After the success of the original trilogy of films, theStar Warsuniverse expanded into all kinds of media, with novels, comic books, video games, and others covering many questions left unanswered by the first three films. AfterDisneybought the property fromGeorge Lucasin 2012, the existing canon underwent a shift, and these stories — except for anything on-screen — were de-canonized and reclassified as “Legends.”
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Disney then established its own expanded media, which retconned a lot of what had come before, and as a result, the current Star Wars canon is at best a bit of a mess and at worst downright confusing. After nearly 45 years, the lack of constant continuity and the creative freedom allowed to different parties has resulted in plenty of retcons, some of which have frustrated the devoted fanbase.
VFX Added to the Original Trilogy — The “Special Edition” (1997)
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original trilogy, Lucas and Fox re-released the films to cinemas. This was an excellent opportunity for a new generation to experience the films on the big screen for the first time and celebrated the original films' iconic status. At the same time is served to prime audiences for the upcoming release ofThe Phantom Menace.
However, Lucas didn’t do just a straight re-release. While the original films were primarily intact, he decided to combine unfinished footage from the originals with, what was at the time, fledgling technology to add and change some sequences. In some small ways, it was a success — seeing more of the Wompa attack inThe Empire Strikes Back, for example — but mainly between the abysmal “Jedi Rocks” and the meeting of Jabba and Han before he takes off for Alderaan, the CGI looks rubbery and fake, and has aged terribly.
Midi-chlorians — ‘The Phantom Menace’ (1999)
As a child of the flower power movement, Lucas was undoubtedly exposed to some pretty “far-out” ideas from a young age. The hippy movement of the sixties combined Western anti-capitalist and anti-war sentiments with Eastern philosophies, with the views of unselfishness and communal living driving it.
Perhaps most obviously, the Force manifests as Lucas' interpretation of these ideas. The idea is that the energy in the universe is governed by a kind of balance, yin and yang, and that someone must learn to harness this energy by achieving a balance between these two sides. Part of the appeal of the Force was that anyone could potentially learn these skills and harness that power.
However, Lucas decided to introduce the concept of Midi-chlorians in the opener to his prequel trilogy — and almost completely de-mystified the Force in the process. Instead of it being an unseen force one could learn to harness, Midi-chlorian’s made it so that one’s ability to connect with the Force was directly linked to the number of a specific cell in the blood. This made what was once a spiritual process a scientific one.
A Lack of Vision — The Sequel Trilogy (2015-2019)
The hype was real when the first teaser dropped for the then-upcomingThe Force Awakens. Breaking the record for most-watched video on YouTube at the time, fans were keen to see their favorite franchise return to the cinema, and people lined up. The film that followed was serviceable but not especially memorable, doing what was required but saying little that was new for the franchise.
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For better or worse,Rian Johnsonset out to challenge the notion that all fans wanted was a nostalgia trip. He actively ignored and, in some cases, destroyed the plot threads set up in the previous film, changing their importance entirely. From the comical (Luke throwing the lightsaber over his shoulder) to the shocking (Snoke’s death), Johnson seemed almost gleeful in deconstructingJ.J. Abrams’work.
This all acted againstThe Rise of Skywalker,as the apparent lack of an overall plan for these stories showed. This film feels disjointed, as the filmmaker tries to retcon what didn’t work about the previous movie and connect the critical points of both films to the third to create a cohesive whole.
“Lost Her Will to Live” — ‘Revenge of the Sith’ (2005)
Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) was Anakin Skywalker’s (Hayden Christensen) love interest through the prequel trilogy: but more than that, she was a queen, a senator, and politician, and a capable warrior who could hold her own, as we see during the Battle of Geonosis. It was a massive disappointment to fans, then, when she died towards the end ofRevenge of the Sith, with the reason cited as being “losing the will to live.”
This did the character a huge disservice, as she was tough and capable, and her death in such an inauspicious manner feels like a bit of a cop-out. Not only that, but it retcons the first conversation Luke and Leia have as brother and sister inReturn of the Jedi, as Leia tells him she can remember her mother from her early childhood.
“From a Certain Point of View” — Original Trilogy (1977-83) & Prequel Trilogy (1999-2005)
When we first meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, he’s an old man who saves Luke from some Tuskens. He explains the nature of the Force to the young man and alludes to the fact he had known his father. He explains then that Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker, and Luke takes him at his word.
Of course, this is contradicted byEmpire’smost well-known moment, as Vader reveals he is indeed Anakin. While the franchise later explains it away as a sort of symbolic death — that Vader needed to kill Anakin as a representation of the light side of himself — it’s pretty clear that Lucas changed his mind about Vader and Anakin being separate characters on the fly, a move that was fleshed out in the prequels by exploring their master-apprentice relationship.
Unnecessary Demystification — ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ (2018)
Solo: A Star Wars Storyis by and large a pretty forgettable origin film. While it was inoffensive, it was also rather bland — a style of filmmaking thatRon Howardtends to traffic in. This is after the studio fired original directorsPhil LordandChristopher Miller, leaving fans to wonder what might have been.
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The film feels at best redundant. However, some of its decisions regarding two of the (previously) coolest characters in the franchise raise some eyebrows. Firstly, it heavily implies a romantic relationship between the smooth-talking ex-smuggler Lando Calrissian (Donald GloverinSolo: A Star Wars Story) and a droid, which feels like it was cooked up as a cheap laugh, and subsequently damages the character.
Then there’s Han (Alden EhrenreichinSolo: A Star Wars Story) himself. Part of the allure ofHarrison Ford’sperformance in the original trilogy was the deliberate standoffish mystery that he exuded. This film takes the time to explain where he got each of his signature things, from his blaster to even his name. This is meant to fill these holes for the audience, but instead, it makes the character look weaker, as it takes the agency from him and lets other characters define who he is.
“Somehow, Palpatine Has Returned” — The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Studios and film crews do their best in this day and age to prevent plot leaks ahead of their films releasing to the public. Just look at the careful effort by Marvel studios around the recent release ofSpider-Man: No Way Homeas a great example of this. When you choose to leak a significant plot pointvia a videogame, it might just be an indicator that your film is in trouble.
The mystifying decision to leak Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) return as downloadable content on Fortnite is just the tip of the iceberg, though. Not only is this notion of bringing back the bad guy from the previous two trilogies incredibly lazy writing, it actively damages the most important arc of those films.
The entire story revolves around Anakin’s turn to the dark side and then, through interacting with his son, to see there’s still good in him that ultimately leads to his redemption in standing up to his former master and killing him. Palpatine’s inexplicable resurrection almost destroys the legacy of what had come before.
“Han Shot First!” — Star Wars (1977)
While this is somewhat tied to the first entry on this list, this is easily the most well-known and, to many fans, symbolic of the entire history of Star Wars' myriad of retcons. In the re-release of the trilogy, during the scene where Greedo, a bounty hunter, confronts Han, Lucas elected to have Greedo shoot first, Han dodge and then return fire, rather than the original where Han coolly shoots first.
This caused outrage among the fanbase, and like a few of these retcons, does damage to the character’s reputation.Han shooting first became a cultural phenomenon, with long-time famous Hollywood geeks like Kevin Smith taking up the cause and wearing a shirt with the line on it.
