An is a trailblazing transmedia franchise. Many key parts of the Star Wars story are told in other mediums, including in tie-in novels. Lucasfilm took advantage of Valentine's Day 2022 to announce an book by Beth Revis that would tell the story of Han and Leia's wedding.
Revis is no stranger to Star Wars fiction, but now she gets to tell the canon version of the franchise's greatest love story. The story picks up straight after the events of doomed love of Han and Leia is the greatest love story in the history of Star Wars, and no doubt Lucasfilm expected this to be fan-pleasing. Instead, it's generated a strong backlash.
The core problem lies in Lucasfilm's decision to tie the wedding of Han and Leia to the Halcyon. This is the luxury Star Wars themed hotel at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, scheduled to open on March 1, 2022. Lucasfilm has been attempting to promote the hotel through various tie-ins, but this is the most egregious example to date. It has tarnished what should have been a romantic announcement, turning it into blatant cross-promotion, and on this point the backlash seems justified.
It's easy to see why Lucasfilm chose to make this announcement on Valentine's Day, but the timing couldn't actually be worse. The old Galactic Starcruiser hotel have been carefully scheduled to coincide with one another, and Lucasfilm didn't want to alter that schedule. The decision guaranteed that the backlash would be even worse.
Weddings are supposed to bring people together, but sadly that's not the case with the wedding of Han and Leia. Beth Revis is an excellent writer, and she's sure to have written a brilliant book, but her story will nonetheless be ed for its controversy as much as for its narrative. Lucasfilm's decision made perfect sense on paper - but it was a bad misstep for Star Wars, and the backlash is fully justified.
