Imagine if they had let Favreau and Filoni do the Sequel Trilogy instead.

People give Kathleen Kennedy a hard time, and all too often for misogynistic reasons. I'll say this in her defense: she's an *artist's* producer. Her style is to hire talented directors and mostly let them do their thing, trusting their creative potential. And it usually works!/2

But you can't do that with an entire trilogy, compromised one of the world's most beloved IPs and a beloved cast of characters. You have to plan the story out, & you can't let different directors/writers take whatever liberties they want. Especially if the visions are different!

Some people think Abrams is a hack and Johnson a subtle genius. I disagree: I think Johnson is an overrated troll and Abrams does decent superficial paint-by-numbers homages to original work.

But either way, it has to be a singular vision with planning from above. /4

And it has to have genuine love for the source material and the fans. Not just sweeping homages, and certainly not Johnsonian contempt.

Think of the new Watchmen series. It was brilliant--and woke! And good! It loved the source material but wasn't afraid to go beyond it. /5

The Mandalorian is kind of like that--though obviously not pushing remotely the same cultural and political boundaries. Still, it's relevantly similar in loving the source material *and* the fandom *and* the characters, but pushing past it in important ways--including diversity.

And it has a singular vision.

That's what you want from new books adding to the gospel of a beloved IP. Kennedy's approach was, at best, to just make more Jurassic Park sequels while letting directors do their thing.

Even with good intentions, that's a colossal mistake for SW.

Anyway, three cheers for Filoni, Favreau and the team. And hopefully Disney learns from this experience.