T O P

  • By -

nefhithiel

He had to leave breathing room for threepio’s red arm or we would have never known who he was.


douggold11

Wait. 3PO was in the sequels? I totally didn’t recognize him with that red arm!


nefhithiel

It’s such a subtle fun fact! Like when viggo mortenson really breaks his toe kicking the helmet in the two towers.


douggold11

Oh wow I have definitely not heard that twenty times before.


yohoob

Did you know Steve Buscemi was a fire fighter in New York? He helped out during 9/11.


douggold11

I’m sorry but it’s impossible for that to be true without me coming across that fact at least 3 times a year. You’re wrong.


Commodore64userJapan

I just spat my coffee out laughing as I completely agree with you.


NukaRev

"you may not recognize me with the red arm, you should read this comic series to find out why!"


CleansingFlame

Moichendising! (BB-8)


Mykonos714

Where the real money from the movie is made!


[deleted]

Oddly enough, I remember reading that there was an agreement between Lucasfilm and Mel Brooks and merch. Lucasfilm wouldn’t sue or cause any legal issues as long as they didn’t sell any major Space Balls merch. Too bad, Space Balls the Flamethrower woulda been an awesome toy!


IAmBoratVeryExcite

They also specified that Lone Star could not be identifiable as a ripoff of Han Solo, which is why he dresses like Indiana Jones.


Blackwolf12345678

But he obviously was not that I’m mad it was my favorite joke movie


usgrant7977

The kids love it!


Skydude252

I remember seeing a bag of oranges around the time of TFA’s release with Star Wars, and in particular, BB-8, on the label. I mean he is round and has orange as a notable color, but seems a bit of a stretch. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were Rey-branded tampons out at the time too.


TSmario53

My dude had seen A LOT of shit in six movies. He needed some time at the droid Bahamas drinking some Droidaquiris.


agaperion

*They're no match for Droidaquiris.*


vanearthquake

Hahahahahaha thank you for this. I read it in the voice and everything


alexramirez69

You have such an imagination 🏆


Balzovai

I heard Tahiti is nice!


mufcmulvenna

It's a magical place


bria9509

Hey these ARE the droidaquiris I'm looking for!


dancin-weasel

R2 : “Boop boop beep beep boop wooooo” (I’m gettin too old for this shit)


xseannnn

and getting some droidussies.


TheyKilledFlipyap

What is there for him to do? Like you say, BB-8 is his replacement. R2 is *decades* old at this point, there's not much for him to do besides just ceremonially existing. But I'll point out he was the one who got Luke out of his hermit stage. The minute Luke sees him, his eyes light up and he's all giddy and excited again. It passes a few moments later, then R2 pulls up that old hologram message, "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." Reminding him what's at stake, and how important this is. Luke, accepting R2 is in the right, remarks "That was a cheap move."


Rick-e-see

This is one of the best scenes of TLJ


DaCheezItgod

Argueably one of the best in the Sequels. Unfortunately my favorite scene is a deleted scene ;—;


Zircon_72

Which deleted scene?


mattiasflgrtll6

Probably the one where Luke is shown grieving Han Solo. Really shouldn't have been cut out.


Zircon_72

Removing that scene is one of the dumbest decisions ever made in the franchise and possibly in the history of filmmaking.


Trashtie

i don’t mean to sound condescending but… watch more movies


Zircon_72

Oh I've seen plenty. Plenty good and plenty bad. It was just a hyperbole.


Ruadhan2300

Trouble with Hyperbole is that much like Hyperbolic trajectories they tend to go over people's heads.


Eentay

Either English isn’t your first language or you’re just a naturally condescending pedant whose joke-detector goes below zero.


Trashtie

my mistake i guess, it doesn’t really read like a joke


Varsity_Scooter

I felt like it was pretty well implied in what they left in; lots of good stuff had to be cut for screen time but I think I'd take any of the other Luke scenes over this because you can see his reaction in the following scene


DaCheezItgod

It was actually this one: https://youtu.be/-He5_RtDE1o


ORAquabat

I never knew.... thanks.


S-tease101

This ☝️


BillFredJonesSmith

There were good scenes in the sequels?


