We’re less than a week away from the debut of the upcoming anime anthology series, Star Wars: Visions, and I have to say, this is the most interesting Star Wars project announcement to me since the reveal of the Mandalorian. Even though that show began only 2 years ago, considering the slew of new announcements and stories we’ve gotten since then, I still think that says something about where I stand on Visions.
And note the use of the word “interesting”. This isn’t the project that I’m the most excited for, or that I naturally have the most unhinged fanboy zeal for - that title would probably go the Ahsoka show, since I’m already invested in that storyline due to me being a big Rebels fan, or maybe even the upcoming Lego Star Wars game since the originals were such a crucial part of my upbringing.
To me, traditional excitement is reserved for projects that I already have some emotional connection to. Things that just inherently bring out that “kid on Christmas morning” feeling by nature of their subject matter.
But Visions is different.
I don’t really have a lot of investment in it, if any. I’m very new to anime, and of the studios working on this series, I think I’ve only seen another project from one of them, that being the film Promare from Trigger.
But despite that, Star Wars Visions is interesting to me.
And I love it for that. It’s what I want more of from Star Wars. I want more outlandish, bold stories. I want more unbridled explosions of creativity rather than finely tuned, heavily curated titles that remain within the parameters of what has been deemed acceptable.
There will always be a place for stories that get us excited - like seeing Ewan and Hayden back on the screen as their respective characters. I think I speak for all of us Prequel kids when I say that the Kenobi show alone is going to send my nostalgia levels through the roof. And there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s good. That’s a part of what Star Wars is to a lot of people. Excitement. Childhood memories.
But I also want stories like Visions that are just their own thing. Stories that are all about authentic creative interpretations of what George Lucas created. Stories that damn the oh-so tiresome shackle of adhering to “canon” or what Star Wars is “supposed to be” and just focus instead on making something cool and fun.
That’s what Visions feels like to me, or, at least that’s how its been marketed. As though all of these various studios are coming forth with a representation of what Star Wars as a franchise means to them, and as a culmination of their work as creatives and artists in their own right. And I’m interested by all of the stories, from the ones that look darker, and grittier in tone to the ones that look, dare I say, “cute”. I think all of that has a place in this universe, an audience that will appreciate it, and an irrevocable right to exist.
And I’m sure, especially for some of the more juvenile ones, the internet will be ripe with people calling it “dumb” and “for kids” or something reductive like that. And honestly? That’s fine. A bit of closed minded outlook, but acceptable none the less. You’re not going to like everything and thats cool.
Which really, thats the point I’m making here. This isn’t just me gushing over Star Wars: Visions, but rather a broader thesis for my general mindset in approaching storytelling from here on out.
Star Wars has come a ways since Lucas sold it to Disney almost a decade ago….which feels really weird to think about. And in that time they’ve obviously stirred up quite a bit of contention amongst fans. And that’s ok.
I’m someone who’s, overall, changed their tune on the Sequels in the past couple years. I went from vehemently defending them to just sort of being varying degrees of indifferent toward them as I grew older, learned more, and separated myself from the very binary conversation that surrounds them.
But even if I disagree with a number of creative decisions in those films, I’m still glad they exist, and I honestly wouldn’t change them whatsoever, if given the chance. Same thing with Solo. Same thing with Rogue One and Rebels. Same thing with the Resistance cartoon and with that godawful Mace Windu comic we got a couple years back.
As we enter a new age of Star Wars storytelling where streaming is the norm, and the franchise is essentially being rented out to a number of talented individuals throughout Hollywood, I think the most important thing is allowing those creators the space to tell their own stories as they see fit.
Even if I dislike how JJ Abrams went about essentially everything he did in the sequels, I’m glad he got to make his ideas come to life. Even if Rian Johnson made a few choices that I just don’t agree with in hindsight, I wouldn’t want him to alter The Last Jedi in any way.
To me, Star Wars will always be George Lucas’ vision. Nothing can change that. It’s the story of Anakin from the PT, through TCW, and ending with the OT. That’s it. No Thrawn Trilogy. No Sequels. No KOTOR. And not even any Freemaker Adventures. In my heart, it will always be about George Lucas and his beliefs and ideas that he translated into film for the world to see.
But in reality? Star Wars just isn’t that anymore. It’s just…objectively not. And again, that’s not going to change what it means to me as I described above, but it’s no longer one man’s vision. It’s evolved so far beyond that, for better or worse. It everyone’s vision. It’s Dave Filoni’s Vision. It’s Jon Favreau’s vision. It’s Patty Jenkins, and Taika Waititi’s Vision. It’s Deborah Chow, and Leslye Hedland and all of the many creative minds slaving away to make something that is authentically them.
And that’s what I love about Star Wars: Visions. It seems to be an embracing of that paradigm shift the franchise went through as it transitioned away from the ideas of one brilliant man, to the ideas of dozens of other talented individuals who were touched and inspired by his work.
It’s their visions now, and we ought to let them express it.
I want this attitude to persist within Lucasfilm going forward. I want anyone put in the position to make a Star Wars Project to be able to make precisely what they want to make, nothing more and nothing less, the personal quirks of every fan on the planet be damned.
Freedom of Expression is a concept very near and dear to me. Which is in all likelihood why I respond so scathingly to the whole idea of adhering to “canon” or people calling someone’s work “filler”, because thats just not what all of this is about to me.
This is why I’m totally fine with how Dave Filoni has more or less gone against some of the books in his latest projects. Obviously there’s a line in the sand where retconning reaches an extreme, but if he wants to change details of the Kanan comic to fit the narrative of The Bad Batch, or alter the color of Ahsoka’s lightsaber from what it was in Dark Disciple…yeah, I really can’t say that I give a shit. Good for him, in fact.
The minutiae of canon gets trumped by making a good story every day of the week for me.
And as fans, I think it’s important for us to be open to new ideas from a diverse range of people. This doesn’t mean abandoning what we love about Star Wars as individuals, but merely being capable of looking beyond that if for no other reason than keeping the franchise fresh.
Allowing preconceived notions of what Star Wars “is” to dictate what can and cannot exist achieves nothing more than shoving creators into a corner and thus clinching a final piece vacant of any personality or ambition. In doing this, we drive the franchise into the ground. As the saying goes:
Thanks for reading.
Related Content:
Star Wars Visions Discussion Hub:
https://starwars.fandom.com/d/p/4400000000003511877
![🗄 [ThreadHub] Star Wars: Visions | Fandom](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Star Wars Vision Trailer:
https://starwars.fandom.com/d/p/4400000000003500621
HelloGreedo: “Why I’m Not Excited For the Book Of Boba Fett”
