When Disney bought Lucasfilm, one of the comforting thoughts that fans of the series were often reminded of was that the company also owned Marvel Studios. The fact that the superhero house thrived under Disney in a way that pleased both investors and diehard fans gave a new hope to “Star Wars” fans.
The connection between Marvel’s success and “Star Wars” became clearer when Disney announced plans for annual trips to that galaxy far, far away, and now the studio’s CFO Jay Rasulo has made the link even stronger.
“We are doing what we do for our Disney franchises … with ‘Star Wars,’ and it is mirroring Marvel, but we already know the path, so it’s going to go faster, smoother, with the same goals,” Rasulo said (via The Hollywood Reporter), before mentioning that he hopes to attract more families and females like “Guardians of the Galaxy” did.
Now, Rasulo is coming from the corporate angle, which translates to “$$$,” but fans will hopefully benefit from this kind of talk.
Right now, Marvel Studios is doing something speculator for audiences. They’re making money through a model that rewards fans and respects the comic books. From Disney’s perspective, as long as the latter leads to the former, Marvel Studios is good to do whatever they want.
And we’re already seeing the positive effects from Marvel’s most recent success “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Even though Gamora was underserved by the story, the response from audiences means — hopefully — that going forward, equality will be something that’s seen as a positive instead of an explanation for why the toys don’t sell.
Now that “Star Wars” has simplified its cannon, the story group over at Lucasfilm is able to construct something as fully realized as what Marvel has done, all with Disney approval. This is the right environment for a new, story-driven “Star Wars” universe to thrive, because when the creative wins, so do audiences.
“Star Wars: Episode VII” opens in theaters on December 18, 2015.
Kevin P. Sullivan
Writer/editor for MTV. If it involves cowboys, spies, or hitmen, I’m there. All three would be ideal.
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