12 Star Wars Things We've All Been Way Too Harsh About

5 days ago 2

Star Wars

Plenty of things in Star Wars weren't received well, but there are 12 characters, concepts, and projects that were judged much more harshly than they deserved to be. Star Wars has grown into such a massive franchise that it's rare any Star Wars show or movie can appeal to the entire fanbase. Even the best Star Wars movies and shows have aspects that don't work perfectly and earn the ire of audiences, and even the worst projects have some redeeming qualities. There are 12 things in Star Wars, however, that got a much more negative reception than they deserved.

Star Wars is very dear to many people, so it's completely understandable that certain new elements and decisions in the franchise aren't universally loved. There are also certain elements of Star Wars that are widely disliked for valid reasons, like certain story decisions in the sequel trilogy and shows. For all the valid criticisms of the franchise, though, there are also some that fans, myself included, have been unduly harsh about. These 12 elements of Star Wars really aren't as bad as we made them out to be.

12 Jar Jar Binks In The Phantom Menace

When Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace came out, it was very easy to make fun of Jar Jar Binks. Many fans - myself included - saw him and his clumsy antics as annoying, overly childish, and mildly infuriating. While both the character and his actor, Ahmed Best, have grown much more beloved in recent years, Jar Jar was considered one of the most disliked characters in Star Wars for a long time. His newfound popularity notwithstanding, Jar Jar never deserved the harsh treatment we gave him.

Jar Jar Binks may have been created to entertain children, but Star Wars has always been for fans of all ages, including kids. Jar Jar's antics were incredibly useful in making The Phantom Menace more entertaining for younger audiences, especially in a movie predicated upon trade disputes. Plus, Jar Jar was never that annoying or childish to begin with. I recently rewatched The Phantom Menace, and I found myself laughing out loud at Jar Jar's jokes, particularly the multiple times he said "how rude!" Jar Jar was never serious to begin with, so he never deserved such a harsh reception.

11 Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Early Seasons

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, today, is a shining example of some of the best stories the franchise has to offer. When it started out, however, it was far from the beloved series it later became. Many people criticized the early seasons of The Clone Wars for a variety of reasons: its stories were simplistic, its villains were annoying, its animation style wasn't very polished, and it changed a lot of established Star Wars lore. The first season of The Clone Wars is still difficult to rewatch today, and I actually put off watching the series until years after it started because I could never get past it.

While those criticisms of the early seasons of The Clone Wars are valid, I don't think they're as detrimental to the show as we make them out to be. Like Jar Jar Binks, the first few seasons of The Clone Wars are much more enjoyable when they're not taken so seriously. The villains are annoying, but they're also campy and fun. The stories were simple, but they were exciting mini-adventures. The early seasons also made what The Clone Wars grew into even better: the soaring space opera stories of season 7 are made even more impressive by knowing that they came from such humble beginnings.

10 Anakin Skywalker's Actors In The Prequel Trilogy

Both of the actors who played Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy - Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen - received huge amounts of hate for their performances. Both Lloyd and Christensen were criticized for making Anakin seem annoying, whiny, and unlikable. Neither of them, however, deserved the hate they got, mainly because George Lucas wanted Anakin to seem annoying and unlikable. Anakin was destined to become Darth Vader, and a major goal of the prequel trilogy was to show how he was doomed to that dark fate. The problems the prequels had with depicting that stemmed from Lucas' direction, not Lloyd and Christensen's performances.

Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader Split By a Lightning Bolt

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

Conceived by the will of the Force itself, Anakin Skywalker was the prophesied Chosen One, destined to bring the Force into balance. Anakin struggled to balance competing attachments to the Jedi Order and his wife Padmé Amidala, and ultimately fell to the dark side, becoming Darth Vader. For years he served as Palpatine's right hand man, but he was ultimately redeemed by the faith of his son, Luke Skywalker. Now a Force Ghost, Anakin continues to act as an agent of balance.

Died Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi

Alliance Jedi, Sith

Another reason Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen didn't deserve the hatred they got is because of the story of the prequels itself. Anakin experienced incredible pain, turmoil, and anguish throughout the entire trilogy. It makes sense that Anakin would be kind of irritable and unlikable during such a difficult time, and Lloyd and Christensen portrayed that perfectly. Anakin was a troubled boy and an even more troubled young man, and most of the criticism we level at the actors should have been more understandable because of that fact. At the very least, neither Lloyd nor Christensen deserved to be harassed for their performances.

9 Star Wars Rebels' Animation Style

Star Wars Rebels is often considered one of the best Star Wars shows out there. Everything about it, from its story to its complex characters to the way it fits into the Star Wars timeline, works very well. One of the few criticisms viewers often have with Rebels is its animation style, which looked very different from the stylized realism of The Clone Wars. Even that, I believe, isn't a very big complaint, though. I'm personally not a big fan of Rebels' animation style, but I also think it gets singled out as a problem far more than it deserves to be.

