Here are a few things that Star Wars can learn from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even though Star Wars has been around much longer than the MCU, the latter is unquestionably the more popular franchise right now. This is the result of the last eleven years for Marvel Studios, where Kevin Feige has shepherded a 23 film narrative together that led to Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing movie of all-time.
Feige may now have more responsibility with Marvel than ever before thanks to his recent promotion, but Disney's ownership of the MCU and Star Wars is going to allow him to spread his wings further. He's set to produce a new Star Wars movie for Disney and Lucasfilm. At first, many thought he could soon leave Marvel to take over Lucasfilm, but his Marvel promotion makes that less likely. Feige is still going to make a Star Wars movie though, and his time with Lucasfilm could allow them to learn from him and the MCU.
As discussed in the latest Screen Rant video, there are multiple ways Star Wars could learn from what Feige has done with the MCU. One of these lessons could be to take things slow. Once Lucasfilm relaunched Star Wars under Disney in 2015, they've released one new movie every year and rushed the return of the franchise. This was possible through the standalone A Star Wars Story films, but both Rogue One and Solo had troubled productions. A slower approach in developing these titles may have allowed for some headaches to be avoided. The MCU has had some woes in this area by rushing Iron Man 2 and director troubles on Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man, but they've recently shown a willingness to take things slower when needed.
In a similar vein, the Star Wars franchise could also benefit from having a long-term story in mind. The recent trilogy is set to end the Skywalker Saga, but Star Wars' plans for future movies after The Rise of Skywalker, which is expected to end the "Skywalker Saga" are a complete mystery. They allowed J.J. Abrams to set up a brand new story with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, gave Rian Johnson freedom to go in unexpected directions with Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and now have Abrams back onboard attempting to wrap everything up neatly by the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There are some elements that have been known for a long time, such as the eventual inclusion of Palpatine, but a lot of the details have been ironed out on the fly. Feige may not have had the plots for every film in the Infinity Saga mapped out a decade ago, but there's no doubt the 22 movies of the MCU followed a well-planned roadmap.
And speaking of the freedom that Star Wars has given directors like Abrams and Johnson, this is an area that the MCU has excelled in. Directors like Taika Waititi, James Gunn, and Ryan Coogler all made a distinct imprint on their respective MCU films. The different genres and tones they brought to the MCU help keep the frequent superhero movie releases feel fresh. While Star Wars has let directors have creative freedom with the story, the tone has largely been consistent. Instead of firing Phil Lord and Chris Miller from Solo and getting Ron Howard to reshoot most of the movie, a Lord and Miller Star Wars movie would be unmistakably different than what came before.
Lastly, one of the keys to the MCU's success has been its ability to pull from Marvel's long history of great storytelling from the comics. Marvel made a lot of great Star Wars comics over the last five years, but the movies have yet to pull from them. Characters like Doctor Aphra or Rae Sloane are perfect candidates to get films or a Disney+ series of their own. The other option for Star Wars is to borrow more concepts from the Expanded Universe, which has decades of fan-favorite stories and characters now made non-canon. Both the movies and TV shows for Star Wars have done this a bit, but there are still plenty of opportunities for more.
