The Waiting

...phew!

I’ve been posting a little lightly lately, mostly because I’ve been a little distracted by other projects (cool projects). I made a deal with myself that Ahch-To Baby would always be a welcoming, loose place for me to write about what I love, so I’m not holding myself to a firm schedule or stressing about it. But still, there’s something fun happening that is also contributing.

We’re in a lull. A rare, glorious, lull.

Since 2019, there’s been a steady stream of new new new Star Wars, of various stripes and ambitions. Three seasons of The Mandalorian, and entirely new story; live-action Ahsoka, which is basically a sequel to Rebels; Skeleton Crew, an 80s homage; two seasons of Andor, a prestige sci-fi drama; Obi-Wan Kenobi, which was basically Episode 3.5; The Acolyte, a prequel to the prequels; Lego Star Wars movies, Young Jedi Adventures, Video Games, The Bad Batch, Visions, Tales of the Etc. (what am I forgetting, looks at StarWars.com) oh yes even The Book of Boba Fett! Oh and comic books! And the entire High Republic series which is a massive collection of work.

That’s a lot of Star Wars is just six years; especially when you compare it to the 42 years it took for nine Skywalker Saga films to be released. Or the three year wait between each original film and prequel film. Or the sixteen year wait between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace. Or the ten year wait between Episode III and Episode VII. The sequels alone were two years in between each with a ‘Star Wars Story’ in between. The pace of production has gone into hyperspace, and it’s been incredible to see what can be made now that would have taken years to create in the past.

But there’s something refreshing about taking a breath, and a little restraint. In popular culture, with all apologies to the late great Tom Petty, The Waiting is not the hardest part. Sometimes it’s the best part. It’s the “I can’t miss you if you never leave” conundrum. I also struggle to appreciate you if you’re one of many.

I was rewatching The Acolyte the other day, and I thought about how it would be regarded it if was the only Star Wars released in the last few years. If after Episode IX, there was a brief pause, and then Lucasfilm released a kind of prequel to the prequels, about the reemergence of the Sith, featuring a set of twins born of the Force, betrayed by the Jedi, leading to Darth Plagueis himself. Even if it was imperfect, it would have been seen as Essential Star Wars, a key part of the mythology. People would have gone apeshit for it.

As it stands, because it came at the tail end of a string of other shows, with other beloved characters, it became an oddity, a kind of experiment, an incomplete thought. It’s not really talked about all that much compared to the far less Star Wars-reverent Andor. It became culture-war grist for that ugly mill, was deemed too expensive to continue making (you know, like The Late Show), and now it’s got a subset of fans, but it’s a little forgotten even though it only came out one year ago.

The prequels have regained a reputation over the years, but it’s important to remember that it was not possible to ignore them when they were released. They were cultural moments, not just moments for Star Wars fans. When Attack of the Clones came out, even if Anakin made weird speeches to Padme and glowered at her in creepy ways, it was just Star Wars, one of the few Star Wars movies that existed. So, a lot was forgiven, celebrated, excused, watched multiple times. There were five Star Wars films and that was one.

Now, at last, post-Andor Season 2, there are two Star Wars films in production and Ahsoka Season 2. We haven’t seen much of them at all and we won’t see them for a while. Just a little glimpse of Ezra Bridger from San Diego Comic Con, and a glimpse at Maul looking like Maul in the upcoming Maul:

But what’s coming next, really?

Star Wars on the big screen again, which we’ll know more about someday-ish soon. Starfighter has a neat logo, but what do we really know? Very little! Hooray! I saw a little clip of The Mandalorian and Grogu teaser that was shown only to those at Celebration and it was dope, bu it’s not available for public consumption yet. I don’t know what either story really is, how they’ll look, how they’re being conceptualized for the big screen. I don’t know what Ryan Gosling Star Wars looks like. I don’t know what Grogu looks like in IMAX. I don’t know how much they’ll show of Pedro Pascal, now a megastar, or keep his face covered!

I’m very happy to wonder what we’ll see, and enjoy what’s been made, and take a breather. I’m looking forward to glimpses and trailers, so when we see the Star Wars logo on the big screen again and hear that fanfare, it’s going to garner the cheers that only anticipation can achieve.