Poll of the Day > why is important star wars lore limited to the comic books?

(+) Yeah! (+)

what i mean by that is very few characters actually have themselves explained in the films and you need the comic books to explain the backstories of these characters and how they got here or why this situation is the way it is

no matter how many movies they make it always seem like that one character is screwed over and then they make a comic book about showing them being cool and stuff

but the average movie goer will still think they suck because they don't know comic books exist so a lot of this info will just go unnoticed
---

Nerd.
---

Because money.
---

TES_Nut posted...

Because money.

don't movies make more money than comics and are far more mainstream? so where's the money when most of your audience doesn't realize there's comic books for star wars
---

Because the more complicated and intricate something is the less broad appeal it has

This is becoming increasingly important to filmmakers with the rise of international film releases. Complicated plots and details don't translate well.
---

Backstories are not necessarily important to a character or to a plot. Who Han was before he met Luke is not relevant to the story that Star Wars is trying to tell or to Han's growth throughout the trilogy.
---

Blighboy posted...

Backstories are not necessarily important to a character or to a plot. Who Han was before he met Luke is not relevant to the story that Star Wars is trying to tell or to Han's growth throughout the trilogy.

the comic books are necessary for fleshing out characters that got screwed over and to the average person will always seem like a piece of crap(Boba Fett And Captain Phasma for example)

plus the movies rush through so much crap that we don't even get time to experience much of it
---

But those characters aren't important. Therefore the comics aren't important.
---

Blighboy posted...

But those characters aren't important. Therefore the comics aren't important.

without the extended universe star wars is just a by the numbers sci fi franchise with nothing else to offer

it's only when it branched out into other media that it was able to fill in the blanks that were there for years



the star wars universe is massive and if you count only the movies it's rather small and pathetic
---

Blighboy posted...

Backstories are not necessarily important to a character or to a plot. Who Han was before he met Luke is not relevant to the story that Star Wars is trying to tell or to Han's growth throughout the trilogy.

This, pretty much. And it's weird how decent Bligh can be when he's not shittrolling.
---

just saying what seems like a very crap character can have a stellar turn around in the comic books

the movies aren't really enough to make the characters enjoyable and likable in the long run anymore

i mean look at what happened with Rey Finn And Kylo Ren....does anyone honestly think the movie made them look cool and like people you wanna know more about?
---

NightMareBunny posted...

i mean look at what happened with Rey Finn And Kylo Ren....does anyone honestly think the movie made them look cool and like people you wanna know more about?

Yeah
---

Because to the majority of people, the single story is more important than the universe in which it takes place.

There are plenty of expansive science fiction and fantasy franchises (such as Warhammer 40k) that feature an extensive and diverse range of stories and setting details. However, none of these have reached the status that Star Wars has, because Star Wars is anchored in a single series of films telling a single story extremely well (or at least, well enough to garner mass appeal).

The vast majority of people don't care about the nitty gritty setting details, and whether or not these details exist does not effect the quality of the story they are based around. JRR Tolkien spent most of his adult life crafting a single cohesive and totally unique (at the time) world, but even that became popular because of the stories that were told in it.

I would even argue that merchandise like toys, lunchboxes and lego sets actually had more influence on Star Wars becoming the icon it is today than the entirety of the expanded universe. Most people have never heard of the Thrawn Trilogy, or Shadows of the Empire, or even The Clone Wars cartoon. From a big picture standpoint, they don't matter.
---

Mead posted...

NightMareBunny posted...

i mean look at what happened with Rey Finn And Kylo Ren....does anyone honestly think the movie made them look cool and like people you wanna know more about?

Yeah

SkynyrdRocker posted...

Mead posted...

NightMareBunny posted...

i mean look at what happened with Rey Finn And Kylo Ren....does anyone honestly think the movie made them look cool and like people you wanna know more about?

Yeah

---

Blighboy posted...

Because to the majority of people, the single story is more important than the universe in which it takes place.

There are plenty of expansive science fiction and fantasy franchises (such as Warhammer 40k) that feature an extensive and diverse range of stories and setting details. However, none of these have reached the status that Star Wars has, because Star Wars is anchored in a single series of films telling a single story extremely well (or at least, well enough to garner mass appeal).

The vast majority of people don't care about the nitty gritty setting details, and whether or not these details exist does not effect the quality of the story they are based around. JRR Tolkien spent most of his adult life crafting a single cohesive and totally unique (at the time) world, but even that became popular because of the stories that were told in it.

