OVER THE SHIELD TO HIS OWN SON**"

In the MCU, after Thanos snapped half the universe out of existence, the world actually had five years of peace, no major villains, no global threats. But as soon as the Avengers undid the snap, chaos erupted, and new villains started popping up left and right. In a way, Thanos was right. : r/shittymoviedetails

Meme - ""pedro pascal makes women uncomfortable" women with pedro pascal:" *Pedro Pascal celebrating his 50th birthday and women close to/touching him*
""harvey weinstein makes women uncomfortable" women with harvey weinstein:
*Harvey Weinstein with smiling Jennifer Lawrence with hand around her waist*
*Harvey Weinstein being kissed by Uma Thurman and Heidi Klum*

Meme - "Pedro Pascal with anxiety: *happy Glenn Quagmire*
Me with anxiety: *Peter Griffin with stubble looking sad at laptop*"

Meme - "ANXIETY WITH VANESSA KIRBY *Pedro Pascal touching Vanessa Kirby*
ANXIETY WITH BELLA RAMSEY *Pedro Pascal sitting side by side with Bella, with both having their arms crossed*"
Left wingers are claiming the difference is consent. But Harvey Weinstein was hugging women in public, supposedly consensually. Given how male feminists work, I wouldn't be surprised if something emerged

Meme - "Vanessa Kirby wishing Henry Cavill had anxiety"

Sarah Paulson reveals that she gave her wages to Pedro Pascal to 'feed himself' in his early career

Meme - "can't get over how blasphemous it is to compare these two. pedro pascal is like the most insufferable actor alive."
(pedro's version) @iordanaispunk: "pedro's giving harrison ford at cannes in 1982 realness and i'm absolutely living for it"

Meme - Silver Surfer: "Your planet is now marked for death"
Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman: "Can we ask why?"
"Because Galactus is tired of seeing Pedro Pascal in everything he watches. Last week he was watching Gladiator II and was like 'Aight, that does it!'"

Glen Powell credits Chris Pratt’s Marvel role for changing Hollywood - "Powell said that the success of Pratt’s performance helped him as an actor, as he believed that Hollywood was previously only interested in casting leading men in “brooding or dark” roles, portrayed by the likes of Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson. “When Pratt kind of appeared on the scene where he was doing things that were a little more silly and buoyant, that’s where I feel most at home,” he said. “And that’s where I feel like I had a gear that is a necessary flavour in terms of Hollywood, and not a gear that a lot of guys can play.”"

Meme Iron Man: "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist"
Ironheart: "Plagiarist, criminal, woke, narcissist"

Ironheart Called 'Worst Thing Ever Made' by People Inside Marvel - "We get more insider info regarding Marvel, this time about Ironheart via Nerdrotic, who recently confirmed Jon Bernthal would be starring in Spider-Man 4, which was recently announced by the trades.  Nerdrotic on X says the Marvel series went through nearly a dozen re-edits and sat on the shelf for over two and a half years (Anthony Ramos has also confirmed they filmed three years ago).  Nerdrotic adds that people inside Marvel consider Ironheart “the worst thing they have ever made.”  “Ironheart went through almost a dozen re-edits and sat on the shelf for 2 1/2 years,” tweeted the YouTuber. “People within Marvel consider it the worst thing they have ever made.”  This follows the news of the poor ratings where it’s looks likely Ironheart has already been canceled and won’t be getting a Season 2. Ironheart also now holds the lowest Rotten Tomatoes audience score of any MCU Disney+ show."

Meme - "You only dislike Ironheart because she's Black."
*Black Panther, War Machine, Falcon, Nick Fury, Heimdall, Killmonger, Blade, Ryan Gosling Black Panther, Miles Morales, M'Baku, Luke Cage, Okoye, Ayo*

Meme - Grummz: "They admit Ironheart sucks, but look at how they are getting ready to blame you and call you a racist for its failure."
Movieweb @movieweb: "'Ironheart' fulfills low expectations with a weak narrative, poorly- written characters, and dull action. It will also arouse the ire of trolls who target Disney's diversity efforts."

Ironheart Controversy Explodes: Low Scores, Backlash, And Accusations—What’s Really Happening? - "Marvel Studios is once again at the center of a cultural firestorm, this time surrounding Ironheart, the much-anticipated Disney+ series that debuted to underwhelming reactions and a shockingly low 32% score on Rotten Tomatoes—the second-worst in MCU streaming history. But this isn’t just about reviews.  The conversation has quickly shifted from critical analysis to cultural accusations, with some claiming that any criticism of Ironheart is rooted in racism, while others argue it’s simply about quality and storytelling. The Internet is ablaze with conflicting reactions, meme wars, and ideological crossfire... The consensus so far points to a lack of coherent storytelling and a directionless plot, not necessarily a problem with the lead character herself... Marvel may have prioritized symbolic importance over organic storytelling—a gamble that hasn’t paid off, at least not yet... Several prominent content creators, including Grummz, have openly mocked the show, noting that even people who don’t like the show are being told it’s their fault for not liking it... This mirrors patterns seen with The Acolyte and She-Hulk, where negative audience feedback was reframed as politically motivated, often by legacy entertainment media."

