Basically, I view the Disney Star Wars the way I did the old Expanded Universe: as other’s stories set in Lucas’s world. I’m willing to forgive some formulism in the first few films. Disney is still proving itself to what can be a very difficult fanbase. The upcoming Han Solo movie is promising in terms of breaking new ground.

Disney most needs to keep things less safe. Which they seem like they may be doing: Rogue One, needless cameos aside, was considerably more different from previous Star Wars films than was The Force Awakens. The upcoming Episode VII: The Last Jedi is being helmed by Rian Johnson, who is not a terribly obvious pick for a Star Wars film. I’m very interested to see where this all goes.

Overall, though, I do agree. Star Wars films will never be what they were under Lucas. Whether that’s good or bad is, of course, up for debate, as they had their low points under Lucas, certainly.