Star Wars: 10 Things Rogue One Did Best
9. Laying The Spin-Off Groundwork
The future of Star Wars spin-off movies is still unclear. The Han Solo movie will determine whether or not Rogue One was a fluke, and Star Wars’ history in this area is… less than 100%. Let’s not forget the Ewok movies, and Carrie Fisher singing to a room full of Wookiees in Snuggies. Wow, the 70s were weird.
Admittedly a Star Wars movie is always going to be a sure-fire money-spinner but the real question was if Rogue One would hold up when moving away from the broader themes and structure of the series. Spoiler alert: it did.
Rogue One has thrown open the doors of the movie side of Star Wars, which means that almost anything could happen with the spin-offs in future. We only know a few broad plots points of the Han Solo movie but since it’s being directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie), it’s probably going to have a pretty light tone.
But it’s not just tone and story that Rogue One has provided more options for, it’s direction. The franchise isn’t locked into the style set by George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, and Richard Marquand anymore. Something that was George Lucas’s intention in the early 70s, originally planning nine very different movies, each with a different director.