Marvel's Ironheart Reactions Are In: But You're Racist If You Don't Like It - "What’s pretty funny about some of the reactions to Ironheart is that while they say the show isn’t good, they still blame fans. It’s hilarious."

In Ironheart (2025), Riri Williams is complaining "Tony Stark had billions while creating Iron man"; because being kidnapped by terrorists and only staying alive due to a magnet and in a cave with a box of scraps was more difficult than working in a well funded laboratory. : r/shittymoviedetails - "Iron man is an iconic character by now. Legendary to say the least. Dissing on him to make a new character look better is demeaning and will never ever go down well with fans. Marvel seriously doesn't get how to build characters anymore."
"This way the character just seems arrogant and petty tbf it is comic accurate for once."
"Was just about to say the same thing, this is ironically one of their most accurate live action portrayals of a comic book character. This character has always been garbage and poorly written, it’s now just plain to see for everyone on the tv screen.
claims to be too smart for uni but somehow finds it impossible to do the bare minimum so she can pass and also do her own projects in her spare time, meanwhile Tony Stark was a terrorist hostage and managed to discover an entirely new energy source"

Marshal Bohemond ⚔️⛨ on X - ""Tony Stark would be nothing without being a billionaire." People keep bringing up the "cave in a box of scraps" but remember when he dogwalked a whole squad of armed mercenaries with weapons he built out of stuff he bought in a hardware store?"

gripe towards the new ironheart trailer from a chemistry student : r/KotakuInAction - "I have never commented on this sub, but I really feel the need to say something after seeing the ironheart trailer. ( https://youtu.be/WpW36ldAqnM?si=M4sLFwufMeABXqu9 ) So here I am, using a throwaway account to voice my opinions about this show as a gay Chinese boy that works in the academia. The whole 'genius persona' of this character is EXTREMELY condescending to me.  Firstly, her desire for recognition and praise is just so annoying. She is a 15 year old in MIT, something that countless students here can only dream of. Only extremely rich kids here in China can think about attending undergrad in US right away. Plus, she is only an undergrad, so how much recognition does she want? (PS: I also hated the spiderman 3’s plot of the trio griping over not getting into MIT, for how out of touch writers are)  Secondly, in this trailer, she wants funding from her teacher, and accepts stolen money when she cannot get support. To me this is LAUGHABLE. Guess what, Riri? Even PhD students don't get to decide the use of their PI's funding. They frequently have to listen to what their PI wants (and paid them for).  Lastly, their notion that those who achieve greatness have to commit sins (i.e. rob banks) is also incredibly funny to me. The real problem in the academia is elitism and red tape (especially here). Scientists who work hard endlessly don't often get the title and awards. Instead, you have to know the right people and get the right opportunities. If this villain really wants Riri to game the system, he would advise Riri to go to events with the Stark industry or those higher ups in Wakanda. Instead, he and Riri resort to the stereotypical solution of robbery.  All in all, ironheart shows marvel’s complete lack of understanding towards how the academia works. If Riri really wants to be a robotic or AI scientist, I doubt her ‘talents’ can carry her far."

Meme - "*Ironheart*
>Supposedly smarter then tony stark
>Bites an electric wire
>Sells her soul to gain magic powers
>Uses new powers to steal
What did the writers mean by this?"
">smoke detector beeps"

Meme - "RDJ REALIZING HE IS GOING TO HAVE CARRY THE MCU TILL HE'S 90 AFTER SEEING THE FANTASTIC FOUR CAN'T OUTPERFORM SUPERMAN:"

There’s An Obvious Reason Why ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Collapsed At The Box Office - "Fantastic Four: First Steps seemed, at first, to be a rebound for Marvel. Positive reviews and audience reception fueled a strong opening weekend, though it fell short of DC’s Superman, which released just two weeks earlier. The film’s second weekend, however, was disastrous, plummeting 66% from $117.6 million to just $40 million, a significantly steeper decline than analysts predicted (55 to 60%)... the decline Fantastic Four saw week-over-week cannot be pinned entirely on consumer behavior. Superman opened with a $125 million weekend and only dropped 53% the following weekend. Both movies had strong reviews and word-of-mouth. Both had A- Cinemascores. Critics mostly praised them. So why would Fantastic Four have a much steeper decline than Superman?... The truth is, people are not burnt out on superhero movies. Quite the opposite. People are so hungry for good superhero movies that they’re gushing about films that are okay at best. Superman was a hot mess of a movie, but fans and critics alike raved about it. And I’ll admit, despite all its flaws, I think it was a more enjoyable movie than Fantastic Four. People raved about that one, too, but aside from the cool retrofuturistic aesthetic, it’s mostly just incredibly dull with a lackluster ending. People are so desperate for good superhero movies, they’ve convinced themselves that these qualify.   But bad movies often do well at the box office (Aquaman $335 million domestically and over $1.1 billion globally) and good movies often do bad (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves $93.9 million domestically and $208.2 million globally) so even looking just at quality can’t always explain a film’s poor showing... It’s more damning, ultimately, that Captain America did so poorly. Captain America ought to be a major hit for Marvel at this point, but Brave New World was a confusing mess and very few people are particularly excited about Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson taking on the role of Captain America, while Bucky (Sebastian Stan) – a more sensible choice given his old friendship with Steve Rogers – is tucked away in Thunderbolts*.  The problem with superhero movies these days is that the people who make them are out of touch with the people who watch them. They have forgotten who the target audience is, and why moviegoers head to the movies in the first place.   To his credit, James Gunn was right to go with a popular DC hero like Superman for his DCU reboot (and smart to choose mostly less-expensive stars to fill the roles, because budgets are absolutely out of control). He just happened to also write one of his worst scripts for the film."