The animation in Rebels is, simply put, not as good as the style of The Clone Wars, but it's really not that bad. The characters' faces are expressive, it took some stylistic risks that paid off quite well - like with lightsabers - and more. Certain parts of Rebels' animation style also aren't just not bad, they're tremendous. Almost every Rebels scene that's set in space and all the ships look absolutely gorgeous, and even better than they looked in The Clone Wars. The animation style really doesn't drag Rebels down as much as we claim it does.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had its fair share of criticism, and many of those critiques were well-deserved. One issue that received a much harsher reception than it deserved, however, was Rey Skywalker's relationship to Emperor Palpatine. There are certainly issues with Rey's heritage in The Rise of Skywalker - it wasn't set up particularly well, and it directly contradicted Star Wars: The Last Jedi, for example - and I personally disliked it quite a bit when the movie first came out. That being said, Star Wars has done quite a bit in the years since to redeem it, and the franchise has been very successful in that goal.

Rey's heritage didn't deserve the harsh reception it got because we never gave it a chance to become something great. Instead of instantly condemning it as a lore-breaking decision, we should have viewed Rey's connection to Palpatine as a mystery that future Star Wars stories would later solve. More recent stories, from great books like Shadow of the Sith to major concepts like Project Necromancer, have done just that. Her connection to the Sith Lord has been tremendously fleshed out, even despite the fact that we gave it such a harsh reception.

7 The Ewoks In Return of the Jedi

Poorly received additions to Star Wars are not exclusive to newer stories, as evidenced by the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. When the Ewoks were first introduced, many fans accused George Lucas of creating them to be fluffy, cute, and cuddly creatures that were designed specifically to sell merchandise and cater to children. Even if they had been designed just to sell toys, the Ewoks were still fun, cute, and humorous, and they didn't deserve the backlash they got. What makes the harsh reception even less deserved is Lucas' original intention for Ewoks.

The Ewoks are a major part of Return of the Jedi, which is one of the reasons many people hated them, but their role actually makes them better. George Lucas based the Ewoks on the Viet Cong and the Vietnam War. I find it hard to dismiss the Ewoks as simple teddy bear stand-ins given that inspiration, and I think they're a rare example of a Star Wars concept that gets better by treating them seriously. Watching the Ewoks defeat the Empire with only sticks and stones doesn't seem as laughable when compared to the real-world parallels, and the backlash doesn't seem nearly as deserved.

6 Star Wars Resistance Never Got A Chance

One of the most forgotten animated Star Wars shows is Star Wars Resistance. A big reason Resistance is so often forgotten is because it didn't get nearly the same attention as The Clone Wars and Rebels did, yet it received the same harsh criticism. Many fans criticized Resistance for being too childish, for having underdeveloped characters, and for having a much smaller scope than other Star Wars shows. Resistance deserved those criticisms even less than Rebels or The Clone Wars did, however, because it was canceled after just two seasons and never got a chance to find its footing.

While it's certainly not the best animated Star Wars show, Resistance is also far from the worst. Though it was definitely aimed at a younger audience, it also had a lot of potential to appeal to older viewers, if it only had more time. There would have been plenty of chances for Kaz's story to intersect with and explain the sequels, and it could have gotten more mature in the process. If we had given it more of a chance to evolve, like we did with The Clone Wars and Rebels, Resistance could have transformed the sequel trilogy and become a beloved part of Star Wars.

5 Charlie Barnett Forgetting Who Destroyed The Death Star

The recent Star Wars show The Acolyte received more than its fair share of backlash, hatred, and controversies. Some of those critiques were valid and shared by many, like its pacing problems and scattered focus, while others were incorrect and spread by a select few, like the claims that The Acolyte was woke. One criticism that was both fairly common and overblown, however, was when Yord Fandar's actor, Charlie Barnett, mistakenly said that Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Death Star during an interview. Quite a few people criticized Barnett for mixing up Luke and Anakin and said that he should have been more familiar with Star Wars lore.

Yord Fandar

Yord, a Jedi Knight and guardian from the Jedi Temple, is an overachiever and a rule follower. His need to be a by-the-book Jedi can cloud his mind.

Created By Leslye Headland

Alliance Jedi

While I definitely agree that it would have been cool if an actor who was in love with Star Wars got a chance to play a Jedi, I'm also not mad that someone who wasn't as familiar with the franchise landed the role instead. I don't think Barnett needed deep, intricate knowledge of Star Wars lore to deliver a compelling performance as Yord, and I don't think he deserved the hate for mixing up Anakin and Luke. Yord was still a great part of The Acolyte because of Barnett's acting, and knowing who destroyed the Death Star wouldn't have made his character any better.

