Posted in: Amazon Studios, Disney+, Opinion, Star Wars, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: amazon, boba fett, disney, hbo max, Obi Wan Kenobi, opinion, peacemaker, the boys

What Obi-Wan Can Learn From Peacemaker to Avoid Being Boba Fett

If you count yourselves as TV freaks as we do, then you know that late spring and early summer is already looking pretty stacked, from Netflix's Stranger Things returning to AMC's Better Call Saul wrapping up its run to Netflix's The Umbrella Academy taking flight for its third season. And while there are a ton more we could list off, there are two that I want to focus on in particular. First, we have Disney+'s Ewan McGregor & Hayden Christensen-starring Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi premiering on May 25th. And then not too far after that, we have the return of Amazon & EP Eric Kripke's The Boys for its third season on June 3rd- with both series going weekly with their episode releases (though The Boys will load up extra eps upfront). Now, to us? That looks a little too familiar, almost like what we saw go down between HBO Max & James Gunn's Peacemaker and Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett. So with that in mind, we humbly offer the best advice we can give the upcoming "Star Wars" spinoff series so it doesn't lose the social media "between-episodes buzz" wars to The Boys as Boba Fett did to Peacemaker. Because that shit wasn't pretty.

Now before the "Star Wars" fans out there start banging away some nasty response to what they just read, let me be clear about something. This isn't about how successful either series was for their respective streamers because they were both huge hits- the third-party numbers don't lie. And this isn't a slight against Boba Fett as a series because it was quality, though finding it funny that the main character wasn't in most of his own series at the end is a hill we will die on. But to say that there weren't two completely different fan base vibes going on as both shows were running would be turning a blind eye towards the obvious.

HBO's Peacemaker knew how to f***ing party!

What worked best for Gunn's series was that once the episode premiered, the show was always in the "ON" position until three days after the final episode streamed. Along with Gunn being a one-person promotional machine for the work that he does (and you could feel his love flowing through this one), the cast & crew were all shareholders in reaching out to the viewers and keeping them engaged. An episode comes out on a Thursday, you get a watch party on the weekends with a ton of familiar faces taking part, and in-between everyone's individual social media accounts become fun public relations machines. And then there are the extras that HBO Max released, from the opening credits dance routine to how Eagly was brought to life. Gunn, the cast, and the crew created an eight-episode Mardi Gras where everyone was invited and they were going to make damn sure no one would be the first to pass out until everyone passed out.

With Boba Fett, it felt like they were leaning too much on assuming the fans' love for the character and the weight that the "Star Wars" name carries would be enough to carry the day (or days). And it was, but mostly for the wrong reasons. For example, the lack of the main character at the end of the series that we mentioned above as well as the show being a little too similar to The Mandalorian are not the topics you want being kicked around. But things like that were allowed to happen because there was too much "dead air" between episodes, and seven days in television land might as well be seven years especially when you have another series taking up more and more of the oxygen in the room. Sure, there were key art poster releases, teasers, and an occasional behind-the-scenes featurette, but it all felt very "process" and not organically "on-the-fly."

But you might be thinking, "Yeah, but 'Obi-Wan' has Christensen back as Darth Vader for a potential Vader & Obi-Wan showdown. How can anyone top that?" And that's an excellent point, and I hope that moment and the episode gets the promotional celebration it deserves. But while Obi-Wan may have a "Vader", The Boys has an "Ackles"- as in Jensen Ackles. And with him comes the entire Supernatural fanbase, who will deep dive into every single un-Dean Winchester-like thing the Soldier Boy does this season. Plus, we have "Herogasm" in the sixth episode, which we're hearing is… wow. And those are just the things we know about a series that's coming off an Emmy nomination & looking to flex its creative muscles even more.

Because if fans are debating whether Darth Maul should've been kept in Obi-Wan or not by the third episode, then the battle for the hearts & minds of geek viewers is over before it's barely begun. And that's not something anyone who loves television wants to see happen to quality shows. Though having a lead character who isn't wearing a helmet is a pretty good start…

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!