Disney Plus, Minus My Interest

*Sigh*

Perhaps, dear reader, you recall my episode by episode critiques of The Book of Boba Fett?  With each post, I desperately swept hither and yon trying to find some scene of value.  I can only recall one episode where Boba Fett exhibited any kind of agency - "The Tribes of Tatooine."  In every other episode he acts like a total doofus.  He is overshadowed by two characters from a different Star Wars series, The Mandalorian.  So in retrospect, Boba Fett - a Star Wars character who has intrigued many fans over the years - fails to live up to his full potential.

But that was only the beginning.

Up next, waiting in the wings, was the Moon Knight series.  He is a character from Marvel Comics who bowed onto television via Marvel Studios, another tentacle from the writhing face of the Elder God that is Disney.  Marc Spector, Marvel's answer to DC Comics' Dark Knight, is overshadowed by one of his bumbling DID alters, Stephen Grant*.  Where Moon Knight should be leaping from one rooftop to another to take down the monsters that lurk along the path of the weary traveler, he has arguments with his alters worthy of an episode of The Odd Couple.  The avatar of the moon god Khonshu is emasculated and ineffectual.

Next up in the charnel house that dismembers heroes is Obi-Wan Kenobi.  The wise Jedi Master who should be vigorously training to protect Luke Skywalker - the heroic core of the entire Star Wars galaxy - is now a timid menial worker who is not proactive and foregoes his integrity and courage to be a good worker drone.

Incidentally, what was the point of making this series in the first place?  Ah.  MONEY.

When a runaway Jedi tracks down Obi-Wan and begs for his aid, the broken loser tells him to bury his lightsaber and sink into the crowd.  A day later, the Jedi is captured and lynched in the village square of Mos Eisley by a detachment of almost-but-not-quite-Sith called the Inquisitors.  Now true, Obi-Wan can't run around brandishing his saber.  The Inquisitors would string him up and there goes the protector of A New Hope.  Surely, however, surely this cunning warrior could find subtler means of doing his job.  Nope.  He sinks into the shadows and allows an Inquisitor named Reva to slash a woman's hand off.  Reva then threatens to kill Luke's foster father Owen Lars along with his family (Reva has not made the connection... yet).  She does this at saber point!  Owen, the humble moisture farmer, faces down Reva with no supernatural powers at his command.  Once Reva departs, Obi-Wan, the cowardly space wizard, emerges from his nook to thank Owen.  The moisture farmer responds dismissively, "I didn't do it for you."  Obi-Wan stands in the village square, impotent, and unneeded.

I could go on and scan all six episodes and recount Obi-Wan's slog from defeated warrior to... a crazy old hermit, but I'm exhausted.  I'm enervated and I can't consign another great (albeit fictional) hero to the sands of Tatooine.

Incidentally, did you know Marvel Studios has released a streaming series about the unremarkable heroine Ms. Marvel on the same day as Obi-Wan Kenobi?  I haven't heard a peep from my circle of friends or from the inter-webs about this third tier superhero.  Marvel has been known to take obscure characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and place them front and center in the hearts and minds of Marvel fans and the casual viewer.  No such luck with Ms. Marvel.

Now I wait for two more Disney Plus streaming series in which I have little faith.  One is Andor, the story of the Rebel spy Cassian Andor, who appeared in the Star Wars one shot movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  Andor takes place before the title character dies in the film.  Andor is a prequel of a prequel.

The other series, premiering in mid-August is She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.  I must confess I have a fondness for this character.  I am not ashamed (well maybe a little) to admit she was my first crush at the guileless age of seven.  However, from what I've seen in the trailer, the story has less to do with the super-heroine facet of She-Hulk.  The show seems to get its cues from an old Futurama episode with the running gag of televising a show called "Single Female Lawyer."  🎵 Single Female Lawyer!  Having lots of sex! 🎵  Huzzah.

After that, we have two more Star Wars series.  There's the third season of the beloved The Mandalorian, where the title character is reunited by everyone's favorite little merch Grogu / The Child / Baby Yoda.  Why?  Because MONEY, that's why.  

Taking center stage after that is Ahsoka, the continuing adventures of a character that began in an animated Star Wars series, The Clone Wars.  Ahsoka has now burst her way into the realm of live action.  She is portrayed by Rosario Dawson.  I've been following Dawson's career since she appeared in the film Kids as a teen.  She has grown into a great actress.  She has already appeared in two Star Wars streaming series.  I was impressed by both appearances.  So... a new hope?  We'll see.

However, my enthusiasm is dwindling, perhaps due to a glut of all things Marvel and Star Wars.  Another factor, as mentioned before, is the sight of watching the male heroes of these series reduced to a bunch of clownish eunuchs.  It's hard to witness.

Anyway, my fingertips are numb from typing.  Maybe it's a sign of my own impotence?

- JJB

*Moon Knight's alter, Stephen Grant, is a billionaire playboy in the Moon Knight comic.  In the series, he's a nebbish with an encyclopedic knowledge of ancient Egyptian deities who works at museum in London.  An interesting spin, but that doesn't change how annoying I found Grant.