With the news that Episode VIII has been pushed back from May to December 2017, the internet has been largely aflame in reaction. Look on any message board and you'll probably see the five stages of grief being played out. Disney have made the move to take advantage of the same kind of profits they experienced this Christmas just gone ($1.6 billion worldwide so far). There's also the rumour that it's to allow director Rian Johnson to carry out some rewrites on the script after so much positive reaction to the three new characters of Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron - which is all fair enough. Good luck telling fans to wait another 6 months for a Star Wars film, though. Of course, websites like Twitter and Reddit have been absolute goldmines of quality responses, from well-placed quotes and references to just tearing innocent bystanders apart. Take a look!
12. So That's Why
https://twitter.com/JoshuaIsard/status/689974563304804355 Ouch. Burn. But yes, one of the biggest criticisms levelled at The Force Awakens was mainly that it was a paint-by-numbers rehash of A New Hope (with elements of Empire and Jedi thrown in for a bit of variation). On the whole, all the major beats were there. Orphan on a desert planet. Wise mentor. Evil space station. Rescue mission. Dog fight. Death of mentor. Explosion. The end. That's A New Hope! They have nowhere to go from here but into more original storytelling territory. It's safe to say that everybody involved in the production of Episode VIII would desperately like to avoid the film being exactly like The Empire Strikes Back.