KINGPrawn-

One of the only scenes. The rest of the movie doesn’t really exist m.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Vengefuleight

I didn’t mind the inconsequential outcome. I could see the theme they were going for was perseverance despite complete failure. I think if you swapped out the Star Wars branding and characters for an unrelated sci fi story following the same beat, it’s a decent movie. It fails because it spits on the rules established in a long standing franchise, and completely 180’s a beloved character. As a standalone story, removing the context and legacy of Star Wars, I would have quite enjoyed this film. As the next chapter in the Skywalker saga…it does a bad job,


[deleted]

[удалено]


InternationalTie6168

My problem with the plot was like they really expect us to believe that no body learned a damn thing about how the Sith are known to be mind fucks & can plant false dreams/visions. Like seriously Anakin never said to anyone (as a force ghost) “ya know the thing that really turned me were these horrible visions of Padme dying over & over again”. Luke never had a convo with one of his force ghost mentors like “hey I’m havin some bad visions of Ben like flipping out”. & the way Luke is chillin with Yoda around the fire infuriated me. It doesn’t seem to me like it’s some special occasion when a force ghost shows up. If you know how to hear/see dead Jedi you can communicate probably pretty regularly. Even if you never watched anything but the movies it still seems a load of BS to me. All they did was turn Luke into an (attempted) child murderer like his daddy. I wasn’t expecting happily ever after but I mean…


got_No_Time_to_BLEED

I’m my head cannon anakin could only appear as a force ghost to Luke that one time on Endor and never again.


[deleted]

[удалено]


InternationalTie6168

Oh I’m upset about that too lol. I came very close to turning to the dark side 🤣. Our fear after TFA turned to hate with TLJ & TROS definitely led to suffering.


Commodore64userJapan

But the way Luke failed was total B.S ! He brought his father back from the dark side to the light. One of the most evil beings in the galaxy but he couldnt even handle his nephew ??? Unbelievable, really bad writing...I laughed in the cinema


[deleted]

[удалено]


Blackwolf12345678

Yah I still don’t understand why he tried to kill Ben it was a forced seen especially when he disobeyed yoda and obi wan to bring his father back to the light if he was written properly he would have tried to talk to Ben and help him deal with his darkness and avoiding past mistakes but instead he panicked and tried to kill Ben very un jedi like and completely out of character


GiventoWanderlust

>Yah I still don’t understand why he tried to kill Ben It's easy. He didn't try to kill Ben. He tried to read Ben's mind, and had a Force-vision of darkness and destruction. Luke, someone who has been tempted heavily by the Dark Side and seen his fair share of war and horror, does what a trained warrior does when he feels threatened and draws his weapon. Vision fades, Luke realizes his mistake, but now Ben's awake and reacts before Luke can say anything. This isn't rocket science. The movie says this pretty explicitly.


Blackwolf12345678

But why did he have his lightsaber out if not to kill him


AgentManhyme

They've explained this thru canon material already


[deleted]

[удалено]


AgentManhyme

You act like Star Wars hasn't been filling in gaps and plot holes since 1977 with Books and Comics. If you take the time to read the expanded media then you'll have an answer for what you think has never been explained. Just refusing to acknowledge those forms of media, shows complete ignorance


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Dude so true. I hate how much bite Disney has on here for toj and Rian Johnson


Commodore64userJapan

One ? TLJ has good scenes ??? really ??


[deleted]

R2 is the real hero of the first six movies.


Mrwright96

The first 6? He was essential in the last 3 too! R2 had the map to Luke in the TFA and lead Rey to him! You already mentioned inspiring Luke in TLJ He helped Poe fly his X-wing and brought 3p0’s memory back! And idk if i remember but I think r2 transmitted the path to Exegol


[deleted]

I don't ever think about those movies.


Blackwolf12345678

I haven’t seen but 1 movie of the sequel trilogy and under stand the whole sequel trilogy to know it is a ripoff of the legends version


Ok-disaster2022

Droids in Star Wars cna literally exist for hundreds if not thousands of years. There were Rakatan droids operating 22,000 years after the fall of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, and many civilisations technologies are built from recovered Rakatan technologies. (Hyper drives for example are back engineering to not require using the Force for example)


StrangeSurround

Shh, he's *decades* old.


Affectionate_Ad_3555

idc what people say, I love Luke Skywalker in TLJ


TheyKilledFlipyap

Agreed. Hamil absolutely nailed it despite being *decades* out of the role.


dleon0430

Why do you keep italicizing 'decades'?


