THE END OF STAR WARS?

Almost exactly four years ago my posting of WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STAR WARS became my most popular blog ever, and since then was matched earlier this year when I reported on BTS, or maybe it was ASMR, when I was in South Korea.  What are BTS and ASMR?  Click on that link.

About that Star Wars posting, I provided information like:

• The chronology confuses, so here is the correct timeline, known as Episodes:
• #1  The Phantom Menace (1999)--SW4--said to be essentially a trainwreck
• #2  Attack of the Clones (2002)--SW5
• #3  Revenge of the Sith (2005)--SW6
• #4  A New Hope (1977)--SW1
• #5  The Empire Strikes Back (1980)--SW2
• #6  Return of the Jedi (1983)--SW3
• #7 The Force Awakens (2015)--SW7 (thirty years after SW3)
• #8  Star Wars 8 (2017, don't see the old stars, but Benicia del Toro will be a villain)
• #9  Star Wars 9 (2019) 

#9 is called Star Wars:  The Rise of Skywalker.  From the beginning of #1 to the end in #9, it took 42 years to make, covering 67 years in Star Wars time.

So who is Skywalker?  Here is an imperfect family tree:

Confused?  Try this You Tube effort. Still confused?  Here is a simplified version for SW#9:

Which makes Rey and Kylo first cousins.  But there are variations:

In any case, the title is explained.  Do they--Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren / Ben Solo (Adam Driver)--actually get together at the end?  You need to see the film, although a spoiler awaits.  So stop reading now if you don't want to know.

And how did Carrie Fisher act as one of the main characters, for she died in 2016 before filming began?  They used previously shot footage.

While Peter Mayhew (right), 7'3" tall, died earlier this year he still could have been inside Chewbacca, but it turns out that he handed off the role to Joonas Suotamo, who is only 6'11", in SW#8.

About the film, The Rise of Skywalker, released 42 years after the first, A New Hope:

• ALERT:  sure you want to know the following without seeing the film?  Sure you do, for you will mostly be less mystified.
• While my favorite droid, R2D2, only shows up minimally, C-3PO, that nerdy nuisance, is the hero of the whole movie.
• Threads are mostly untangled and parts become almost whole, in a prosaic sort of way, where, even with 10 hours of sleep the night before, I still succumbed to a few winks.

• You would have thought that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) would have a more prominent role.  Nope.  This is how he has aged in 42 years.
• Characters keep dying, and yet reappearing as Ghost Forces or something equally puzzling, as did Han Solo to his son Kylo Ren, who subsequently returns to becoming Ben Solo.

• At the end there is an awkward but tender kiss between Rey Skywalker and Ben Solo, but he then disappears, literally.  But is Rey now pregnant?  That hand on the stomach move.  Starwarees read anything into everything.

Is this the final Star Wars film?  Are you kidding?  It was #1 this weekend, earning $374 million worldwide, although falling short of The Force Awakens at $494 million and The Last Jedi at $438 million for the first weekend.  While Rotten Tomatoes reviewers only gave it a 57 rating, audiences bestowed a justified 86.

As a movie, Star Wars:  The Force Awakens  has earned $2.1 billlion, or #4, to Avengers:  Endgame #1 with $2.8 billion, #2 Avatar $2.8 billion, and #3 Titanic $2.2 billion.  As a series, Marvel is at the top by a factor of more than two over Star Wars and Harry Potter.  But Marvel put our 19 films to 9 for Star Wars.  However, not sure what went into the SW total, for they had six more spin-offs.

So what might be next?

• Rey Skywalker rises even further.
• Jannah (Naomi Ackle) and Lando (Billy Dee Williams) could have an adventure.

• Maybe something for Finn (John Boyega), who hasn't done much.  Now that Kylo Ren is gone, what about a romantic relationship with Rey?
• But in Star Wars, no one really disappears, so the new Ben Solo by Adam Driver looks promising.

• A semi-documentary on light sabers, droids and bar patrons.
• Any way for Star Trek and Star Wars to undergo fusion into a combined film?

Finally, when did Star Wars occur and exactly where?

If there is only one Universe and  one Big Bang, then Star Wars could have occurred, according to this logic, as far back as 4.7 billion years ago.  If this galaxy is far, far away, does this mean among galaxies or just distance? The Andromeda Galaxy is around 2.5 million light years away, so the latter could be it, as that is pretty far away.  But if in a truly distant galaxy, then we are talking many billions of light years.  But if we live in a multiverse...ah, this is getting too complicated.

The Dow Jones Industrials again  broke its all-time record, rising 96 to 28,552.  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also set records.  Why, China trading advances, plus Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was ousted.

-