2022 was a year of transition and uncertainty. The pandemic continues to make people sick, but policy across the US seemed to reflect a public that’s just tired of caring about it. Things opened, masks became optional, the US decided it was vaccinated enough, cognitive dissonance met bad risk assessment met short term thinking met its-so-nice-to-see-you-all-again.
In the US, abortion rights were stripped away by an errant Supreme Court, sending this country into a period of retrograde fear. Still. at the ballot box, democracy, for now, was defended and so were abortion rights, for the most part. Mixed signals everywhere. It felt like flailing. I think that’s what it was.
Star Wars was a port in the storm for me and for many of us, but it wasn’t immune to this feeling of transition. Without the north star of films, the Star Wars universe was more diffuse, full of both wish-fulfillment and experimentation.
It was also another year where Star Wars lived entirely on Disney+. This model for releasing stories may be primarily driven by bringing subscribers to the service, but it also lets Lucasfilm stretch its legs and try new things in a less box office oriented environment. It gave the helm to new directors, the book to new writers, and let well-loved creators play in their favorite sandbox.
I don’t really believe in Best of lists, because what does Best really mean? But here are some of the Star Wars moments that made me happiest this year.
THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT - FINALE
The Book of Boba Fett was full of sly weirdness, telling a winding story through flashbacks, callbacks, and even intersecting with the Mandalorian (see below.) It’s finale, though, skipped all the structural tinkering and just went Boom. You could feel Robert Rodriguez dumping all his toys out on the floor of his childhood bedroom and bashing them together. The result was a whizbang, utterly unserious exercise in having fun. Rancor versus Giant Droideka? Rancor as King Kong? High Noon? Cad Bane? Knee rockets? Mando and Boba fighting side by side with their jetpacks? Grogu reunited with his adopted Dad? I mean, this whole thing was a banger in the most literal sense. It was just there to make us all smile, and I know I did, a lot, I’m smiling right now, while I write this.
OBI-WAN KENOBI
Hello there!
Obi-Wan Kenobi gave me everything I wanted out of the Star Wars series. It revisited performers who were overdue for an encore and gave us moments that easily sit alongside the core Star Wars saga. It’s one of those series that just makes me say “I can’t believe they made this.”
I wrote extensively about each episode, it’s the reason I launched this Substack. There’s so much to love about this series, from Deborah Chow putting her stamp on Star Wars, to Ewan McGregor giving his richest performance as the character. Young Princess Leia? Shouldn’t have worked but it really, really did. Hayden Christensen returning as Anakin/Vader? Come on. If you love Star Wars of the prequel era, this was whole series was a love letter to you.
One thing I really dug about this story was how unafraid they were of messing around with canon. These stories are stories, and when the time comes, it’s good to stop Rosencrantz & Guildensterning / Back to the Future II-ing the saga and just get right into the main characters and their conflicts. Not everything has to happen just off-stage left so we don’t mess with the sacred text. Sometimes you’ve just got to go for it.
I would add that while each episode offered real pleasures, Part V, where Obi-Wan outfoxes Vader because he is still, at heart, Anakin’s mentor? I just loved every frame of this, from the Attack of the Clones-era training sequence to Reva and Vader’s dark side duel. Excellent, excellent, wonderful, superlative, double-plus good.
MANDALORIAN SEASON 2.5
Hey! You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!
Hidden in The Book of Boba Fett are some chapters of The Mandalorian! Mando Season 2 left Grogu with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, separated from our hero. We figured we’d enjoy some Boba Fett and then get back to that story when Season 3 arrived. Sneaky Filoni/Favreau had other ideas, returning to that story and intersecting its resolution with this one, eventually reuniting Grogu and Mando in the finale of Boba Fett. I was f^&king delighted by this whole turn of events, and how they committed to telling this one over-arching story within a branching narrative.
This detour gave us a rare glimpse at Luke Skywalker, post-Return of the Jedi, as a man at peace, building his temple. I loved this Luke, its the perfect place to find him between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Plus, who would have suspected even a couple of years ago that we’d be seeing live action Ahsoka Tano and live action Luke Skywalker have a conversation? During the long-awaited Boba Fett solo story? Mind-blown emoji.
THE MOMS OF ANDOR
A lot of people loved Andor like Oprah loves bread. It was a series that stepped so outside the Star Wars comfort zone that it thrilled those seeking darker tones and a sadder, starker, more earthbound perspective on Star Wars. Tony Gilroy’s Star Wars is the reverse of the Filoni Star Wars: it refuses reverence, it is uninterested in what Star Wars has always been, and it’s (pardon me) rebellious in its refusal of the call.
For me, though, every day in the galaxy of Andor was Mother’s Day.
Obviously, Maarva is Maarva. Her not-exactly-Force Ghost gets the biggest rallying cry in Star Wars this year. I would watch Fiona Shaw eat lunch for 48 minutes, but luckily, they gave her a lot more to do. She broke my heart and made me cheer.
Kathryn Hunter’s Eady Karn is also a force (no pun intended). Casting here is (checks notes) perfect. This beloved stage actor brings her whole game to this mini-drama. I would happily watch an entire production of The Karns at Playwrights Horizons. Who doesn’t want Act 2 to start with a Wallace Shawn-style monologue by Uncle Harlow about how the contemptible, unwashed masses don’t understand how much better off they are under fascist rule? (Yes, I volunteer to write this.)
And let’s not forget that Mon Mothma’s story is the story of a mother faced with a child in the thrall of traditionalism, forced to negotiate the courtship of her own daughter as a part of covering her tracks.
YADDLE’S LAST STAND
My household was so excited to see Yaddle again and ho-lee-shit did Yaddle’s return bring a wall of silence to our couch. Jeepers Yaddle. We hardly knew ye.
THE DOC(TOR) IS IN
This year produced some two really good documentaries, Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return and Making of The Book of Boba Fett and one incredible documentary series: Light & Magic. The behind the scenes of Star Wars has always been a part of the appeal, because it’s always pushing the envelope, always doing the impossible, and always created by artists who really only get their due in the world of Making Of.
THE HIGH REPUBLIC FLIES OVER MY HEAD
Lots of High Republic this year, although I didn’t personally keep up with it. If you’d like great High Republic Substack-ery and updates, here’s where to go:
I should take my own advice and catch up.
MOAR WILLOW, MOAR INDY
Lucasfilm is currently releasing the follow up to Willow, also called Willow, which is about Willow, mostly, and also a lot about Bavmorda, really. I haven’t responded to the series yet, but suffice to say, it’s another example of “I can’t believe this exists at all.” Willow came out before anyone really had an email address and Ronald Reagan was President. The idea that we’re getting more of it all the sudden is a testament to the upside of a yawning content mouth that shouts for Intellectual Property to be poured into it like it’s a creature from Phil Tippett’s Mad God. Thanks Streaming Wars! Make everything!
And now there’s the teaser trailer to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Which, I mean, yes thank you, I have watched it a few times, I have no reason to lie about how many, but it’s a lot of times.
Moar! MOAR!
Happy New Year, dear readers and friends. 2023 is shaping up to have a lot to enjoy, from Bad Batch Season 2 to Mandalorian Season 3 to Indy 5 to Ahsoka. I can’t wait to watch it all with you.
I’d love to know what stood out for you in Star Wars in 2022! It’s what comments sections are for!
Thanks for the mention! The High Republic definitely flew over my head this year too, but hopefully 2023 will be the year for both of us!