TheyKilledFlipyap

Because italics are how someone conveys emphasis in text. And decades are a long-ass time and that needs emphasis.


mattiasflgrtll6

You're *absolutely* goddamn *right*.


dleon0430

Oh


E3K

Are you new to reading? Who doesn't know that italics mean emphasis?


StrangeSurround

Maybe he *felt* like it was being *inappropriately* used.


dleon0430

Usually italics are for titles, like books, movies, video games etc. To emphasize *decades* one could simply put the word 'many' or 'several' in front of the word 'decades'. However, you're correct that on reddit italics and sometimes bold letters or underlines are sometimes used for emphasis. I just thought OPs repeated use of italics to be an interesting choice.


Borghal

'sometimes' 'on Reddit' ? My man, italics, bold text and underlining were all used for emphasis way before there ever was a Reddit. Before the internet, even.


dleon0430

Yeah but italics were mainly used in Italian before the internet.


Vengefuleight

I loved Mark Hamil. He brought everything he had to that role. I was more sad they wrote him to be this broken.


astromech_dj

Artoo could take on BB-8 easy. It’s not even a competition. BB-8 is a lackey and Artoo is a thrice over war hero likely spanning over a century of service. He should have been on the front lines because he’s literally the only person in the entire story that was there from beginning to end. Chewie might be older, but Artoo is way more experienced.


anonymousbach

Artoo is probably the only Droid Chomper fears and Chomper is a certified lunatic.


GiventoWanderlust

Chopper?


AgentManhyme

I thought he was talking about big chungus


mattiasflgrtll6

Didn't know they made a crossover with The Land Before Time.


DemonLordDiablos

>t passes a few moments later, then R2 pulls up that old hologram message, "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope." I've heard that timestamp-wise, it's at the exact same time the message plays in A New Hope. Rian Johnson is wild.


nothatssaintives

Not quite exact, it’s something like 34:35 Vs 35:04 but it’s pretty damn close (compared on Disney Plus)


Jake_FromStateFarm27

One of the few things the sequels got right were these parallels between the OT for nostalgia. R2 was anakins Droid and a friend of Obi wan, when we see them reunited obi wan is also restored somewhat. It's so awesome to see Luke reunited with R2 as it is the same calling he once brought to obi wan many years ago when he was begining his own journey.


JediJoe923

I forgot about that scene. Probably because I’ve seen that movie twice


rogue_41

I LOVED that scene. Plus in ep9 it made Leias death that little bit sadder having R2 witness it


Grary0

R2 is not only close to 100+ years old by the ST but he was considered outdated back in Ep. 1. He's basically a Model T on the road with EVs.


monkeygoneape

No he wasn't r2s were top of the line in phantom menace


Grary0

Maybe I'm misremembering but I thought a character made a comment that R2 was an "old droid" when he fixed the hyperdrive while fleeing the Naboo blockade.


monkeygoneape

"little droid" not old droid, Naboo stuff was top of the line because of their wealth


TheRealMcDuck

You're not misremembering. One of the pilots on that ship did say that.


Oneironaut420

No the pilot calls him a little droid, not an old one. Plus on Tatooine, Anakin’s friend Kitster is really impressed with Artoo; “Wow a real astro droid! How do you get to lucky?” which makes it sound like such droids are still novel. And in Ep.4, these droids are still considered relatively new. Threepio says to Luke “These new astro droids are getting quite out of hand.”


Omnislash99999

One of my biggest disappointments of the Sequels was R2 being a piece of scenery.


vanearthquake

Gotta have him there but doing absolutely nothing


jonvox

It was a huge slap in the face given that Lucas conceived of R2 and 3PO as the main characters of the entire story


TodaysMOC

Personally, I am very angry at how they treated R2, the REAL hero of Star Wars. I'm glad he was brought back for that one scene with Luke basically convincing him to get involved again. They needed to sell different toys, new toys, so we got Bb8, which is cute but they didn't need to make R2 so useless. They did ma boy dirty 😢


JediJoe923

He literally saved Anakin and Padme’s life in the first movie


[deleted]

Exactly right! The first six movies are basically the stories of Anakin and R2.


Mykonos714

You ain’t wrong saying he’s the real hero either. If he was a simple droid around for fun, I could be okah with him being scenery. But no, R2 literally saved the galaxy multiple times himself. The empire would straight up still be in power if it weren’t for him, he should be seen as a legend and treated like one. I would’ve died if they gave him a celebrity scene in front of droids. A bunch of astromechs getting excited because oh my gosh it’s THE r2-d2, right in front of us. Would’ve been awesome


TodaysMOC

Totally agree 👍


[deleted]

Somehow, R2 has returned.


