Star Wars is never going to go out of fashion, with the beloved sci-fi saga holding a multi-generational appeal that any major brand would kill for. The kids who went to see A New Hope in theaters back in 1977 were able to take their own children to The Phantom Menace 22 years later, and sixteen years after that, three generations of the same family could all go and catch The Force Awakens on opening night.
The addition of the entire Star Wars back catalogue to Disney Plus has widened the potential audience more than ever before as well, with people that previously had little or no interest in visiting a galaxy far, far away now having every movie available at the push of a button. As one of the most acclaimed TV shows of recent years, The Mandalorian has also increased the levels of interest in the property after The Rise of Skywalker left a lot of fans feeling disappointed, not to mention that it’s pretty much the only original project on the streaming service that gets any sort of buzz.
So far, Mando and Baby Yoda’s adventures have arguably brought more satisfaction to those who followed the animated canon, with causal viewers probably wondering who exactly Bo-Katan, Ahsoka Tano and Grand Admiral Thrawn are, and why they should be so excited about them. And in a savvy piece of cross-platform synergy, viewing figures for The Clone Wars on Disney Plus have reportedly increased by over 400% since the first episode of Jon Favreau’s show debuted.
Previously, many longtime Star Wars fans didn’t hold a particularly vested interest in either TCW or Rebels, but now that The Mandalorian has tied the animated and live-action canon together into one sprawling tapestry, they’ve almost become essential to those who want to get fully up to speed and track the connective tissue throughout the mythology.
Published: Dec 2, 2020 02:30 pm