It’s true. “Star Wars” needs to die.

Now that this deliberately offensive, click-bait fodder statement is out of the way, I can acknowledge that it’s actually kind of weird I say this.
I mean, I love “Star Wars.”

Yes, even the prequels.

I still have a “Star Wars” poster in my room, I have tons of “Star Wars” stuff, I read young Boba Fett novels and play Battlefront.

Even the upcoming “Force Awakens” (that I’m dreading) has things that I very strongly approve of, like the expanded cast diversity and BB-8 (who is a totally perfect, angelic cinnamon roll that is too good and too pure for this world).

So why am I dreading the new “Star Wars” when it is bringing us our robotic messiah? Why do I hate that “The Force Awakens” is coming out when I otherwise love “Star Wars?” Why am I angst-ing about this and not writing a novel-length fan fiction centered on BB-8 making everything good?
It’s not like I hate all reboots or franchise sequels. I was excited for “Jurassic World,” I love “Doctor Who,” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” is one of my favorite movies now. So why am I not hyped-up for “Star Wars?”
First, let’s look at how this relates to Shakespeare. Yes, the Bard of Avon himself.

Shakespeare’s works stopped simply being Shakespeare’s works centuries ago. Rather, Shakespeare is a part of our shared cultural fabric. No, not fabric, DNA.

Shakespeare is so big and important that what he created has become more than the mere plays themselves, he’s totally engrained in any culture that’s even somewhat related to Britain, and as such we feel free to put our own spin on his works because he’s so well known.

Honestly, when was the last time you saw a direct Shakespeare adaptation that wasn’t a high school play? We’re getting Michael Fassbender in Macbeth, but that’s the rarity.

Rather we get Shakespeare in high school, or Shakespeare in kinda-sorta World War II, or Shakespeare with lions, or Shakespeare in space or even Shakespeare in Klingon.
And I would care to argue that, while its not on the level of Shakespeare, “Star Wars” is still a work that has become more than itself. It’s part of our cultural fabric.

And I would also argue that this is an exact reason to not continue the films.

I want to be clear, I only mean the films. Because I don’t want “Star Wars” as a massive cultural thing to end.

In fact, I want the fandom to grow and thrive, but I don’t like the idea of sequel movies because I don’t feel they accomplish much besides earning a billion dollars for Disney.

I would rather see “Star Wars” handled in new mediums or by totally new creative voices than merely being spoon fed a sequel.

But even more than that I want new movies comparable to what “Star Wars” was in the 70s.

And I want that feeling that this strange, original, fun adventure influenced by old legends of chosen ones, pulp stories, eastern philosophy, fascism, and loads of other influences inspired in me.

But why should we constantly be returning to one universe, forever shackled by Lucas’s vision, when we can have wholly new ones?

Why return to this grand and wonderful universe that has already staked out its place in our cultural pantheon with unneeded, cash-grabbing sequels? I’d rather see it endure on its own and inspire more and newer things down the line.