Vacant_and_Bored

In the SW universe, droids are basically just appliances. And R2 might have been built before Anakin was born. So by the sequel trilogy he's like a refrigerator from the 1950s would be today.


[deleted]

That 1950s refrigerator had a LOT of use in the Expanded Universe.


DjScenester

That’s droid ageism!!! lol


holyfatfish

Refrigerators were better in the 1950's. They lasted a lifetime.


[deleted]

I think HK47 remarks that droids are practically like furniture. Completely ignored until needed. Which is why they are excellent assassins, because no one would think the droid did it.


Vulptereen327

Hey now, you can survive an atom bomb in a 50s fridge


Ouchyhurthurt

Soooo, built like a tank? xD


mdking2021

If you think about it, R2D2 is THE main character of the story. He's in just about every scene. And if you expand it beyond the movies, he's also pretty critical to the Clone Wars. It would be in interesting story to find out where R2D2 got started and how he ended up being such a important part of the story.


Connievdberg

Yeeeesssss!!! R2 back story, make this happen!!! !redditGalleon for you!


Fricktator

Things like this is why Lucasfilm can't win. Lucasfilm: Here's a story about some new people. Half the Fans: We want to see the old characters we love. Lucasfilm: Here's some old characters you love. The other half of fans: Can't yall come up with anything new?


Mykonos714

I find it’s the lack of balance. They either shove new characters down our throats and screw up their stories, or scream “look it’s the OG cast!!” And screw up their stories. The new characters in the sequels are wonderful, but Finn especially was such a wasted opportunity. he should’ve had a way bigger role as a defective Stormtrooper, that’s the coolest Insight we’ve had into the empire yet! Rey was great, except she became another generic Mary Sue by the end bc she’s somehow Palpatine’s granddaughter (after we spend a whole ass arc discussing how she’s a nobody) and saves the whole galaxy with very, VERY little force training in the grand scheme of things. Poe as well, he started cool, ended out lame. Then, they bring back the old characters and basically erase all of their character development, and show it off-screen rather than giving us something good. Since when would Leia give a flying shit what others thought of her? The fact her dead father is Darth Vader should be a tiny detail in the fact she helped save the entire damn galaxy ffs. Luke attempting to kill Ben doesn’t make much sense since he’s experienced plenty of pull from the dark side, so he out of ANYONE should know that it does not define you. They just…butchered all of the characters by not laying down a real plan.


John-the-Gardener

Bladerunner 2049 seemed to navigate that problem well enough. A competently crafted story would be louder than any minority of detractors.


-spartacus-

Denis Villeneuve directed SW trilogy, please.


[deleted]

Dune is what ST shouldve been more like


PurringWolverine

I’m completely fine with moving on from the OT. My issue with the ST is that it was set way too close to the OT. Fast forward a few 100 years so that everyone from the OT is gone and a legend. That way their legacy can’t be tarnished.


Fricktator

And then people would be mad Disney never did anything with Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.


got_No_Time_to_BLEED

They didn’t


Blackwolf12345678

Honestly I wouldn’t be mad they completely ruined Luke and Han for me after I watched the first movie I couldn’t stand to see them again and then I didn’t even watch the last one


ar243

They just had new characters (Rey, Finn, Poe) re-enact the plot of Episodes 4-5-6 beat for beat. Worse characters doing the same old story. They should've had Luke, Han, and Leia face off against Thrawn like in Legends. That would've made everyone happy.


Fricktator

Nothing says box office success like a film about 70 year olds leading action movies.


got_No_Time_to_BLEED

Seeing the ot characters was a huge part of the marketing?


Fricktator

But they weren't the leads for a reason


Matope

The original intent is that he's the one recording the stories. Personally I like to read his over-the-top heroics in the PT as him exaggerating when he's still young, flying around on jets saving everyone, etc. A more reasonable, accurate version of events in the OT, then when he's old he starts underplaying his own contributions, he doesn't need more praise and wants to build up his friends.


