Stick a fork in it: Solo: A Star Wars Story is pretty much officially a flop. Its performance hasn't improved since its unimpressive debut and shows no sign of getting a boost. Moreover, judging from the fallout, the movie had more of an impact amongst conspiracy theorists than anyone else. Want proof? Read on.
Is Kathleen Kennedy Leaving Lucasfilm?
The Source: Random online gossipmongers
Probability of Accuracy: Not even slightly true.
The Real Deal: Let’s start with something that’s quite clearly wishful thinking on the part of a number of Star Wars fans: For the last couple of weeks, there have been rumors that Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as Lucasfilm president, with Marvel’s Kevin Feige being named as her potential replacement. This is, to be blunt, complete and utter banthawash. (Look, we're trying to keep it clean and on-topic.) Yes, Solo: A Star Wars Story underperformed, but that’s just one failure after three of the most successful movies in recent memory, and Solo had extenuating circumstances—namely, losing its original directors, which forced a reshoot of pretty much the entire movie. The idea that Kennedy would be forced to step down after that—or that fans need to speak up to save her job—is ridiculous, and betrays a particular myopia that fandom engenders; the idea that fans know best and have the inside scoop because they love the property so much. Kennedy’s position, at least in the eyes of parent company Disney, is pretty much secure; if she does step down for whatever reason—something that’s pretty unlikely—it’ll likely be a personal decision that has absolutely nothing to do with pressure from corporate overlords.
Kelly Marie Tran Leaves Instagram, Likely Because of Trolls
The Source: Tran’s Instagram, Facebook
Probability of Accuracy: It’s complicated, but this seems to be essentially true.
The Real Deal: The rot at the heart of Star Wars fandom became apparent a couple weeks ago when, according to multiple reports, Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Kelly Marie Tran left Instagram, presumably due to social media bullying. We say "presumably" because Tran hasn't spoken publicly about her reasoning, but did, in fact, delete her Instagram posts, but not her account at the start of the month. A now-unavailable Facebook group called (apparently without irony) "Down with Disney’s Treatment of Franchises and its Fanboys" claimed credit for Tran's absence with a post that read, in part, "it warmed my heart to see the true fans rise up against Kathleen Kennedy and her feminazi agenda," exhorting readers to "go out there and reverse this forced diversity, go out there and show them what real Star Wars fans look like. Bring back the Straight White Male Hero that isn’t manufactured by a corrupt corporation like Disney." For those confused, here’s a reminder: "True fans" is one of those phrases that is only ever said by idiotic gatekeepers who don’t want others to share their passion, and is therefore a pretty immediate disqualifier for being taken seriously. In recent days, Tran's costar John Boyega has come forward to call for an end to the harassment, and so has Last Jedi director Rian Johnson.
The Jedi Order Lives On
The Source: An official announcement from EA
Probability of Accuracy: It's an official announcement, so it's 100 percent accurate, if a little vague on details.
The Real Deal: Announced during E3 2018, EA's new Star Wars game will be called Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and be released this holiday season. Set just after Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the game will be a single player adventure that follows one of the few surviving Padawans after the destruction of the Jedi Order. EA also announced upcoming Clone Wars-era content for Star Wars Battlefront II, with playable characters including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and General Grievous, along with a new location: Geonosis, site of the first official battle between the two factions of the Clone Wars. That update arrives this fall.
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The WIRED Guide to Star Wars
Meet the Newest Member of the Resistance
The Source: Actor Jim Rash
Probability of Accuracy: If he doesn’t know who he’s playing, we could all be in trouble.
The Real Deal: Star Wars Resistance isn’t scheduled to debut until this fall, but actor Jim Rash revealed some details about who he'll be playing in the show during a recent interview. Describing his character, unhelpfully, as "a creature" called Flex (the spelling of that name is open to question) he said, "Bobby Moynihan and I are basically two guys who basically run the equipment check out area. Sort of like an Oscar and Felix." That’s an Odd Couple reference, for those who aren’t fans of classic comedy and/or old Jack Klugman TV shows, suggesting that either Rash or Moynihan is going to be a neat freak, while the other will be a slob. (It seems too obvious for Rash to be the uptight one and Moynihan the messy one, right…?) We can only hope that Flex is a specific "Felix" reference, and the other character is called something like Oss’kar. We’ll know in a few months when Resistance launches on Disney XD.
The Trilogy That Could Have Been
The Source: George Lucas, via Twitter (Kind of)
Probability of Accuracy: Can you rate things that didn’t actually happen for accuracy?
The Real Deal: Last week Twitter went into a tizzy after, of all things, George Lucas' original plans for Star Wars' seventh through ninth Episodes showed up online.
As if Lucas was some kind of oracle, fans immediately pounced to call his all-so-sketchy idea lame, dumb, and, basically, not what they’d expected or hoped for from the franchise. (Really, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is closer to that particular target, although certain fans would declare otherwise.) Yet, if you compare this idea to both the original and prequel trilogies, you have to admire Lucas for differentiating each of them, while staying curiously close to the core concept of the Force as being the one thing that binds them all together. (If the Whills sound familiar, Chirrut Imwe from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was one of the Guardians of the Whills. Nothing gets entirely thrown away in a galaxy far, far away…)