RV “The Games Guy” Kennedie on X - ""go to hell” is basic. “i hope the MCU fucks up an adaptation of your favorite hero and the comics retcon that into being the main canon” is smart. it’s terrifying. and it’s happened like 12 times now."Curtis Yarvin on X: "DeCarlos also muttered “got that white girl” after he killed Iryna. Clear case of a Federal hate crime confession. All these 60s communist laws were designed to suppress (right-wing) political violence. They just need a quick brush up and ready for action good as new" / X"

Meme - comicodigy @kickingcomics: "The fact that these were such a step up for the MCU and are both trilogy worthy yet ended up being box office flops really shows the damage Love & Thunder and Quantumania did to Marvel's name"
*Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four: First Steps*

Meme - Ms Marvel in Black Costume: "MY GOD, WHAT AVENGERS LEVEL THREAT DO I FACE IN MY FUTURE THAT LEAVES ME LOOKING LIKE THAT"
Brie Larson Captain Marvel: "FEMINISM, YOU MISOGYNIST"

Meme - *Captain Marvel with dead face* "Zero personality"
*Brie Larson smiling and flashing cleavage* "Why can't Captain Marvel look like this?"

X-Men: Feige Battling Disney Over Action Vs Social Commentary - "The X-Men movie currently in development following Avengers: Secret Wars is rumored to be having problems, where Kevin Feige is butting heads with Disney CEO Bob Iger over the direction of the movie... Kevin Feige originally planned a grounded, socially-driven X-Men film centered on mutant identity and conflict with the Brotherhood of Mutants.  However, Disney executives, reacting to recent box office disappointments of Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World (Disney recently named Cap 4 as a fail in its investor report), pushed for a more action-heavy, spectacle-focused script aimed at mass appeal.  It’s claimed the final version of the X-Men movie will prioritize blockbuster elements and fan service, with less emphasis on ideological themes...   Worth a mention is that the two big movies post-Endgame from Feige and Disney/Marvel that have been a success are Deadpool & Wolverine and Spider-Man: No Way Home, with everything else, including the MCU shows on Disney+ a massive bust."

'Thunderbolts*' Reportedly Lost Marvel Studios Millions Despite 'Avengers' MCU Tie-in - "Back when Thunderbolts* opened in May to kick off the summer movie season, its stellar reviews and $74 million opening weekend were touted as a win, as it rightfully should've been. The MCU needed a win following some misfires, save Deadpool & Wolverine, which either received mixed reviews on a critical level or underperformed at the box office. As the Thunderbolts* headed into its second weekend, they were being dubbed The New Avengers, and it felt like the celebration would never end. However, in the weeks after its opening, it was clear that, despite the warm reception, Thunderbolts* didn't have the legs of the better MCU films, and now it's becoming a bit clearer what Marvel has lost on the project.  Per Variety, Marvel Studios has reportedly lost millions of dollars on Thunderbolts* due to a box office run that is pretty much coming to a close with a worldwide total of $371 million. Reports indicate that the film, due to its $180 million production budget and $100 million marketing spend, needed to make about $425 million to break even. As it stands, Thunderbolts* is one of the lowest-grossing MCU titles to date on a global scale. As Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Block put it, "These lower-tier comic book movies aren't cinematic slam dunks anymore. Thunderbolts* wrapping up after just a month in theaters, is also a concern. These films aren't legging out like previous iterations." A lot can be said about why Thunderbolts* underachieved at the box office. Some believe it's because it involves lesser-known characters, but that didn't prevent the first Guardians of the Galaxy from turning into a huge financial hit. The main culprit here could be placed on quality, but not on the quality of Thunderbolts*, which is a stellar MCU effort and some of their best output recently. The film followed Captain America: Brave New World, which currently sits with a 47% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though that film pulled in $415.1 million, it fell short of breaking even theatrically (reportedly needing a similar global take of $425 million to do so), and the fan response was more mixed"
When you've tanked your brand with woke shit and other shit

