It has been forty-four years since Star Wars graced our screens and changed the cinematic landscape forever. It has amassed incalculable fans, engrained itself into society in a way unmatched by any other, and spawned a plethora of multimedia spin-offs to keep consumers going for many years to come.
But what makes a Star Wars story feel like Star Wars?
My readings of late have included The New Jedi Order, The High Republic, Fate of the Jedi, Jedi Apprentice, The Old Republic comics, and dribs and drabs of rereads in between.
There are certainly elements of both Legends and Canon that I have gravitated towards more than others, and those that I cringe even thinking about. So what is it that makes a Star Wars story hit home? Surely that glorious duo of words in the top third of a book, DVD case or comic book doesn’t simply make it so.
So let’s break it down. When you think of Star Wars, what is the first thing to come to mind? Is it the daring chase through the Death Star to get back to the Millennium Falcon after rescuing Princess Leia? Is it Anakin blasting across Tatooine in the annual Boonta Eve Classic? Is it an aged Luke Skywalker tossing his lightsaber over his shoulder on Ahch-To?
The fact that the question stirs up so many different images, so many different elements is what makes Star Wars so exceptional. Every person when asked “What do you like about Star Wars?” is going to say something contrary to the next person, and so on, so forth. It’s something that I love about the franchise, and indeed the reason I started my Consuming Star Wars Podcast.
But in my years of sharing my love of this franchise, I have come to realise the thing that makes Star Wars so great, for some, is is its greatest fault.
Controversies arise every time a new Star Wars story is released. I understand it. Star Wars was in people’s minds, in their toy boxes, on their screens for twenty years before George Lucas decided to do the prequels. People had already made up their own stories about what they wanted their heroes to have done before or after the original films. So when the canon solidifies one story over another, makes choices that are now set in, albeit malleable, stone, disappointment is sure to rear its ugly head.
So let’s break it down. When you think of Star Wars, what is the first thing to come to mind? Is it the daring chase through the Death Star to get back to the Millennium Falcon after rescuing Princess Leia? Is it Anakin blasting across Tatooine in the annual Boonta Eve Classic? Is it an aged Luke Skywalker tossing his lightsaber over his shoulder on Ahch-To?
I’ll be honest with you all, the more I think about The Rise of Skywalker, the more I think there were some major storytelling mistakes. I’m also not the biggest fan of the very popular Last Shot novel, or the Join the Resistance junior reader trilogy, or indeed the Jedi Academy Trilogy which, for as long as I can remember leading up to it, was praised as one of the EU’s best pieces of storytelling.
With all of that said, I adore the original Thrawn trilogy, am devouring The Old Republic content, despite their different tones and set-pieces, both Rogue One and Solo sometimes feel more like Star Wars than A New Hope, and was recently blown away by the adventure and audacity of The High Republic: The Rising Storm.
Indeed, it was listening to The Rising Storm that refueled this question in my mind about what elements make up a Star Wars story, what makes a story fit into that galaxy of storytelling?
Cavan Scott has the Midas touch. He has been one writer in Star Wars who has always hit the nail on the head in terms of tone in Star Wars. His stories always feel like they belong in the Star Wars universe. I would never have thought that Grand Moff Tarkin, one of my favourite villains of late, could be bested by two young children. But in the hands of Cavan Scott, I truly believed it.
From his comic books, to his Choose Your Destiny stories, to his heartbreaking Time of Death story, and of course the incomparable Dooku: Jedi Lost, Cavan Scott knows how to make something feel like Star Wars.
(Sidenote: I’m calling it now, Cavan Scott is to the written media, what Dave Filoni is for the visual)
The High Republic is a great example of something that is removed from the Star Wars we have seen before, is more of the same, but with a lot of new elements.
It just fits.
But why? Is it the epic action sequences? The philosophical discussions about what it is to be a Jedi? The expansive political creativity of different aliens and worlds? The barbaric villains and their greedy, power hungry venture to disrupt and destroy what they hate?
From his comic books, to his Choose Your Destiny stories, to his heartbreaking Time of Death story, and of course the incomparable Dooku: Jedi Lost, Cavan Scott knows how to make something feel like Star Wars.
But this leads me back to my initial question, the whole reason for writing this.
What makes a Star Wars story feel like Star Wars?
Is Rogue Squadron better than Alphabet Squadron? Does the Bounty Hunter Wars give more of an insight into the galaxy than The War of the Bounty Hunters? Is Luke’s journey after Return of the Jedi more realistic or true to his character in The New Jedi Order or The Last Jedi?
We have books and comics for Star Wars since the time of its initial release. So many writers who, like us as fans, see Star Wars in a different way, all of whom are taking elements of the world and storytelling to give us something fresh and new that hopefully fits in the world of Star Wars. Not an easy task.
But this leads me back to my initial question, the whole reason for writing this.
And there is no way that everything is going to please everyone, but that doesn’t mean that telling different stories, or adding elements we’ve never seen before is pandering, or destroying the universe.
At the end of the day I think these comparison questions are largely inconsequential. Star Wars is different things to different people.
Star Wars is great. I think we can all agree on that regardless of which stories you love or hate.
At the end of the day, I believe the best course of action is to focus on what you love about Star Wars.
Make your own canon.
What makes a Star Wars story feel like Star Wars?
Well... that is up to you.
May the Force be with you.