I would even argue that merchandise like toys, lunchboxes and lego sets actually had more influence on Star Wars becoming the icon it is today than the entirety of the expanded universe. Most people have never heard of the Thrawn Trilogy, or Shadows of the Empire, or even The Clone Wars cartoon. From a big picture standpoint, they don't matter.

without them you just get half a story...incomplete if you will

without anything else Kylo Ren is just a whiny emo that is mad at daddy han solo for not playing baseball with him Finn is just the goofy sidekick and Rey is The Female Luke Skywalker of the story

hell even with the OT The Storm troopers are just brainless twits who can't even kill one ewok without any other material to see them in a different light Lando is just the evil black guy who exists for....no reason and Boba Fett is Random Bounty Hunter#5

we aren't shown why the empire is so strong or scary they just are and yet their troopers are dumb as bricks and the armor they wear cannot protect them from anything so how did they take over the galaxy?
---

NightMareBunny posted...

Lando is just the evil black guy who exists for....no reason and Boba Fett is Random Bounty Hunter#5

Lando wasn't evil and even within ESB he redeemed himself. Everything you need to know is in the one film. And Fett doesn't need a backstory, although he *got* one right in the damn films. Fett's backstory has only served to weaken the character.
---

That's all that matters for the purpose of the story though. A more complex narrative is not necessarily a better one. Certainly in the case of a film, which has a limited running time. You work with what you have, and if people are more interested they can investigate supporting works.

Most EU works (at least the ones I've read) don't really stand up on their own if you're not familiar with the original films, because they assume preexisting knowledge of the characters and setting. But they expand on the characters for those interested. They're like expansion packs to a video game.
---

Blighboy posted...

They're like expansion packs to a video game.

There's no way you haven't heard "why is important story locked behind DLC?"
---

For someone that posts so much about Star Wars you have someone absolute garbage opinions about it NMB
---

because movies aren't 20 hours long.

EightySeven posted...

because movies aren't 20 hours long.

and yet there's still padding...
---

NightMareBunny posted...

EightySeven posted...

because movies aren't 20 hours long.

and yet there's still padding...

All of the padding is used to control the narrative to make sure things have tension building in the right places (and relieve it to build it later), as well as develop character motivations, and background.
You know... storytelling.

shadowsword87 posted...

NightMareBunny posted...

EightySeven posted...

because movies aren't 20 hours long.

and yet there's still padding...

All of the padding is used to control the narrative to make sure things have tension building in the right places (and relieve it to build it later), as well as develop character motivations, and background.
You know... storytelling.

i think the force awakens missed some of that...it wasn't bad but for the first movie set after the OT there was a lot of expectations and most of them weren't met

a lot of people thought Kylo ren would be badass and he really wasn't....

people thought captain phasma would be a badass female villain but she wasn't

and we thought Luke Skywalker would do more than he actually did
---

---

You want them to flood the market with background stories?
---

NightMareBunny posted...

i think the force awakens missed some of that...it wasn't bad but for the first movie set after the OT there was a lot of expectations and most of them weren't met

a lot of people thought Kylo ren would be badass and he really wasn't....

people thought captain phasma would be a badass female villain but she wasn't

and we thought Luke Skywalker would do more than he actually did

1. Almost as if that's the point.

2. That's just marketing, not the problem with the story itself.

3. That's actually a bit of an Actor's Guild thing. Rates for a speaking role is completely different than a non-speaking role.

Anyway, specific problems with the movie doesn't mean that the concept with padding is bad. People just have a problem with it because it can be taken to an extreme and boring, but that's just a case-by-case problem.

Casuals don't care enough to research that's why. If it's not in the movie they don't care.
---

so it was their purpose to make their main baddie look like A Whiny Sniveling weakling who cannot compare to the terror that was darth vader and yet acts like the biggest vader fanboy who will make him proud?

sometimes a hero is only as good as their villains and if your villain is Kylo Ren what does that say about your heroes?
---

Don't ignore my point about why padding is important, that's what you were arguing against.

NightMareBunny posted...

so it was their purpose to make their main baddie look like A Whiny Sniveling weakling who cannot compare to the terror that was darth vader and yet acts like the biggest vader fanboy who will make him proud?

sometimes a hero is only as good as their villains and if your villain is Kylo Ren what does that say about your heroes?

You've seen him in one film where it is made clear that his training isn't even complete.

Maybe try a little patience?
---

NightMareBunny posted...

so it was their purpose to make their main baddie look like A Whiny Sniveling weakling who cannot compare to the terror that was darth vader and yet acts like the biggest vader fanboy who will make him proud?

Yeah, that was literally exactly his character.

Like. Can you like, get some perspective or something.
---

Don't worry the comics will fix it.
---

Veedrock- posted...

Don't worry the comics will fix it.

sometimes they do just that....like giving Boba Fett more of a role outside generic bounty hunter
---