Since Disney’s purchase of Star Wars back in 2012, the franchise has fallen on tough times. Despite the recent success of “The Mandalorian,” much of what Disney has pushed out over the last decade was negatively perceived. Some attribute this to current president of LucasFilm Kathleen Kennedy, while others blame Disney’s desire to make a quick buck off of one of the biggest intellectual properties on the planet. 

Enter “Ahsoka.”

Disney’s newest limited series, led by Dave Filoni, is off to a roaring start. Not only is it allowing fans to see some of their favorite characters in live-action for the first time, but it is also reintroducing old faces. 

Hayden Christensen, best known for portraying Anakin Skywalker, makes yet another return to the franchise just one year after starring in “Obi Wan Kenobi.” The 2022 series received mixed reviews from both fans and critics. While many were excited to see Christensen and co-star Ewan Mcgregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) reprise their beloved roles, disappointment swelled due to plot holes and inconsistencies within the story. 

Joby Harold and Deborah Chow were tasked with the creation of this show, both having no prior experience working with Star Wars. Harold and Chow have both found success in Hollywood before, but previous success does not always translate to success with Star Wars fans. 

Filoni, a disciple of Star Wars’ godfather George Lucas, had primarily built his career off of the backs of animated shows throughout the 2010s. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels” both received rave reviews from critics. Filoni finally got his chance to contribute to a live action series in 2019. Partnering with Jon Favreau, “The Mandalorian” became a worldwide phenomenon among hardcore and casual fans alike. 

Due to Filoni’s success in his first live-action project, LucasFilm and Disney tasked him to create a show building off of the original story he concepted in Rebels. The continuation follows mainstays from the Rebels series: Ahsoka, Sabine, Hera and Ezra and their ongoing conflict with the evil Grand Admiral Thrawn. 

Fans were delighted after the premiere of episode five of “Ahsoka,” after Anakin and Ahsoka made their first on screen appearance together in a non-animated setting. Since Filoni wrote the script, Chritensen played the character much like he is portrayed in the animated series. This ultimately was a genius decision by Filoni, because it eliminated any accusations of the character’s dialogue being “stiff” or “horrific”, like it was in the 2005 film “Revenge of the Sith.” Ultimately, Christensen delivers a powerful performance, much to the delight of the fans. 

Filoni has been so successful since becoming involved with Star Wars due to his desire to follow George Lucas’ blueprint. After originally purchasing the franchise, Disney opted to disregard Lucas’ ideas, and decided to proceed with their own characters and stories. This led to the creation of Episodes VII, VIII and IX, more commonly referred to as the “sequel trilogy.” Due to Disney’s desire to quickly capitalize on their recent purchase, they pushed out three films between 2015-2019. All three films performed so poorly that there were rumors surrounding LucasFilm that the company could opt to label the trilogy as “non-canon.” Many believe that due to the trilogy being Carrie Fisher’s final performance before her sudden passing, this idea was never put into action. 

The amount of turmoil surrounding both LucasFilm and Disney is evident. As long as Kathleen Kennedy continues to be in charge of the company, that turmoil will remain. With Filoni continuing to produce critically acclaimed content, Disney may be forced to cut ties with Kennedy and promote Filoni for the sake of the future of Star Wars.