So, a new Star Wars movie every summer starting in 2015. Wow.

I was not a big fan of the prequels. When Disney bought Star Wars and we found out we were getting more new movies, I was a little aprehensive. Apprehension turned to cautious optimism with J. J. Abrams attached to direct the first one. And now we’re going to get a new Star Wars film, every year, indefinitely. It’s a bit of a shock to the system, as a fan of a franchise that has for so long been stingily controlled by one man.

Objectively speaking, whatever. With the franchise in George Lucas’ grasp, the chances we were ever going to see episode 7-9 were slim. And if we did, they’d probably have been awful. So I figure, this way, at least there’s a shot that they’ll be good. And if they aren’t, hey, we haven’t lost anything we would have otherwise had.

And look, Disney sunk four billion dollars into this franchise… they want to start making their money back, right? So apparently they’re opting for the shotgun approach. Make a ton of movies, and hope some of them “stick.” And I’m sure that will be the case… maybe some will be awesome, and some will be bad.

As a fan, though, I still have some concerns. There’s no denying that there was a shift in tone from the first movies to the prequels, in regards to “catering to kids.” There are examples all throughout the prequels of things that feel like they were thrown in there just to sell toys. Additionally, the prequels went bananas with the CGI, and made everything look fake and ridiculous.

So I think it still remains to be seen which version of Star Wars that Disney feels is the “true” Star Wars experience. Or even if they split the approach (likely) and make both movies geared towards adults and movies geared towards kids… which side wins out?

Right now we have three movies that are generally considered “good” and three that are generally considered “bad.” If we get three more prequel-quality movies, then the tone of the entire franchise has become unbalanced, and what many fans consider a mistake (the prequels) is now the status quo for Star Wars.

I do have to give Disney some credit, here: they’ve adopted a similar release schedule with their recently acquired Marvel movies, and I have no complaints about those. A year without a new super hero movie is absolutely unheard of these days, and I have no problem with it. For so much of my life, the idea of a good, blockbuster true-to-spirit super hero movie was a pipe dream. And now I’m living in a sea of them with more coming all the time.

If I can someday say the same thing about Star Wars, I’ll be thrilled. To look back and see the prequels fading from memory as a small smudge on the awesome juggernaut that is Star Wars, overshadowed by so many great movies that followed.

If that happens… fuck it. Disney can have my money.