Disney Officially Confirms Marvel's Thunderbolts A Bust - "In its latest investor report, Disney cited Thunderbolts ($382.4 million box office) and Pixar’s Elio ($144.2M) as key reasons for a $21 million operating loss in its Content Sales/Licensing division — a steep drop from the $254 million gain it reported during the same quarter last year... The investor report mentioned “higher film cost impairments” for the quarter, which is corporate-speak for admitting that at least one of the films, either Thunderbolts and/or Elio, is expected to lose money (Disney doesn’t specifically name which one).  In accounting terms, that means Disney doesn’t believe the movie will make back its production and marketing budget through box office, streaming, or licensing (Thunderbolts budget was reportedly $180M, with Elio potentially more than $200M).  So instead of pretending the film is still worth what they spent, they take a write-down, officially recording the loss now. It’s a clear sign Disney already sees Thunderbolts and/or Elio as a long-term failure.   During Disney’s quarterly earnings call, CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston also highlighted the company’s film successes, but Thunderbolts wasn’t one of them. In fact, despite being released during the same quarter, Thunderbolts wasn’t mentioned once, while they praised Lilo & Stitch as a billion-dollar hit and called out other strong performers like Moana 2, Inside Out 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine.  The omission is telling. Disney used the call to build a narrative around renewed studio momentum and “long-term value,” and left Thunderbolts out entirely. "
So much for all the cope

It's Official: Thunderbolts Is A Massive Bomb: New Avengers Fails To Assemble - "Disney recently named Cap 4 in its investor report as a big loss, so expect the same for Thunderbolts.   New Avengers bombing also follows Bob Iger desperately trying to sell the movie prior to its release when he said the flick was the “first and best” example of Marvel’s new movie strategy. Well, how’d that work out? It’s reported that the Thunderbolts budget was kept low for a Marvel movie, said to be $180 million instead of $200M+, but we see that didn’t matter, and the film still failed to deliver. It’s the second-worst performing MCU movie, only better than The Marvels. Now that hurts.   Regarding the trades, when they stop shilling and start reporting the truth, that’s when you know things are really bad... Disney, Marvel, and the shill sites continue to spin things that too much content is to blame. The real reason for the blame is not too much content; it’s the fact that they chose to serve up the agenda instead of telling a quality story...   Thunderbolts also followed the massive failure of The Marvels, where the fans sent Feige a message of their own: we don’t want it. Instead of giving fans what they want, Feige not only doubled down, but has tripled down, as up next is Fantastic Four, which is another female-driven movie.  The shills also can’t blame the fanboys, as they make up a majority of the audience. It’s the women who don’t care.   Variety hints there may be truth to the rumors of a behind-the-scenes clash between Kevin Feige and Bob Iger.  According to the report, Marvel appears to be shifting away from lesser-known characters and refocusing on major blockbusters, like Spider-Man, Deadpool, and Avengers-level events.  Meanwhile, rumors say that Feige wants the upcoming X-Men reboot to lean into social commentary, while Iger is pushing for more mainstream, action-driven spectacle that’s a proven success."
Will the Marvel shills continue claiming that Brave New World was a huge success?

THUNDERBOLTS* Will Fail To Break Even At The Box Office - Is Marvel Studios Planning A Strategy Change? - "19 of Marvel Studios' 22 Infinity Saga movies grossed over $500 million worldwide. For the Multiverse Saga, it's been 6 out of 13, and this story indicates that there's now "a new ceiling for superhero movies that aren’t based on marquee characters...a diminished global marketplace and oversaturation of superhero stories on the big and small screen are partly responsible for the decline.""

MCU Film News on X - "‘THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS’ had the worst Disney+ debut of any MCU title. Earning just 4.9 million views.
For comparison:
• Captain America: Brave New World — 6.4M
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — 6.1M
• Thunderbolts* — 5.5M
• The Marvels — 5.3M"

He was killed by Sikh extremists for serving Canada, and a tax-funded film is celebrating it

He was killed by Sikh extremists for serving Canada, and a tax-funded film is celebrating it

aIf you can find a way to watch the recently released Khalistani propaganda film Guru Nanak Jahaz, you might as well watch it. You paid for it, after all.

The film, which depicts the assassination of a Canadian civil servant by a Sikh terrorist as a heroic act of justice, has a “Funded by the Government of Canada” credit at the end. It was also supported by the B.C. government and gives special thanks to Conservative MP Tim Uppal and Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal. While the Liberals didn’t return a request for comment, a spokesperson for Uppal told me that he was not involved in the film and that the filmmakers did not communicate with him about the credit at any point.

Set in 1914, the plot follows the assassin, who you likely never heard about, and the voyage of the more familiar Komagata Maru, a ship which carried nearly 400 Indian passengers from Hong Kong to Vancouver, only to be denied entry to Canada. It was screened in some Cineplex theatres earlier this year.

