For the past several years, Disney has sought to expand its media empire by purchasing numerous popular brands. This has led to Disney buying such properties such as The Muppets and Marvel Entertainment; with a deal with Fox to acquire its film and TV studios becoming more and more likely.
However, the crown jewel of this conquest is without a doubt the Star Wars Franchise. Since Disney bought the rights to the beloved sci-fi franchise from creator George Lucas in late 2012, they have done everything to make it their newest cash cow.
This includes starting a new trilogy that takes place where the originals left off, with another one in development. In honor of the release of The Last Jedi, we are going to look a 5 Star Wars related media (excluding the main series movies) to get ready for the occasion.
5. The Legends Canon
Before Disney's purchase of the franchise, Star Wars had an expansive universe that went well beyond the events of the movies. It came to the point that they were making stories that predated even the prequel trilogy by hundreds of thousands of years. When Disney bought the franchise, they declared that this universe was not canon, and deemed it the "Legends" timeline. Despite this, the original expanded universe has been greatly influential to the current one; as some of the characters from the old one have been adapted (Kylo Ren is very similar to the original EU's Jacen Solo) or added (Grand Admiral Thrawn) to the new one.
4. Rogue One
With the dissolution of the original expanded universe, Disney knew that they had to create its own. Along with comic books, video games, and cartoons, Disney would accomplish this through anthology films. These films would serve as a means to expand popular events and characters that were already established in the main movie series. Rogue One focuses on the events that lead to the Rebel Alliance acquiring the plans that helped them destroy the Death Star in the first movie. The main draw of this movie is the third act, in which the movie gives off a "war" feeling that isn't present that much in Star Wars (ironic, isn't it?); and arguably the best Darth Vader scene ever.
3. Clone Wars (2003)
The prequel trilogy is often the Star Wars fan-base's favorite punching bag when it comes to critiquing the franchise's weakest outputs. However, if the trilogy was more like this Cartoon Network series that ran from 2003 to 2005, the outlook on the prequels would be a little bit better. This series was made by the same man who made Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack (and also had a big hand in the making of The Powerpuff Girls), and the animation style from those shows works surprisingly well for Star Wars. The series also introduced popular expanded universe characters such as Asajj Ventress and General Grievous.
2. Clone Wars (2008)
Much like its 2003 counterpart, this Clone Wars series gives off a level of dignity that the prequel trilogy simply lacked. This series also served as an excellent way for Disney to establish its own expanded canon after they did away with the Legends Canon. The series biggest achievement is without a doubt its portrayal of Anakin Sykwalker. While the prequels showed the future Darth Vader as a whining teenager, this series portrays Anakin in a much more mature light.
1. Legacy Revealed
Have you ever taken a philosophy class that made watch movies, and than you had to write essays that force you to look at the movies in ways you didn't expect? This documentary is pretty much that. This History Channel documentary features figures from academia, politics, and entertainment (including future Star Wars director J.J. Abrams) comparing the events of the movies to mythology, religion, politics, classic literature, and historical events. Among some of the more intriguing parts include the comparison of Darth Vader's descent to the dark side to the story of Lucifer in Paradise Lost ; and how the rise of the Empire is similar to how many real life dictators rise to power. Even if you find the subjects boring, you can't deny that some of the observations made are intriguing.