It’s difficult to now look back and imagine that when A New Hope first hit the big screen, it felt like a massive gamble. Both George Lucas and the original cast members (specifically Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford) have said that they had no idea how the film would land, and Hamill, Fisher, and Ford in particular have previously shared that there were concerns that it would be a complete flop. Clearly, Lucas was hedging his bets as well, as the movie was originally just titled Star Wars, theoretically meaning the movie could just be a standalone. Of course, what happened afterwards couldn’t be further from a standalone film, as Star Wars as a franchise absolutely exploded and is now regarded as one of the greatest movie franchises in cinema history.
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That has, sadly, dwindled with time, though. Lucas’ prequel trilogy didn’t perform nearly as well as the original trilogy and was actually subjected to scathing criticism, and since Disney took over the property in 2012, it has likewise faced some very harsh backlash at various points, with the sequel trilogy in particular being seen by many as some of Star Wars’ worst movies. It is perhaps for that reason that over the last seven years or so, Star Wars pivoted hard into primarily streaming TV shows, especially live-action shows. Yet, with only Ahsoka season 2 and Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord season 2 confirmed to be on the horizon, it seems even Star Wars shows are suffering (and various upcoming movies, like Star Wars: Starfighter, suggest movies are the focus again). Surprisingly, it might be a report about Netflix that reveals why this new downturn has come about.
Star Wars’ Long Wait Between Seasons Might Have Hurt the Franchise Overall
A report about Netflix viewership previously revealed that “a long hiatus (more than 1.5 years) for streaming series typically leads to a reduced audience, at least in the U.S. market.” While that might have been angled towards Netflix viewership, the fact that it was focused on streaming shows in the U.S. market means that it can pretty easily translate to Disney+ shows as well, certainly including Star Wars shows.
Unfortunately for Star Wars, there are many shows that fall into the longer than 1.5 years between seasons category. In fact, as mentioned, Ahsoka season 2 is currently the biggest upcoming Star Wars show, and it’s already been three years since season 1 was released. It will be even longer than that when the show finally hits the streamer this January, which, at least according to this report, will very likely mean a drop in interest—and that’s not difficult to imagine, as fans already largely seem to have lost at least some interest in it.
This also makes sense as a problem. It’s difficult to maintain momentum and excitement about a show between seasons, much less do so for years with very few updates in between, as has been the case with Ahsoka. Even with there being chatter about Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2, one has to wonder if the fanbase is even still there; almost certainly, it would no longer be as large as it was back in 2022. And therein lies a larger problem for the galaxy far, far away, as it had, for many years, relied on streaming shows in place of movies.
Now, it seems to be shifting back to movies, but what this has meant is stretches of time with no Star Wars releases or even really exciting announcements. It therefore doesn’t seem like a reach to say this very viewership problem could be a massive reason why Star Wars has been struggling of late—and, for now, no fix seems readily apparent.
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