The official narrative that you’ll find on government websites explains that this was purely a matter of baseless Canadian racism, and it’s been wholeheartedly adopted by politicians today: as prime minister, Justin Trudeau apologized for the incident in 2016, and the Conservative party releases annualstatements commemorating the event, praising the bravery of the passengers and their craving for freedom.

That’s the whitewashed version, however. It leaves out that the Komagata Maru voyage was organized by the Indian Ghadar movement — the word literally means “revolution” — which advocated for violent resistance against the British Empire. (India was a British possession at that time and would continue to be until 1947). Its members were primarily Sikhs who lived in North America. And while they did experience racism, and while changes to Canada’s immigration laws in 1908 indirectly restricted Indian immigration, there were also reasons for the Canadian government to be apprehensive.

Ghadar members dreamed of a return to India, but wanted to rid that land of the British first. They remembered the Indian Mutiny of 1857 with regret — that bloody event saw many British-Indian regiments unsuccessfully take up arms against the Empire; Sikh Punjabis were among the exceptions, largely siding with the British. Decades later, the mostly Sikh Punjabi Ghadarites proposed another 1857-like uprising while applauding anti-British terrorism.

When rumblings of war with Germany began to brew in 1914, the Ghadarites grew excited — now was the time to strike. In August 1914, after the war broke out, the movement’s newspaper advocated, “Go to India and incite the native troops. Preach mutiny openly. Take arms from the troops of the native states and wherever you see the British, kill them…. There is hope that Germany will help you.” Expats in the Orient organized ships to return home and revolt.

The Komagata Maru was part of this movement. Organized by Ghadarites before the breakout of the First World War, it attempted to bring more movement adherents into Vancouver to settle. Canada was right not to let it dock because the entire envoy was a security threat.

Their fears were well-founded. Among the Sikhs already in Vancouver was one Mewa Singh, an immigrant of nine or so years, who wasinvolved in an unsuccessful plot to smuggle weapons to the Komagata Maru. After the incident, Singh went on to murder Canadian immigration official William Hopkinson in a courthouse. According to a report at the time, Hopkinson had recently busted an Indian nationalist bomb-making operation in Victoria which infuriated adherents. Additionally, in the weeks before he was murdered, one of his informants shot and killed two Sikhs at a funeral, creating more animosity.

That is the story that Guru Nanak Jahaz recounts through rose-coloured glasses. Singh is the protagonist of the film, a loyal member of his wholesome community who just wants his people to be treated fairly. White Vancouverites — officials and regular folk alike — are all comic book villains, harassing the protagonists throughout the plot.

At one point, a roving band of white men barge into a Sikh building to trash the place; one member declares, “This is a white man’s country!” before being fended off by the protagonist. Later, we’re introduced to the Big Bad — Hopkinson — who hears about the incoming Komagata Maru and warns his boss that “there’s a ship full of Indians heading for Canada” and that “we can’t afford any more Indians spilling over here.” It’s an over-the-top caricature that would have worked better as clumsy satire.

But that’s how the movie goes: Singh and the Ghadarites fighting for equality as the schemey, racist Hopkinson sabotages their reputation in the press and masterminds the deteriorating conditions on the ship.

In the film, Hopkinson’s sadistic ways ultimately lead to the ship being returned to India, where menacing white British guards at the port fire into the crowd of disembarked Komagata Maru passengers. While there was a riot at this point in real life that resulted in 19 individuals being killed by police, the Indian culture department’s recollection of these events says that the riot was initiated by passengers who resisted arrest.

By the way, Canada’s official story is that a massacre occurred and it was motivated by “British perceptions that the passengers were revolutionaries.” Never mind that the passengers were mutinous members of a group literally named “Revolution” who courted German ships on the way home. Never mind that a year later, seditious Indian troops in Singapore, influenced by the Ghadar movement and enamoured with Germany, led a rampage that killed more than 40 people, mostly British military but some British, Chinese and Malay civilians as well.

Guru Nanak Jahaz hits its climax with Singh’s point-blank shooting of Hopkinson, which is portrayed approvingly as a moment of justice. Singh, as in real life, goes on to be tried and executed for his crime.

What’s striking about the film is its complete lack of self-awareness. It’s as if the filmmakers didn’t even blink at the thought of championing political violence. Neither did the intended audience — the handful of reviews that exist online rave at this tale of social justice.

The Ghadar movement, which got the Indian independence it supposedly wanted in the mid-20th century, isn’t just a footnote of history in this film. It’s also a stand-in for today’s Khalistani movement, which campaigns for an independent Sikh state of Punjab.

The modern Sikh nationalists are responsible for some of the worst political violence Canada has ever seen: the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, which killed 329 people, mostly Canadian; the 1998 assassination of journalist Tara Singh Hayer (a witness in the Air India case) in front of his Surrey home. No one was ever charged for the latter. Concerningly, Khalistani protesters have even portrayed Liberal MP Anita Anand with Indira Gandhi, alongside depictions of the latter being shot. Gandhi was the prime minister of India until her Sikh nationalist bodyguards assassinated her.

