Star Wars' Past

If the trailer to Rise of Skywalker is to be believed somehow Emperor Palpatine is still somehow alive--30 plus years after Darth Vader threw him down a Death Star shaft. Let's hope he spent that time taking care of his severe eczema.

If Palpatine ends up being the ultimate bad guy in this set of trilogies it might ultimately be appropriate in the sense that Lucas' original plans for a nine-movie Star Wars epic would have concluded with a final battle with Palpatine in Episode IX. According to something I read online some twenty years ago,* the story goes that Lucas hyped a nine-movie series before Empire Strikes Back, but then got burned out after Empire and decided to wrap everything up in Return of the Jedi. (The fact that Lucas ended his story after Episode VI explains why the new trilogy is a little disjointed from the original trilogy--I mean, what else can you do with a story that already ended with a happily ever after with Ewok dancing on Endor?)

It's interesting that while The Mandalorian is forward looking, The Rise of Skywalker with its Palpatine and Lando Calrissian's cape appears to be backward looking. Here's hoping it is a fitting ending to this chapter in the Star Wars universe.

*So you know this must be true.

The Future of Star Wars

Are you watching The Mandalorian?* Despite the titled character's lack of parental skills, we are loving it at my house. This show, more than anything else coming out of Star Wars since Disney purchased Lucasfilm a couple of years ago, has me convinced that the future of Star Wars is bright.

While I've enjoyed every Star Wars movie Disney has produced (and I'm really hoping I like Rise of Skywalker), I have been a little concerned how they all seem to center upon the original three movies. There are only so many stories that can be mind from the original trilogy. The Mandalorian--and it's huge success--shows that Star Wars needn't return again and again to the Skywalker family. I look forward to the weird and wild stories still to be told.

*Or as we call it at my home: The Baby Yoda Show with Special Guest Star Mando.

Star Wars Week: Episode II

Of all the Star Wars movies out there (and there are a lot these days), my least favorite is Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Leading up to it's release, we were promised a correction from all the mistakes of the first one. Instead we got Anakin complaining about sand and baby Boba.*

This week, in honor of Rise of the Jedi, is Star Wars Week: Episode II** here at the Ward Cartoonist website. Given the parallels, this might be the worst collection of comics and commentary I've ever presented on this website. You can judge for yourself. I'll be publishing my regular schedule this week as well as an extra gag on Friday. May the force be with you. (I've got a bad feeling about this.)

*One hundred percent less cute than baby Yoda.

 **By Star Wars logic, that would make it the fifth such week. You can view all of the previous week's here.