Maybe it was like this when I was younger, long ago in the 20th Century. Back when a film was released and you didn’t wait until the end credits to see what was next. Back when the word ‘reboot’ wasn’t used for movies still in the memory of those with enough sense to remember when it was originally released.

I watched a movie preview staring Dwayne Johnson and an ape. It got bigger and was joined by a wolf. Of course a city was in peril and it wasn’t until the title appeared that I realized someone took a simple arcade game from the 1980s and devised a plot to make ‘Rampage’ the next summer blockbuster.

I have no desire to see this film, now the next Jurriasic Park/World/Whatever that returns to an island full of overgrown lizards made by man for entertainment puposes.

It all leads back to finding something that works and mining it for every last dollar possible. That’s why Disney was willing to spend $54 billion to buy the film and television properties of 20th Century Fox. Yes, the end result is a larger catalog for the upcoming Disney streaming service. But the bigger thing is the new streams of characters and potential stories to sell to streaming customers, movie viewers and Joe 6-pack and his digital antenna.

I wish it meant we as a people would get better stories, deeper dives into interesting topics of our favorite characters and things that would actually entice an average viewer to tune it. Instead, I’m willing to bet we’ll continue to get more of the same with fewer steps outside the box.

The sand box that is Star Wars is one with endless opportunities and one Disney didn’t need to buy from Fox. Although the purchase includes the first three films, or Episodes 4, 5 & 6. But the stories surrounding those films are fair game, hence last year’s ‘Rouge One’ and the Han Solo film scheduled for a 2018 release.

I was entertained enough by ‘The Last Jedi’, but know influences from the past affect that decision. There was a cake pan shaped like Darth Vader in my mother’s cabinet for years, a reminence from a party she threw for my birthday that including a projection screen and the watching of one of the films.

Every guest was instructed to bring ‘Star Wars’ swag and wisely, my mother collected the doubles and various other action figures away from my sticky hands and stashed them away. While I was upset and looked at them from afar, they were items that I realized the worth of at a younger age than expected.

Needless to say, I wish this short review of my past includes selling a mint condition in-box Darth Vader figure with retractable light saber…but if that were the case, this post would be colored slightly different.

I’m without words, especially since I can remember this one so clearly. After sitting through 150 minutes, I’m not clear at all what’s next for the Rebels and don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, we knew everything was building up to what will be released in the summer of 2018 – Infinity Wars with various characters teaming up.

It’s a 10-year build up and almost can’t fail, simply because those in charge of the MCU have built up a foundation that supports all these characters on screen at the same time; exactly the opposite route that DC took to showcase their super heroes.

In an analogy easily pictured, DC put LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry on the floor and are losing to Marvel’s bench players. That Iron Man is serving as the lead character is laughable since on his best day, he’s behind about 6 if you follow the comics.

But those who actually read about these characters instead of watching Robert Downey Jr. are few and far between. I feel for those, seeing a similar difference when HBO took Charmaine Harris’s tales about a small-town waitress with interesting abilities in a world with vampires into ‘True Blood’. I was all on board with Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse.

But the changes to Bon Temps and the residents irked me from the beginning and only got worse with time. It’s as if Prince Doran Martell of Dorne was just a dumb leader in a wheelchair due to gout and allowed the Sand Snakes to cut him down before his plans within the Game of Thrones could take shape.

Well, that’s a referral for any readers of George R.R. Martin’s tomes about Westeros, yet another universe with countless alternative paths for product, whether they revisit the already detailed past or continue to chart their own path. While Carrie Fisher’s death should bring the demise of Leia Organa, whenever it’s displayed on the screen will be a sad moment and that’s the truth.