I guess I was gonna post once I got 7k hits, but when that rolled around I sort of decided not to. Oh well, here goes.

OH GOD IT'S THE DYING FRANCHISE OF STAR WARS, BACK FROM THE GRAVE

OOoooooooOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooOOOOOooooooo!!!

Yep, Disney bought out Lucasfilm, and everything it includes, earning our friend George a cool $4.05 billion.

As a Star Wars fan who became such just after 1999, when being a Star Wars fan made you a target of ridicule (And still does, in many cases), I have a few thoughts on the subject.

Such as that George Lucas implied to a New York Times reporter earlier this year that the fans were being big ole meany-weanies.

"Why would I make any more [Star Wars films] when everyone yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?"

-George Lucas

The fact that he's now sold the company does not indicate to me that he wants to "protect the franchise", but rather that he just gave up caring about it in the end.

Now, I can feel for him… he seems to know he screwed up a bit with the prequels and beyond, and maybe he really is just wanting to see the series in good hands, but I think he didn't so much envision his franchise living on when he signed the deal as he saw himself rolling nude in a pile of singles the size of Skywalker Ranch, his rolls of fat blubbering around him as a girlish squee escapes his lips.

…Okay that was a bit too weird.

"So now what?" was the first question in mind when I heard the news over the radio, and it was answered quite quickly by both myself and that gleeful radio host (whom liked the prequels): Episode VII, Episode VIII, Episode IX.

Yep, they're coming. I think further back in the comments on one of my earlier blogs there was a discussion about a further trilogy actually happening, but I never expected the first episode of a new trilogy by 2015.

Now, to be clear, I feel that with some fresh blood, better writing, and an all-around miracle, this could actually be good.

BUT DISNEY.

Look, I know that Disney has, by extension, done The Avengers and so forth, but I do not trust the company with my Star Wars. I'm fully expecting the entire trilogy to be more kid friendly than 20 seconds of Jar Jar falling down in the background of a serious shot. Plus theme parks and horrible licensing.

Basically, what's actually going to go on in the movie is fully conjectural, but it's expected to take place anywhere from 20 to 60 years after the last shot of Return of the Jedi, presumably with Mark Hamil, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher reprising their roles for 5 minute cameos. So who knows. In the end, it's either going to be mindblowingly awesome (As in, better than the prequels by any amount) or a complete flop (As in, The Clone Wars movie had sex with the Phantom Menace while Attack of the Clones watched from the darkened corner).

I'm optimistic about the fresh blood, but still worried that I'm gonna get verbally beat up by my Star Trek-watching friend because "Star Trek is realistic and ewoks are not"

Ah, shit. There's gonna be ewoks, isn't there?

-Darthvender