Star Wars Prequels Did 1 Thing Right: New Projects Can’t Even Follow the Lead

Summary:

• If there's one thing the Star Wars prequels can't be faulted for, it's the lack of creatively designed planets
• With Disney acquiring the franchise, many fans expected to see even more bizarre alien worlds
• Unfortunately, most of the new planets didn't bring anything new to the table, returning to Earth-like locations

The Star Wars prequel trilogy can be rightly criticized for a wide range of things, from poor writing and sometimes wooden acting to over-reliance on CGI that made them look very dated over time.

And yet, by going all out with the then brand-new technology, George Lucas managed to show us some truly incredible alien worlds that put the more mundane planets of the Original Trilogy to shame with their diversity.

The Creativity Of The Planets Was Amazing

The red sands and termitary-like structures of Geonosis, the oceans of Kamino constantly torn apart by violent storms, the humid fungal jungles of Felucia, the majestic Wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk, the miles-long skyscrapers of Coruscant, and much, much more.

So when the franchise was acquired by Disney, with its vast resources, many fans expected to see more creatively designed planets that would leave no doubt that the story was set in a distant galaxy.

However, even ignoring the overall quality of the new installments in the franchise, while we did see quite a lot of new planets, very few of them actually looked different in any way from what we had already seen.

With perhaps the sole exception of Crait, which looked quite effective with its crimson plains covered in a layer of white salt, the rest of the worlds failed to stand out in any memorable way.

Most New Worlds Have Little Difference To Earth

Ahch-To, Pasaana, Aldhani, Takodana, Scarif, Jakku, all of them, while undoubtedly beautiful, didn't look any different from the landscapes you'd find in real life on our planet.

Of course, all of these planets were filmed in real locations, and the Original Trilogy did the same with such iconic planets as Tatooine, Hoth, and the Forest Moon of Endor.

But, as mentioned above, that didn't stop the prequels from doing something truly unique and taking the story to some strange places.

When the Ahsoka TV series introduced Peridea, a planet from another galaxy, it was a perfect opportunity to show something truly bizarre on screen, but the show shamelessly wasted the chance.

While the situation is slightly better when it comes to the animated shows, it is still incredibly disappointing that live-action Star Wars projects these days feel rather bland and uninspired in terms of setting.