11. The Original Trilogy Characters Weren't Ruined
The prequels unforgivably ruined several fan-favorite characters from the original trilogy. They turned Anakin Skywalker into an annoying, whiny teenager, but never once showed the heroic yet flawed military leader that The Clone Wars series perfectly managed. Boba Fett was no longer one of the coolest guys in the galaxy; wise old Yoda, who preached about how size matters not and luminous beings are we, not this crude matter, pulls out a lightsaber and does CGI flips in the prequels, completely betraying his underlying beliefs. And although Obi-Wan wasnt ruined per se, his character wasnt improved in any way in Episodes I-III as Ewan McGregor essentially replicated Alec Guinnesss performance. The Force Awakens could have easily fallen into this same trap, specifically failing to progress Han, Luke, and Leia in any way, but they were perfectly handled. Luke has a new complex backstory, and Leia has risen through the ranks to become a General, but her relationship with Han hasnt worked out, because of course it wouldnt. But the best example of this is Han Solos story. Han initially seems to be right where he left off in the original movies, off on a smuggling adventure with Chewie, but its revealed that in the past thirty years, he has raised a child with Leia, watched that child turn to the dark side, and essentially regressed to what he best knew how to do. This was a very interesting and tragic turn for the fan-favorite scoundrel. He then served a very important role in this film, helping our heroes and attempting to bring back his son from the darkness, but ultimately failing and dying. It allowed us to see more depth to Han Solo than we have ever seen, and it made the movie so much better.