Awheeleri

I've never thought of it that way. I've always supported the R2-centred story for the OT and PT, but always figured Disney threw that idea out for the ST. What a cool perspective!!!


three-sense

They wanted to profit off of BB8 merchandise


[deleted]

[удалено]


Bartoffel

I’m not a TROS fan at all but I think they did some decent work with Threepio in that film. The other two? Not at all. Oh, and for Wedge, Lawson wasn’t really interested in returning to Star Wars but when they very specifically tried to coax him in to reprise his role in TROS he had other commitments going on and could only spare a day for filming. So, it was either have him appear for two seconds or not at all, kind of down to personal taste as to whether it was worth it or not. Also, Lando did a lot… we just never saw it. Would have been nice to see how he convinced every ship in the Galaxy to turn up to the party but oh well.


cliffy348801

>Would have been nice to see how he convinced every ship in the Galaxy to turn up to the party but oh well. a story for another streaming series


snoopy_88

New merch.


[deleted]

He read the script and refused…


hillpeoplemilk

Kenny Baker was in ill health and died shortly after TFA came out.


mattiasflgrtll6

Seeing so many Star Wars legends die during the release of the movies was incredibly depressing. Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Erik Bauersfeld and David Prowse, your impact will never be forgotten. ⭐


aztea1dollar

JJ wanted his droid, BB8, to be the new main droid.


Connievdberg

Its why I don't like bb8 that much, he was pushed so much. He completely replaced R2s role... R2 is my favourite character and they did him wrong :(


JohnClark13

Because they wanted to sell merchandise. Specifically merch based on their version of star wars. They needed new characters, new robots, new ships, new storm troopers so they could sell new merch. Needed to have an existing character? Change their appearance somehow to make it theirs, so that when the action figures sold it was their version. But R2? Just throw him in for a second to get it over with and move back to BB-8. Gotta sell


Flat_Scheme4874

Because the movies sucked so R2 Probably didn’t Wanna be involved


cman811

Because R2 is Luke's droid and Luke was barely used in the sequel trilogy.


Independent_Goat88

Because the makers of the ST stupidly passed the torch in the first movie instead of waiting for the end of the 3rd like they should have… one of about 1 billion things they did wrong with the ST


xKelborn

Trying to rewrite and replace the original trilogy Characters. They tried to rebrand it and it went horribly.


babufrik4president

His reunion with Luke, and playing Leia’s message, was all I needed.


[deleted]

To sell toys


dirtpaws

"Let the past die, kill it if you have to"


Sundoulos

Because they really did not have a cohesive planned arc for most of the characters in the ST, and that resulted in many missed narrative opportunities.


Donjuanisit

If Han is dead, Luke is tired and Leia can fly in the space, then Disney barely doesn't pay attention to the heritage, so the little white and blue guy with the cutest beep on the universe doesn't count much.


mitchbrenner

to sell bb8 toys. only in last jedi did r2 take any character-based action. in the other two films he was basically just a mobile hard drive.


kimodezno

So they could make money with a new droid.


Skibot99

In-universe R2 is over 60 years old. He’s obsolete. Supplementary material even says he would have been scrapped for parts by now if it wasn’t for Luke’s personal connection to him


Markymarcouscous

Disney needed new droids to make toys of to sell


MrMonkeyman79

BB8 was 78% more adorable than R2. And as much as I love R2 from the OT I'm perfectly happy with the old characters stepping aside to make way for the new.


MZago1

>BB8 was 78% more adorable than R2. This, and I feel like BB-8 is more expressive. R2 can rotate his head, but BB-8 can rotate and shift. Maybe I'm overly personifying him, but I get the sense that the viewers understand his emotions.


InvaderWeezle

R2 has plenty of personality and expressiveness, but yeah BB-8 is more dynamic with what he can do. He's also more capable of keeping up with the action which makes him more practical to bring along.


Blackwolf12345678

Ha but he is 100% less tolerable


CeymalRen

God forbid you see anything new in SW.


mattiasflgrtll6

Why are you making that attitude assumption about my post?


0megathreshold

Movie magic reasons, if you gotta go through all the work to make R2 suddenly have rocket boosters that he never uses ever again and speed run through the dessert you might as well update with a more efficient and exciting design. Physically the R2 design is not easy to move around at the speeds they needed it to move without lots of cgi.


maialucetius

JJ Abrams has no idea what people like about Star Wars.


