‘Star Wars’ fans wonder if an animated companion series could rehabilitate the sequels

Divisiveness has been a constant companion of Star Wars ever since George Lucas resurrected the cinematic franchise in the early 2000s. Though the prequels were once deemed the worst thing to ever happen to the galaxy far, far away, fans have slowly grown to appreciate certain elements about them in recent years, perhaps in no small part thanks to Dave Filoni’s The Clone Wars series which provided a much better groundwork for Anakin’s fall to the dark side.

Now, some folks are wondering if the Mouse House should attempt to do something similar with the now disowned sequel trilogy. That is, develop an animated companion show to make sense of some of the things that happened in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.

It looks like the overall consensus is against the idea. For one thing, the prequels, as much of a misfire they turned out to be, chronicled a coherent narrative with a singular vision, whereas the sequels are a bumbling mess changing directions with each installment.

Another huge problem is that the sequels take place immediately after one another. (With the exception of The Rise of Skywalker, which picks up the story roughly a year after The Last Jedi, though a year is hardly enough time to cram in a multi-season animated series.)

Also, are we forgetting that Disney already did this? Star Wars Resistance was a series set before The Force Awakens, but it failed disastrously.

Frankly speaking, no animated series, even one developed by Dave Filoni, could justify the infamous “somehow, Palpatine returned” line.

These days, the majority of the Star Wars fandom wants to pretend as if the sequels never happened, and given the creative initiatives by Lucasfilm execs over the past few years, it looks like they too would be more than glad to let the past die.