Films like Guru Nanak Jahaz draw a straight line from past to present, legitimizing political violence across time. Making matters worse, they perpetuate the cannibalizing narrative that Canada and the bulk of its population back then were fundamentally cruel and immoral entities whose exclusionary border policies were motivated only by hate — ignoring, of course, the historical context. Fears of violent nationalist movements were valid, especially in wartime.

Hopkinson ultimately gave his life in the course of serving his country. What a shame that one century later, he would be turned into a villainous caricature in a government-supported propaganda piece.

Disney’s decade-long destruction of Star Wars is nearly complete

Disney’s decade-long destruction of Star Wars is nearly complete

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars was the hottest property in Hollywood. Actually, it wasn’t that long ago – a mere 10 years ago to the day on Wednesday, Disney released its first new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens...

Ten years on, it is fair to say that the franchise and its fans are in a different place. As only a cash-obsessed mega-corporation can, Disney has burnt through 50 years of goodwill and turned Star Wars into a zombie franchise. On and on it staggers, moaning and gibbering, but with nothing new to say for itself. The glory days of 2015 and The Force Awakens’s $2bn box office feel like a mirage – as distant as the Old Republic must have felt to Obi-Wan Kenobi as he hid out in his man-cave at the start of George Lucas’s original Star Wars.

Having whooshed towards the heavens with The Force Awakens, Star Wars has gone on to endure a decade of hell. One increasingly dire film and TV series has followed another – the atrocious The Last Jedi, the incoherent Rise of Skywalker, the cheap and shoddy Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Each has hit with a thud – another insult to fans old and young.

Disney – which, lest we forget, once threatened to release a Star Wars film every year until the end of time – has tackled the franchise with a unique mix of avarice and chaos. We expect our big Hollywood studios to be obsessed with the bottom line. But who would have believed Disney to be chaotic to the point where its lack of vision costs tens of millions as former fans desert the franchise?

The situation as 2026 dawns is grim. Disney’s much-touted attempts to turn Star Wars into a force in streaming are dead – 2024’s awful The Acolyte was cancelled within weeks, and the second series of Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka is generating negative levels of hype ahead of its release at some point in 2026.

A collective yawn has already attended the one shining star in the franchise, Tony Gilroy’s Andor, which came to an inglorious end in April. Its second and final season was well regarded but failed to strike a chord with viewers who, in an increasingly dystopian world, had no interest in Gilroy’s doomy account of how the Old Republic descended into fascist tyranny. In dark times, audiences wanted some light relief. Though it created a degree of commotion – and won several Emmys in primarily technical categories – ultimately nobody much cared either way. With each episode costing more than $25m, it’s hard to see how Disney could justify the investment.

With small-screen Star Wars on life support, Disney and Lucasfilm, the in-house studio that oversees all things Jedi-related, have turned once more to cinema. But despite Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy’s hopes for a movie comeback, audiences are lukewarm. Trailers for Jon Favreau’s 2026 big-screen continuation of The Mandalorian – the imaginatively titled The Mandalorian and Grogu – have been greeted with an intergalactic shrug. Much of the conversation has been around the hideous poster art – and the “please take some time off” ubiquity of Mando actor Pedro Pascal.

Nor is anyone counting down to Ryan Gosling’s debut in the Star Wars universe in the generic-sounding Starfighter, to be directed by Shawn Levy, who oversaw the pleasantly forgettable Night at the Museum movies and is the guy you call when you don’t want to take any risks. Fans aren’t excited, and neither is Hollywood – including Mikey Madison, who flat-out turned down the offer to play a villain in Starfighter after bagging the Academy Award for Anora. Star Wars, it seems, is not the best career option for a newly minted Oscar winner.

As to what comes after that… well, nobody knows. Among the ranks of the clueless is Kennedy, who has green-lit countless Star Wars projects, only for them to then vanish into the mists of development purgatory. Names associated with new Star Wars films at one point or another in the past decade include Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow, indie director Josh Trank (cancelled after his controversial Fantastic Four flopped), Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss, Thor director Taika Waititi, Force Awakens actress Daisy Ridley, Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins, Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, and X-Men director Simon Kinberg.

The majority of those films have since been binned, while Disney boss Bob Iger gave a straight no to a Ben Solo movie pitched by actor Adam Driver and arthouse director Steven Soderbergh. Iger did so on the not-unreasonable basis that Solo had definitely and definitively died in Abrams’s terrible Rise of Skywalker – a disaster that Abrams was parachuted into after Johnson’s sneery Last Jedi went out of its way to poke fun at Star Wars fans (by, among other things, turning Luke Skywalker into a crotchety hobo).

There is also ongoing speculation about Kennedy’s future at Lucasfilm...

The ultimate problem – as it often is with Hollywood – is executive meddling. Disney paid $4bn for Star Wars, but rather than taking a long-term view and recouping that investment over decades, it was desperate for a fast buck. This led it to rushing its initial trilogy of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker – meaning Last Jedi’s Johnson took over from Rise of Skywalker director Abrams with nobody involved having the foggiest how the story should end (in truth, they had barely worked out the beginning or middle).

