One of Disney’s core objectives when it bought Star Wars was to expand its appeal to a wider demographic. Even though said appeal has always been very broad, it was still ultimately seen as a franchise that appeals to men.
With the sequel trilogy’s Rey, Rogue One‘s Jyn Erso, and the pop culture sensation that is The Mandalorian‘s Grogu they’ve succeeded, with a 2019 survey indicating that 33% of women consider themselves a “casual fan,” with 18% an “avid fan” (and we suspect the 2023 numbers would be even higher).
This has naturally led to much wailing and hissing from certain unpleasant corners of the fandom who wish we could go back to the old days. But, as has been astutely pointed out, facts don’t care about your feelings, and the only male-led Disney Star Wars movie was a notable box office disappointment:
Let’s be clear that this is a joke, and Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s unexpected failure wasn’t because it had a traditional white male lead. Reasons range from Star Wars fatigue after so many movies in a short amount of time, skepticism over anyone other than Harrison Ford playing the title role, lingering fan backlash to The Last Jedi, and stiff competition from Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Alden Ehrenreich will probably never play Han again, and if the beloved smuggler does reappear, we suspect Lucasfilm will simply deepfake Harrison Ford in the same way they did Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Either way, despite the ongoing campaign, a Solo sequel clearly isn’t in the pipeline.
So, if Solo has achieved anything, it’s a great counterargument to the tired old routine of “get woke, go broke.”