The Mandalorian season 3 started with a WTF. Last time I saw Din Djarin in the season 2 finale, his ship had been destroyed and his quest to deliver Grogu to the Jedi was complete. A few minutes into the first episode of season 3, Din and Grogu arrive together on a new ship to save the day. I would have been perplexed if I hadn’t read some season 3 preview materials. There, I learned that in The Book of Boba Fett, Grogu and Din got back together and secured a new ship. I skipped The Book of Boba Fett because I heard it was not very good. From my perspective, a series-altering event happened off-screen. It is bad enough that it happened once, but this is the second time Star Wars got cute and used significant plot developments as a trans-media promotion. The Rise of Skywalker used Fortnite to show the Emperor had returned, which I felt was lame. Call me old-fashioned, but I think good media needs to be self-contained. Anything not shown in the title it affects should be considered as happening off-screen.
Will cross-promotions become more and more popular as media companies try to keep viewers locked into a streaming service? It makes sense that Disney would like Star Wars fans to watch all the Star Wars content they produce. However, I find it strange that Disney owns Star Wars and Marvel, and Marvel has been top-notch with their cross-promotional cameos. Watching all the Marvel content adds context and fun Easter eggs to the other content, never any truly important story developments. How did Star Wars make this mistake twice? Viewers should not have to watch The Book of Boba Fett to see how Din and Grogu linked up. Viewers should be able to see how it happened in The Mandalorian.
Star Wars does not need this sort of cheap trickery to tell great stories, look at Andor. So far, I think Andor is one of the three best Star Wars titles of all time. It was one of the best shows I watched last year. Andor is an amazing story of espionage and rebellion that happens to be set in the Star Wars universe. Very little overtly ties Andor to the greater Star Wars story. Fans that catch these connections will be excited. But no harm is done if the connections are missed. Each Star Wars show should be able to stand on its own instead of relying on snagging fans with lame sleights of hand.
If this was the first time Star Wars had tried cross-media storytelling, it might have felt less egregious. If Disney did not have so much experience with Marvel, it might have felt less amateurish. And if Andor did not exist, it might be forgiven because we might feel that Star Wars is not for telling excellent stories. But all those things have happened, and Star Wars decided not to learn from the experiences. I know they can do better because they have done better.
The Keasy Depot 