Fans Petition To Remove The Last Jedi From Star Wars Canon

Since nobody really has the power of the Force, people who really hate The Last Jedi are trying to remove the movie from official Star Wars canon the best way they know how: with an online petition.

Although Rian Johnson's installment in the Skywalker saga had the second-biggest opening weekend in history and received mostly positive reviews, many Star Wars fans aren't just disappointed in The Last Jedi, they think it ruins the entire franchise. As of now, the sequel to The Force Awakens has the lowest audience score of any Star Wars film on Rotten Tomatoes with 55 percent. 

But The Last Jedi is a very different Star Wars movie. Instead of embracing the heritage of the franchise, Johnson made a concerted effort to focus on the future. As Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) says, "Let the past die. Kill it if you have to." And to do that, Johnson took Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), one of the most heroic character in Star Wars, and fundamentally changed his personality and much of what we know about the Jedi. 

That's why more than 13,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org to remove the movie from the canon. "[The Last Jedi] was a travesty," it reads. "It completely destroyed the legacy of Luke Skywalker and the Jedi. It destroyed the very reasons most of us, as fans, liked Star Wars. This can be fixed. Just as you wiped out 30 years of stories, we ask you to wipe out one more, The Last Jedi. Remove it from canon, push back Episode IX and re-make Episode VIII properly to redeem Luke Skywalker's legacy, integrity, and character."

In general, online petitions almost never make an impact on studios and certainly not Walt Disney Studios. There's no way Lucasfilm and Disney will say they made a mistake, completely reverse course, and take another stab at Episode VIII. The Star Wars franchise is a machine that can't be stopped, and the logistics behind bringing back the entire cast for a do-over (and paying everyone again) would be daunting. Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams is already at work on Episode IX. 

Also, not everyone hated The Last Jedi. To retroactively remove it from canon would be a disservice to everyone who accepts the fact that Star Wars isn't their story to tell. It would be a cruel joke that would tarnish the franchise far more than one divisive movie could. 

At this point, the most that disappointed fans can hope for is that Abrams listens to the criticism and does his best to steer Episode IX in a direction that brings an ultimately satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga. But The Last Jedi will definitely remain part of Star Wars canon. After all, if Lucasfilm didn't admit any mistakes with the prequels, it's not going to happen now.