With Kathleen Kennedy stepping down from the Lucasfilm presidency far behind us and the inauguration of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan’s co-presidency, it is a good time to take stock of Disney’s reign in the galaxy far, far away. Ever since Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, the Star Wars fandom has grown increasingly divided on the quality of the franchise, regularly claiming that Disney “killed” Star Wars. This is a regular sentiment, despite the recent changing of the guard.
But what does this claim mean? It is evident that the brand is alive and well, still financially performing and continuing production on projects for the big screen, small screen, and even gaming consoles. So what do fans mean by “killed?” As one would assume with a fan base as divisive as Star Wars, it makes sense that there is not a consensus as to what that means, but it stands to reason that “killed” simply translates to “not as good as it used to be” or is somehow different, or a dead franchise. While this is certainly a subjective sentiment, the discerning fan should also ask if the same sentiment can be empirically supported.
Methodology.
Here, we’ll dive into the data relating to critic acclaim and fan approval - sometimes oack thereof - for each Star Wars theatrical, tv, and streaming releases if Disney in fact killed Star Wars from a purely data-driven perspective. Scores have been gathered from Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, Metacritic, and Letterboxd as available then separated into a Lucasfilm Era and a Disney era “score” using The Force Awakens as the dividing point. While there will be confounding variables that will be identified, we will not measure artistic intent, quality, or fan identity; only observable, quantifiable outcomes be concerned here.
Confounding Variables.
Since all data points are derived from critical and audience scores, some scores may be skewed due to “review bombing,” a practice that has since been accounted for but may still present itself in audience scores. Since the franchise began in 1977, certain changes in the film industry, audience, and socio-political norms and abnormalities may also skew certain scores to criticize projects from a point of view other than strictly artistic. While subjectivity is valid it cannot be measured though must be acknowledged.
Because the Lucasfilm Era Star Wars properties have the benefit of age, they are also subject to nostalgia bias. Challenges also presented themselves in inconsistent reporting in that not all sources are able to provide comprehensive coverage of all projects. Barring a gap in reporting, these factors cannot be supported or assessed by the data.
Findings - the Lucas Era.
The defining characteristic of the Lucas era is polarization between the trilogies, not within them. Critics and audiences generally agree across all three Original Trilogy films, with tight score clustering and no meaningful gaps between platforms. It's the most internally consistent body of work in the franchise. The Lucasfilm era is dragged down by the poor reecption of spin off properties like Ewoks and the Holiday Special - they are the era's clear weak point. However, Prequel Trilogy data shows something the OT never needed - a redemption. Revenge of the Sith's 80%/83% scores signal that there was a trajectoy of recovery not only for the triloy,bu the francise as a whole at that point. Culturally, the PT films have been substantially rehabilitated - the Prequel Renaissance - since release in ways the raw scores only partially capture.
Findings - the Disney Era.
This era's defining characteristic is almost the exact inverse of the Original Trilogy - divisiveness. A significant gap is witnessed in a majority of ratings between critics and audiences. You can find a 98% and a 25% audience score in the same franchise, same ownership, within a few years of each other. Theatrical output is the genuine weak point. Five films averaging 78% critic / 68% audience / 69 Metacritic represents a step down from the OT peak, and the Sequel Trilogy specifically shows the most dramatic critic-audience divergence in franchise history. The Last Jedi's 91%/42% gap is the single most important data point in the era, if not the franchise, as it demonstrates asimultaneous rejection of the franchise’s new direction and a divide in the fandom.
The streaming era largely supported Disney's Star Wars record. Mandalorian S1–S2 re-established audience trust after a turbulent Sequel Trilogy's. Andor further elevated the ceiling of what Star Wars could be critically and creatively. Andor recalled previous OT trends by realigning critica and audience sentiment, this time the highest its been in franchise history with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score. Despite this milestone, Disney's era is defined by more extreme variance than witnessed in the Lucas era, with theatrical output underperforming and streaming overperforming.
Synthesis.
The most consistantly performing properties across both data sets are the animated series. Clone Wars S1–S7 sustained 98%-100% critical scores across multiple seasons with IMDb ratings consistently in the 8.4-9.0 range. These numbers rival even conventional television series. Notably, the animated shows are generally out of conventional or casual conversation, even though they are beloved within the fandom. Regardless, it was quietly the most creatively consistent output. The 91% series-level audience score confirms fans recognized this even if press coverage didn't reflect it.
The animated content continued its Lucasfilm Era excellence, with Bad Batch, Visions, and Tales of the Jedi all sustaining strong critic scores. The notable exception is Tales of the Empire at 73%/46%. The audience score especially suggests fatigue with the anthology format or specific creative choices, and it's a mild warning sign about oversaturation.
Summary.
The Original Trilogy achieved something rare in popular culture: near-universal agreement. Neither the Prequels, despite their renaissance, nor the Disney era recaptured that consistantly. Some of that is Disney-specific, but a lot of it is a cultural shift in how audiences consume and debate media in the social media age, as well as how major entertainment corporations can manipulate and amplify those mechanisms of divisiveness. The data does not show symptoms of a franchise in decline, or that the franchise was “killed” by Disney. It does show, however, a noticeable pattern of division across a majority of Disney-era projects. The outlier in this case is Andor, which saw both seasons seizing first and second highest rated projects across critics and fans in the entire franchise.
Something of note, although unable to calculate, is the generational nature of Star Wars as a fandom. Each evolution of Star Wars is largely criticized by the target audience of the previous era - OT fans criticize the PT, PT fans criticize the ST. While outliers exist, it is evident this criticism is well intentioned protectiveness. It stands to reason that the Sequel Trilogy may experience a similar pattern of a renaissance the Prequels enjoyed. Regardless, it will be interesting to see where Disney-era fans land in the next generation of Star Wars under the Filoni-Brennan Era of Lucasfilm.