Johnson’s 2017 film, pitched as a subversive take on Star Wars, made $1.33bn at the worldwide box office but annoyed the public so much that they stayed away in droves from the subsequent Han Solo prequel. The timing was disastrous, as Solo had already been through a rocky period after comedy duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired for trying to make Star Wars funny. This seems ironic, as post-The Last Jedi, we could all have done with a laugh.

Then came the underbaked Rise of Skywalker, where a flailing Abrams tried to correct everything that Johnson had got wrong. True, Star Wars on Disney+ was off to a happier start in 2020 when The Mandalorian brought some of that old Lucas pizzazz. Sadly, it lost the plot in its third season – having already drawn criticism over the firing of star Gina Carano for expressing conservative views on social media (she subsequently won a lawsuit against Disney). And then it was straight off a cliff with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, The Acolyte and Jude Law’s Skeleton Crew – a show which I watched all the way through but of which I cannot recall a single detail.

The expulsion of Carano came as Disney was accused by some of imposing “wokeness” on Lucas’s hippy-dippy, “feel the Force, Luke” universe. Much of the criticism was directed at The Last Jedi. True, the movie had a multiracial cast and went out of its way to have female characters lecture Oscar Isaac’s fighter pilot Poe Dameron about toxic masculinity. But in other ways it was deeply retrograde – for instance it relegated John Boyega’s Finn from main character to comedy sidekick (a decision later criticised by Boyega). Social media was just as agog about The Acolyte, which had a female showrunner and a storyline featuring queer female users of the Force who were more powerful than the Jedi. Again, however, the real problem was clunky execution and a deathly-dull script.

What does the future hold? From his new perch as the creator of the lucrative Knives Out whodunnits, Johnson’s advice is for Disney to think outside the box. “The worst sin is to be afraid of doing anything that shakes it up,” he said recently. You can understand his logic. But the worry for Stars Wars fans is that if you shake something too hard it might break – and Disney has shown it does not have what it takes to put Star Wars back together again"

 

Is Disney Bad at Star Wars?

Weird. We keep being told that Disney Star Wars is a huge success. When even the mainstream media are admitting the truth...

Is Disney Bad at Star Wars?

"There’s an exchange in Star Wars: The Force Awakens when Rey and Finn are fleeing from stormtroopers and searching for a way to escape. Rey spots the legendary Millennium Falcon, declares it looks like “garbage,” and then quickly reconsiders: “The garbage will do!”  

Increasingly, that’s the attitude some fans have about Disney’s Star Wars programming: “Look, we all know this isn’t fantastic anymore, but Star Wars is still Star Wars, and, therefore, it will do.”...

Let’s run through Disney’s Star Wars legacy to date, from The Force Awakens to The Acolyte, and see what conclusions might be drawn. Because several aspects of the company’s track record admittedly look shaky: A five-movie franchise that was halted after its box office returns trended the wrong direction. Six live-action TV shows, just one of which has been a multi-season hit. A startling number of projects put into development and then abandoned like starships on Bracca. And one wildly ambitious role-play hotel that closed after little more than a year...

After buying Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012, Disney relaunched Star Wars as a franchise trilogy in 2015 with director J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens. The film was an absolute blockbuster. Yet surprisingly — and, as it turned out, problematically — the studio did not have a firm creative plan for the next two films (at least, not one that was followed).

Rian Johnson’s 2017 sequel The Last Jedi took the story in a different direction that many loved and many didn’t. Then Abrams returned with 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker and tried to push the narrative closer to his original intentions. Comedians learn in improv class to always say, “Yes, and …” to any idea introduced during a show, no matter how challenging. The studio and Abrams’ reaction to The Last Jedi was more like, “No, actually …” (Rey is a nobody. No, she’s a Palpatine!) The result was a trilogy that’s a mishmash of dueling creative visions. (Lucas took a similar I’m-making-this-up-as-I-go approach to his original trilogy, but it’s far easier to maintain a saga’s cohesion when all the films are led by the same person.)

The films’ box office also told a story. At a time when Disney’s Marvel movies kept breaking new ticket sales records, Force made an extraordinary $2 billion worldwide, Jedi dropped sharply to a still-huge $1.3 billion, and then Skywalker made $1 billion which is, you know, still $1 billion. These are incredible numbers for any film, but they were going the wrong way — when the third entry in your trilogy launching a new franchise sells half as many tickets as the first, you probably made a wrong turn somewhere.

Around the same time, the studio experimented with two stand-alone titles. There was 2016’s gorgeous-looking and compelling, if wildly uneven, Rogue One, earning $1 billion (a film whose reputation has improved since it was released). And 2018’s widely panned Solo, which made a disastrous-for-the-franchise $393 million (a film whose reputation has not improved since it was released). Both had behind-the-scenes drama and reshoots that saw their original directors being replaced during filming.

