Just as I released my piece on why Star Wars fans are absolutely horrible, this news comes out and the fan base goes nuts. So, let's do a quick summary, shall we?
So basically, Disney CEO Bob Iger released a book about his time as Disney, and released some interesting tidbits about Disney's Lucasfilm acquisition back in 2012. So, when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, George Lucas himself gave Disney outlines for a Star Wars sequel trilogy, with the hopes that Disney would adapt them. Disney even bought those outlines from Lucas, and he didn't merely hand them over. However, once the meetings for the story of Episode VII (aka The Force Awakens) took place, Lucas was present and what they had in mind was far away from his ideas, and he ultimately was disappointed and possibly betrayed by the lack of originality that Disney brought to the table.
Before we get into my thoughts, let's get into why some Star Wars fans are mad about this. First of all, it disrespects George Lucas; They should have stuck with Lucas' drafts because they were more original and they were overall better than The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Add to that Lucas is Star Wars' creator, and they should follow what he thinks is right for Star Wars, and second, Lucas wanted these made, and he should have all rights in order to make that happen.
Okay, so now that we've got that out of the way, I'll start with Lucas has every right to feel disappointed. After Disney bought his drafts, he may have been confident that they would adapt them, at least most of it, anyway, and that never came to be. I can imagine that would make you feel defeated after you spent time coming up with new, creative ideas. We already knew this from interviews he did back around 2016, but this just reiterates that it's acceptable (His white slavers comment back then was completely unnecessary though). However, with that being said, I don't see this as a betrayal to George Lucas.
While it may seem on the surface that Disney smacked Lucas in the face by buying his outlines and not using them, this was never a guarantee that they would buy them. In fact, Iger specifically said in his book that the Lucasfilm buying contract that they may use Lucas' ideas in future movies, but they WEREN'T forced to adapt them. I'm sure Lucas was aware of this, and he knew it was a possibility from the get-go. However, I think he was very confident his ideas would come to life and they just didn't. This kind of thing happens all the time in Hollywood; Ideas are thrown out because of a change of directors, writers, and producers who want to make something different. Lucas' ideas from my understanding were more out there and weird, while The Force Awakens was a safe movie to draw back Star Wars fans, and The Last Jedi, while different, still definitely felt like a Star Wars movie and had plenty of similarities to previous installments. I know a few of Lucas' ideas and honestly, I think they would've been hated on, even more than Disney's Star Wars has. I'm serious. I don't care for what I've heard, it doesn't feel very Star Wars to me. Could the execution made it good? Possibly, but I don't think it would've brought people back to Star Wars like The Force Awakens did.
Speaking of Lucas' outlines, people said they would've been better because they're different and would've been better. Just because something's different doesn't make it good. The Prequel Trilogy was different, but upon release, it was hated by fans (Don't @ me, prequel fans. Look up online forums at that time). It's gotten more praise with time, but many of those fans are people who grew up with them (That's why there's why more Prequel defenders now) and while many of those who hated them at the time may have warmed up to them, they are the reason Star Wars is owned by Disney. Lucas never made his Sequel Trilogy because of the hate they received. That's why Disney played it safe with the first film and saved the bolder, more original film for its sequel; It's familiar and brimming with nostalgic callbacks, and once audiences were invested, they made a second one that brought new ideas to the franchise, and it's hated onto death. I guarantee you if Lucas made The Last Jedi, it would've been hated on just as much, if not more. Fans would've said Lucas ruined Luke Skywalker and that Star Wars is dead because of him, not Disney. Think about it, and the hate the people involved with the Sequel Trilogy faced. This would've been no different.
So, those are my thoughts on this. Iger said he wished he would've handled this situation better, and maybe that's why Lucas felt betrayed. Still, I don't see this as a bad thing. Massive Hollywood productions like these movies go through multiple drafts, ideas are thrown around everywhere, and this were just ideas that Lucasfilm may have taken inspiration from for these new movies, but they were ultimately thrown out. If Lucas made his films, they would've been hated on just as much. That's just how the Star Wars fan base is, even if they were genuinely good movies. While I understand Lucas' frustration, he knew that this could happen. He has every right to be disappointed, but that's just Hollywood. Films evolve throughout production, and this was just an example of that.
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