The Star Wars franchise is a multimedia science-fiction franchise that features a number of films, TV shows, video games, and various types of literature. Beginning in 1977 with A New Hope, the franchise garnered a great deal of attention and gained a cult following that quickly blew up into an international phenomenon. As one of the most successful sci-fi franchises ever created, Star Wars has provided its fans with a plethora of content that just seems to keep on coming. With the premiere of the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, it’s appropriate to look back at some of the related content for a refresher.
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Obi-Wan made his first appearance, chronologically speaking, in The Phantom Menace, the first film in the prequel trilogy. While it’s almost universally agreed upon that the prequels are bad, considering that The Phantom Menace was nominated for a number of Golden Raspberry Awards — or Razzies! — there is still some good to be found in the prequels. Even if they appear to simply be visual masterpieces without any real substance, there are more than a few redeeming factors for the Star Wars prequels. Whether you’re a fan of the prequels or not, everything is always worth revisiting with a fresh perspective. Here’s why the Star Wars prequel trilogy wasn’t that bad.
A-List Cast
Via: Lucasfilm Ltd.
While most of the cast of the original trilogy was relatively unknown during the era of its release, George Lucas took a different approach when casting the prequels. From the beginning of the prequel trilogy, we see the familiar faces of Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor, both of whom were very well-known actors at the time and whose popularity has only grown since appearing in the Star Wars prequels. Some additional talents seen throughout the prequel trilogy are that of Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, and even Natalie Portman who was well-known as a child actor before her appearance in Star Wars and would go on to become an award-winning actress. For Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Hayden Christensen was cast as Anakin Skywalker, depicting his turn towards the Dark Side. The addition of good acting from phenomenal actors in the prequel trilogy makes up for many of the trilogy’s shortcomings.
Original Concepts
As opposed to the sequels, which many felt were simply reusing old concepts that worked well in the past, the opposite is true of the prequel trilogy. The prequels have a number of original concepts that are unique to the prequels. Just a few examples of this are the pod race in The Phantom Menace, the Geonosian Arena in Attack of the Clones, and Yoda’s escape with help from the Wookiees in Revenge of the Sith. While there are a number of Easter eggs from the original trilogy scattered throughout the prequels, per Screen Rant, like the appearance of Luke’s speeder on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace, there is no trace of reusing old material for the sake of making fans happy. While some fans may not have been fond of the departure from the original Star Wars formula, it has come to be appreciated more and more.
Amazing Use of CGI
Per CBR, some have argued that Lucas went overboard with the amount of CGI he chose to use in the prequels. However, the reality is that much of what was done in the prequels would not have been possible without the use of CGI. Whether it’s the addition of life-like alien characters like General Grievous or the creation of a whole new planet like Kamino, CGI is what made the prequels such innovative additions to the franchise. CGI became the best way to make all of Lucas’ wildest dreams for the franchise come to life. The best contributions made to the franchise with the aid of CGI were the improved look of lightsabers and the newfound focus on setting, as alien planets no longer seemed impossible to produce.
Tells Darth Vader’s Entire Origin Story
Lucasfilm
There has been a vast demand for Darth Vader to get his own solo film, but, in a way, Vader has gotten more than that. The entire prequel trilogy revolves around the story of Anakin Skywalker who becomes Darth Vader when he turns to the Dark Side. From his upbringing as a slave on Tatooine to his strained relationship with the Jedi Council, Anakin has never had it easy and throughout the prequel trilogy we get to see Anakin grow up from a young boy into a fine Jedi. Over the course of the trilogy, we see Anakin’s mother die, how he falls in love with Padmé, and how his attachment leads to his eventual fall to the Dark Side. Revenge of the Sith even shows us how far Anakin is willing to go to save someone he loves from leaving him. While most of Vader’s origin story has been told, we can still look forward to seeing more of him in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Stuck With What was Originally Canon
Many fans were angered when Disney bought Lucasfilm, and the main reason was that they changed what was canon. For example: in the sequels, had Disney stuck with the original canon, Ben Solo would have been stopped by his twin sister and not a complete stranger. The prequels stuck with everything that was canon in the books before the films came out. From Anakin’s immaculate conception to Palpatine’s infiltration into the senate in order to eventually become Emperor, the prequels are packed with canonical content, created almost exactly as written before the release of the films. Disney would do well to take a note or two from the prequels in order to satisfy both long-time fans and casual viewers.
