Star Wars Day has come and gone, and as we look ahead at what's to come from the franchise on the 2026 Movie schedule and beyond, one thing is clear. The sequel trilogy didn't get the same love as other films and shows that day, unless you're me, who made a point to fire it up and rewatch with a Disney+ subscription.
I loved two-thirds of the sequel trilogy back when it came out, and revisiting it years later, I agree with the opinion that it should never be retconned. I will say, however, that one thing has aged really poorly, and the millennial-coded attempts at humor have aged poorly and feel super dated.
There's A Lot Of Millennial-Coded Dialogue That's Aged Terribly
Say what you will about the Emperor's return, the fact that Disney used Fortnite to add a key story detail of the movie, or Rian Johnson's vision, nothing in this trilogy is as bad as the millennial-era attempts at humor. For those who don't know what that means, it'd be all the moments from Episodes 7-9 in which it feels like Star Wars is trying to be The Office.
I'm a millennial, and listen, that style of humor wouldn't be iconic if shows like The Office didn't connect with audiences. That said, there's a time and a place, and when those moments happen in Star Wars, it doesn't feel like I'm in a "Galaxy Far Far Away." It feels like I'm in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and I want to crawl out of my skin watching moments like this:
To be clear, I cringed at that scene when I first watched it back in 2017. It felt dated then, and while I still love Star Wars: The Last Jedi, man, it's really painful to watch now.
It's not the only instance, either. There's the "who talks first" part between Poe and Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, and the general bullying of C-3PO all throughout The Rise of Skywalker. Then again, 3PO gets roasted across all nine movies, so I can't act like that was so off-brand. It's more like the trend of slowly looking at him like he's some kind of idiot, again, a trope of millennial humor that has aged poorly. There's no punchline; it's just mean.
Hopefully Future Star Wars Movies Are More Timeless
The first thing I'll say is that Star Wars, as a franchise, is not known for its humor. I also find it painfully unfunny when Jar Jar steps in feces and says, "Ooh, icky, icky poo."
Even so, that's more of a timeless physical gag. It's not the most mature joke, but there's never an era in which stepping in animal poop won't appeal to at least someone sitting in a theater. Even if that person is a seven-year-old child, they're gonna laugh every time.
The biggest issue with the millennial humor is that it is very much of the era, and as such, heavily dates Star Wars Episodes VII-IX in a way the other Skywalker Movies weren't. I liken it to watching Saturday Night Live in the mid-70s, and seeing all the surrealist humor. I get that it's supposed to be funny, but it just doesn't appeal to people these days.
As such, I wasn't surprised the films weren't on the top ten list of most-streamed Star Wars stuff on May 4th, and I won't be surprised if that continues to be the case going forward. There are things to like about the movies, but the dialogue and dated humor are pretty hard to get past.