4 Luke Skywalker's Characterization In The Last Jedi

One of the most controversial Star Wars stories ever told was The Last Jedi, as almost everyone who saw the film either loved it or hated it. One of the movie's biggest controversies, Luke Skywalker's change in character, received much more hate than a difference in opinion deserved. I personally love Luke's character arc in The Last Jedi, but I understand why people took issue with the movie changing him so drastically after Return of the Jedi. Though I think it's valid to dislike the direction The Last Jedi took with him, I still believe it shouldn't have gotten such a harsh reception.

Luke Skywalker
The son of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, Luke was brought up on the desert planet Tatooine. Initially mentored by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke fired the fateful shot that destroyed the Death Star, and he became a rebel hero. Despite the fears of Obi-Wan and Yoda, Luke's faith in his father was proved well-founded when Vader returned to the light. With the Emperor defeated, Luke dedicated himself to bringing back the Jedi; his first attempt ended in tragedy due to Palpatine's manipulations, but Luke's legacy lives on in Rey.

After Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi had to find a way to explain why Luke was in hiding even as a galactic war was waging. It chose to explain that he was in a self-imposed exile. It wasn't the perfect decision, and The Last Jedi could have done a better job of explaining why Luke turned against Ben Solo, but I think it deserves some credit for making a compelling story out of a difficult setup. Even if you didn't like Luke's character arc, the blame doesn't fall squarely on The Last Jedi, and it didn't deserve to be so thoroughly hated.

3 The Book Of Boba Fett Had Good Elements

The Book of Boba Fett is often touted as one of the worst Star Wars shows, but I don't think it deserves that distinction. I'll admit, it could have been a lot better, cooler, and more interesting, but I also don't think it was a horrible series. There were some bad parts - the Mods were particularly lame, and the focus Din Djarin and Grogu was a mistake - but there were also some fascinating aspects within them. The Mods introduced a wealth of new cybernetics to live-action Star Wars, and Din and Grogu's story saw Ahsoka and Luke on-screen together for the first time.

There were also quite a few parts of The Book of Boba Fett that weren't bad at all, yet they received serious criticism. Boba Fett's transformation from ruthless bounty hunter to benevolent crime lord is often considered nonsensical, but I think his time with the Tuskens perfectly explained his redemption. Likewise, Cad Bane's live-action design was mocked for being too different from his appearance in The Clone Wars, yet I think it was actually a good adaptation. There were a lot of good components to The Book of Boba Fett, and while they could have been tied together better, the show didn't deserve the reception it got.

2 Osha & Mae's Force Birth In The Acolyte

Another aspect of The Acolyte that I felt got more flak than it deserved was the way Osha and Mae Aniseya were born. Late in the show, it was revealed that the Witches of Brendok manipulated the Force to create Osha and Mae without a father. Many Star Wars fans took that to mean that Anakin Skywalker, who was also born through the Force without a father, was no longer special because of The Acolyte. While many then criticized The Acolyte for rewriting Star Wars lore, I never thought that Osha and Mae's birth warranted such outrage.

A big reason Osha and Mae's birth doesn't seem worthy of such a harsh reaction is because it was fundamentally different from Anakin's birth. The Witches of Brendok manipulated the Force to create Osha and Mae, whereas the Force itself created Anakin. Additionally, The Acolyte season 2 almost certainly would have delved deeper into their birth, and the show could have actually helped make Anakin's fatherless birth even more special, had it not been canceled.

1 Bo-Katan Kryze's Story In The Mandalorian Season 3

While The Mandalorian is the most popular Star Wars show, The Mandalorian season 3 is among the least popular. A big reason the most recent season got such a harsh reception is because of Bo-Katan Kryze's story in The Mandalorian season 3. Bo-Katan and the rest of the Mandalorian diaspora took center stage in season 3, and they pushed Din Djarin and Grogu out of the spotlight of their own show. That was definitely a problem for The Mandalorian, and I agree that Din and Grogu should have stayed the main focus of the show, but Bo-Katan's story wasn't the problem.

I really liked Bo-Katan's story. Seeing the reclamation of Mandalore, learning more about the Children of the Watch, and watching Bo-Katan learn to lead without leaning on the darksaber for authority were fascinating story decisions. The story of Bo-Katan reuniting Mandalore and learning to lead her people would have been a great Star Wars story, and the only reason it has gotten as harsh of a reception as it has is because it happened in The Mandalorian instead of a standalone show.

Star Wars

Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.