After Rise of Skywalker, Disney paused making big-screen Star Wars movies altogether but continued to announce new films in development from top creatives. The list of well-known writers and directors who have come and gone is comically long: Rian Johnson (originally enlisted to make a new trilogy), David Benioff and Dan Weiss (also enlisted for a trilogy), Patty Jenkins, Colin Trevorrow, Damon Lindelof, David S. Goyer, Josh Trank, Guillermo del Toro, Taika Waititi and Marvel chief Kevin Feige. Some of their projects were confidentially announced as movies that were definitely happening until they weren’t. And there are others that were never revealed publicly. 

If all this seems rather chaotic for a studio that’s famously meticulous, well, yes, it does. The charitable read is that Star Wars movies should be very special and the studio is determined to get them right. A batch of projects are still the works: James Mangold is developing a Dawn of the Jedi feature, Shawn Levy is working on an untitled film, Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron was resurrected this year, and Lindelof’s feature starring Daisy Ridley’s Rey has shifted to director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. It’s uncertain which of these, if any, will be made...

The 2019 debut season of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian nearly single-handedly made Disney+ an out-of-the box success, charmed critics and audiences, and was even nominated for an Emmy for best drama. Moreover, The Mandalorian proved live-action Star Wars on TV was possible — it’s easy to forget this show was considered a big gamble at the time (given Favreau also launched the MCU with 2008’s Iron Man, he deserves to be honored at one of those medal ceremonies on Yavin). In season three, The Mandalorian creatively stumbled a bit, ratings slipped (a little) and the show received backlash for the first time.

Instead of a fourth season, Disney decided to pivot The Mandalorian to launch its first Star Wars feature film since The Rise of Skywalker. Coming in 2026, The Mandalorian & Grogu will probably perform well. Yet it also looks like Disney spent many years and untold capital struggling develop a new Star Wars movie and its best idea was an extra-long episode of a TV show.

From The Mandalorian came 2021’s spinoff The Book of Boba Fett, which is where some problems with the franchise’s TV efforts first emerged. So much about this brief effort was weirdly clunky. Two Mandalorian episodes were inexplicably sandwiched into the show’s seven, and they felt like a Band-Aid effort to repair a struggling show. The Book of Boba Fett was originally a series, not a miniseries, but it was quickly considered concluded...

The Acolyte’s premiere ratings were the lowest to date for a live-action Star Wars series launch (488 million minutes, according to Nielsen’s U.S. streaming figures). Then the show’s ratings sunk further, with The Acolyte dropping out of Nielsen’s Top 10 entirely for several weeks (not typical for a Star Wars show). It was impossible for Disney to spin this one as a concluded story — the season ended on a cliffhanger — but The Acolyte is not getting a season two. The cancellation has been portrayed by some defenders as baffling, even conspiratorial, but the show’s ratings, trend and reception point to a pragmatic decision on the studio’s part...

So that’s six live-action shows in five years. Just one — The Mandalorian — has been an outright hit with critics and fans and has delivered a multi-season run, which is the traditional model for TV success.

This doesn’t mean a single season of TV cannot be a win; limited series are considered hits all the time. But there’s a reason popular close-ended limited series like the debut seasons of HBO’s The White Lotus and FX’s Shogun were given second season orders and became ongoing series. Making a show that can run for multiple seasons is the typical goal, even for streamers, because it encourages subscribers to stick around. There are also considerable startup costs to making something new, particularly in the fantasy space — enormous amounts of production, costume and prop design, and all-around world building. The Acolyte season one took four years to make, but a second season would have likely only taken half that time. With an ongoing series, a company doesn’t have to work so hard and spend so much to keep re-earning its audience. One would think Disney would have wanted more juice from some of these squeezes. 

Because what is left for Disney+ after Skeleton Crew? The final season of Andor and a second season of Ahsoka? In 2020, Disney bullishly announced 10 new Star Wars shows at an investor event, heralding a glorious new era of Star Wars TV. Those entries included Lando (now being re-developed by star Donald Glover and his brother Stephen into a film) and Rangers of the New Republic (scrapped for reasons). The prospect of being left with a single ongoing live-action Star Wars show after Andor concludes surely wasn’t the company’s hope coming out of that announcement...

The company’s live-action movies and TV efforts, on average, could and should be better. In 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted the company made “a mistake” with Star Wars, making movies “a little too much, too fast.” After Iger temporarily left the company in 2020, Disney/Lucasfilm arguably made the same error again on the TV side. Lucas famously instructed his actors to be “faster and more intense,” but that doesn’t typically work as a franchise strategy (as Marvel has discovered, as well). It’s unclear if Star Wars requires more order or less — more Empire-like corporate oversight or more Rebellion-like creative chaos. But it’s long seemed like there’s somehow too much of both, which has resulted in a master plan that’s constantly being rewritten, and content that sometimes feels undercooked and clunky. It’s not the fault of fans that they increasingly have “a bad feeling about this.”"