Is Disney’s “Star Wars” Really Worth Your Hate?

“The Mandalorian” has arrived and it is good. On the eve of “The Rise of Skywalker,” however, prognosticators are predicting the upcoming release could be the end of a whole other era.

The word is out: “The Rise of Skywalker” will not only conclude the eponymous Skywalker Saga of some 40-odd years, but also the theatrical future of the franchise. This is nonsense, of course, unless one buys into the assurances of toxic fandom that no further films will be made under the guidance of Lucasfilm producer Kathleen Kennedy, despite the numerous projects already announced. With Disney Plus (Disney +) streaming “The Mandalorian,” and new projects based on “Rogue One” and Ben Kenobi, “Star Wars” will safely live on under the Disney auspices.

But certain torch-bearing groups of passionate lapsed fans shall (publicly) remain passionate lapsed fans, an often cliquish collective that invites toxic fandom. Many hate if one hates, many spread poison online if one spreads poison online. Indeed, as news broke of “Game of Thrones’”showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss leaving behind their planned new “Star Wars” trilogy, reported to be for scheduling reasons due to their recently-signed $200 million Netflix deal, that certain sector of fandom widely posted that they had been “victorious” against the evil Kathleen Kennedy by preventing a much-hyped release.

Whether those lapsed fans had any real impact on the move is to be determined. Benioff and Weiss, after all, were excoriated in the press for the final season of “Game of Thrones.” Such toxic fandom chased away Daisy Ridley from social media. Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico in “The Last Jedi”) left Instagram following an unprecedented swarm of harassment.

Conventions and gamers deal with this consistently. Even “Star Trek’s” new “Picard” series, which has yet to air, is confronting online hatred, in large part due to the polarizing “Discovery.” Read the talkback section of most any geek-targeted webpage for a sample or two.

Just this morning, it became apparent that HBO’s “Watchmen” had become a new target:

Allow me to address, however, the issue at hand:

George Lucas has gone on record saying that response to his prequels, particularly “The Phantom Menace,” hastened his decision to sell Lucasfilm. An initial wave of fan excitement quickly gave way to worry. Disney is buying “Star Wars.” Surely, despite the plethora of legitimate Disney classics, talking animals would now be the norm. Ewoks would verbalize their words in English; the new bad guy would sing and dance by the end of any given saga.

Regardless that Disney has a history of somewhat edgy storytelling, especially when it comes to the death of parents (Bambi, The Lion King), what I found especially humorous about the “The Force Awakens” was an element of its merchandising. Kylo Ren killed his father, Han Solo (sorry for the spoiler), and plush Kylo children’s toys were sold at Disney stores and finer retailers everywhere. Regardless of how Kylo’s arc ends in the upcoming film, we took it at face value back then.

Apparently, patricide is also profitable, per Disney. If that’s not subversiveness at hand, I don’t know what is.

As anyone who reads my social media can attest, I loved Rian Johnson’s polarizing “The Last Jedi.” I sincerely believe it to be among the finest “Star Wars” films of them all, and I have not been quiet about my affections. As much as I enjoyed “The Force Awakens,” I appreciated it more for bringing back a dormant film franchise.

“The Last Jedi,” though, was another beast entirely. To me it moved the franchise forward. I disagree with Mark Hamill, who seemed to drop seeds of personal disappointment prior to the film’s release. His Luke Skywalker became Ben Kenobi, and then some. Further, we do not yet know how the saga concludes. “Loose ends” was another frequent criticism, followed closely by Ridley’s Rey being a “Mary Sue,” an all-powerful female hero who was able to wield a lightsaber and maybe save the world with no previous practice or experience whatsoever.

There’s still another film to go, though. We’ll get there, I’m sure.

Still, Rotten Tomatoes had to place certain mechanisms in place to prevent further abuse of its ‘User Ratings’ section, as despite the film’s $1.3 billion-plus worldwide gross ”The Last Jedi” attained an on-site audience score far below even “The Phantom Menace,” the previous persona non grata of the “Star Wars” family.

I remember the old days of toxic “Star Wars” fandom, when viewers simply accused George Lucas of “raping” their childhoods during the releases of the three prequels. The irony of insisting the creator of this world, and these stories, is “wrong” is quite rich.

Using “rape” as the descriptor is beneath the pale. The term in this context went viral before “going viral” was a measure.

“Rogue One” appeared to fare better with the hardcore fans than “The Last Jedi,” though the latter film was the higher domestic and international grosser, and yet late reshoots foretold a disaster there that did not happen. “Solo,” the second “Star Wars” one-shot (“A Star Wars Story”) received some surprisingly positive notices, despite its storied production difficulties most notably a late exchange of directors from Phil Lord and Chris Miller to Ron Howard. Still, many insist that film crashed and burned at the boxoffice. (Note: For a “Star Wars” film, as a near-$400 million worldwide gross would not be considered a flop for most.)

But then, there’s Disneyland’s “Galaxy’s Edge,” which of course must validate toxic fandom’s insistence that the franchise really is on its last breath:

Alas, as the park continues to add new attractions and Episode Nine gets closer to release, this too may change. Otherwise, show me a business where every effort is a profit-center.

They don’t exist.

So, no, Disney did not ruin “Star Wars,” and yes, the hate is far from justified. The franchise’s demise is not only overstated but wrong. To the fans who preferred what is now called “Legends” and what was once considered the canonical “Expanded Universe,” via books, comics and the like, to modern-day iterations … it’s time to come to grips. Personal ideas of what the franchise should be is not what any owner/creator had in mind from the moment George put pen to paper for Episode One.

For now, “The Rise of Skywalker” is setting records for a “Star Wars” film on both Atom Tickets and Fandango for advance sales. Despite the outcry, despite the hate, is Disney sobbing?

As of October 30, 2018, nearly one year ago by the time of this writing … I doubt it.

Someone is seeing these films. Those who are complaining clearly must try harder to turn mass audiences completely to the Dark Side.