Star Wars has had a rocky road of late, with projects like the sequel trilogy and The Acolyte leading to substantial backlash and projects like The Book of Boba Fett or Solo: A Star Wars Story falling completely flat with audiences. Based on Star Wars’ upcoming TV shows and new Star Wars movies, the franchise seems aware of these challenges.
That is, Ahsoka is the only currently confirmed upcoming live-action Star Wars show—a massive change from the last few years, and movies that many thought were guarantees, like Rey’s Star Wars movie, have become question marks. While that doesn’t mean Star Wars is doomed, recent choices by Disney/Star Wars suggest the franchise’s most loyal fans are being overlooked.
Star Wars Has Targeted Specific Fans…Then Abandoned Them
The Star Wars fanbase is varied in terms of age, gender, areas of interest, and so on, which has been true since the beginning of the franchise in 1977. Even so, there are those who (yes, still) argue in sincerity that Star Wars is a male-dominated, male audience-facing franchise.
While this is not true because, of course, sci-fi is for everyone, there’s also been a notable shift in recent years in terms of who Star Wars is targeting.
Namely, Star Wars has increasingly given audiences some romance-novel-level heartthrobs, complete with shirtless scenes and romantic pining. This really began in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, in which Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker is shirtless, but it became so much more obvious with Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the sequel trilogy and Manny Jacinto’s Qimir in The Acolyte.
Now, I don’t mean to be reductive. Obviously, women can be and have long been interested in Star Wars outside such characters and arcs, and not every woman is going to be interested in these heartthrob characters, for various reasons.
However, when Star Wars presents a shirtless Adam Driver and has him deliver lines like “Can you see my surroundings? I can’t see yours…Just you,” it’s fair to assume they know what they’re doing. It’s also true that characters like Han Solo were heartthrobs long before this shift, but Han wasn’t exactly parading around shirtless or carrying anyone bridal style.
Yet, despite Star Wars’ clear awareness that they’ve reached a particular demographic by playing up the romance novel of it all, the franchise is just as quickly abandoning these fans, especially with decisions in the last few years. This includes the cancellation of The Acolyte and the recent news that Disney rejected a Ben Solo movie led by Adam Driver.
In addition to this being a major disappointment (to say the least) for fans of these characters and for the aforementioned demographic, it’s also a confusing choice from Disney’s standpoint. Sure, maybe The Acolyte proved too contentious to renew for a second season, but there’s just no good reason to reject a Ben Solo movie led by Adam Driver himself.
And, fans are making the same argument. In addition to an online effort with #SaveTheHuntForBenSolo and comments under Disney executives’ social media posts demanding the company reconsider this decision, there are reports that fans actually paid for a plane to fly over Disney Studios with a message demanding the company save the movie.
Clearly, the on-screen villain/heartthrob plan works, so why on Earth would Disney turn away from this part of the fanbase, and, by their own admission, focus on targeting Gen Z men for upcoming Disney projects, including in Star Wars?
Disney Needs To Learn This Lesson Before It’s Too Late
It isn’t clear whether fans will actually be able to successfully convince Disney to bring back The Hunt for Ben Solo, although based on Disney/Star Wars’ track record, I’m not optimistic. It also seems Disney has permanently closed the door on The Acolyte (although, never say never for Star Wars).
Yet, these decisions are angering the fans—often, some of the most loyal fans in the fanbase.
That is, the very audience members who enjoy Star Wars because of the romantic arcs, such as that between Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Rey, have repeatedly been let down, not only in terms of previously mentioned cancellations but also because of decisions like retroactively making Ben and Rey’s kiss platonic.
Moreover, Ben Solo dies immediately after that kiss, enraging many fans, which is what necessitated The Hunt for Ben Solo in the first place; this would have brought Ben back to life and back to the Star Wars screen. Instead, Disney Star Wars seems to be doubling down on this pivot to a Gen Z male audience.
Part of the problem with this plan is that, while simultaneously leaving many fans behind, these efforts are likely targeting a group that has become too negative about Star Wars to really change their minds and engage. Again, that isn’t to say all Gen Z men or all male Star Wars fans are negative—not at all.
But the negativity in response to Star Wars projects, which is well known within the larger fanbase, seems to have some overlap with the group Disney will evidently now be targeting.
Ultimately, this is risky. Abandoning a part of the fanbase that remains loyal and dedicated while trying to recover fans who have deemed the Star Wars franchise ‘ruined’ could be a recipe for disaster. In fact, it may not be overstating to say Disney’s decision on The Hunt for Ben Solo could be a tipping point for Star Wars.