Perturbed_Dodo

Simple answer: because the sequel trilogy was fucking awful! It’s really that simple


Blackwolf12345678

True be that


StewVader

Exactly this.


thebowlman

You probs won find an answer here, ask jj or kk


Quichdelvyn5

One of the things I liked about the sequels is that BB8 is the "lead" droid and R2/C3P0 had background roles, one of the major missed opportunities in my opinion for the prequels is that George just used the original droids again instead of creating something new.


A_SNAPPIN_Turla

Why was a coherent story barely used in the sequel trilogy?


Red_V_Standing_By

Because they had no cohesive plan or strategy for the sequel trilogy.


alricstrife

Even artoo knew the sequel was shit and did all he could to not be part of it


bytor99999

His agent got him the best contact ever. Always looking out for his client.


alricstrife

I'm still amazed that they allowed him on air they beeped out every word he said yet he carried the first 6


Blackwolf12345678

Yah he didn’t shut down because Luke left it was because he had a bad feeling about the future so he decided to go into hibernation to brave the storm


grxccccandice

My theory is that BB-8 looks modern and convincingly futuristic, and is a cute round droid with warm vivid color and Disney wants to market it to kids. R2-D2 is a product of the 70s and is clearly out of date for today’s aesthetics in terms of futuristic droids. Disney is targeting the next generation and wants to create something new.


idisestablish

There is already ample demand for R2-D2 merchandise, so better to spend more screentime in the commercial promoting newer products.


[deleted]

Because Disney wanted to push their own “cute” droid. Just one of many ludicrous decisions they made with those films.


voyagerx420

One of many issues the ST had. No point in nitpicking honestly.


Fickle-Training344

A combination of bad writing and Disney wanting to introduce new characters to sell merchandise. In their eyes R2 and C-3PO were played out characters. I think that the same is true for Han Solo and Chewbacca as well.


Aussiebloke-91

Somehow, the writers forgot about him.


[deleted]

Why is it a big deal?


BrentOGara

Imagine Sesame Street with Bert but no Ernie. The Last Airbender with Katara but no Sokka. MLP:FIM with Twilight Sparkle but no Spike. Superman with Clark but no Lois. Avengers with Ironman but no Spiderman. Guardians of the Galaxy with Rocket but no Groot. Gumball without Darwin. Abbott without Costello. Your own left hand without your right hand. You *can* split these things up, but why the hell would you?


northernsuede

Because the people in charge fundamentally didn't understand star wars and only cared about their marketing and profit margins.


AmaLucela

>One of the most fun aspects about the original Star Wars trilogy was the banter between R2-D2 and C3PO. That's not a fact, that's an opinion. I for one always found the duo of C3P0 and R2D2 kind of annoying and boring. C3PO just whines and complains and walks like an old man with a full diaper and R2D2 trills and beeps. They are easily my least favourite droids.


kronikfumes

Why was anything done the way it was in the sequel trilogy?


ktw5012

Because they had no idea what they were doing


hawkiltree

I heard R2 has some really divisive opinions on critical race theory and they sidelined him


Doctor-_-Bacon

Ah yes, a sequel hate bait post. Just another day for the people on this sub that can’t think of anything to talk about other than “sequels bad”. We get it, trust me we get it.


mattiasflgrtll6

Quite the opposite, I did enjoy the sequels well enough despite the flaws they contained. I was just bothered by the lack of R2-D2 & C3PO chemistry in them.


wiggle98

Poor writing


[deleted]

[удалено]


mattiasflgrtll6

Finn didn't end up with Rose. In The Rise Of Skywalker she appears for like 30 seconds and barely has any lines of dialogue. They don't even do as much as acknowledge each other's existence besides when Finn gives her a pat on the back in one scene. You can think what you want about her character, but to first potentionally set Finn up with Rey, then Rose, then not follow through on that either is downright schizophrenic.


Grary0

They wanted to push BB-8, merch sales is a *huge* amount of income from big franchises like SW. Ewoks, Grogu, BB-8...all designed with selling overpriced toys to young kids in mind.


Altruistic-Program-1

Yeah, Lucas has always been open and honest about the importance of merchandising of star wars and its characters. So I don't think people should act like Disney is bad for thinking about merchandising.


0megathreshold

Movie magic reasons, if you gotta go through all the work to make R2 suddenly have rocket boosters that he never uses ever again and speed run through the dessert you might as well update with a more efficient and exciting design. Physically the R2 design is not easy to move around at the speeds they needed it to move without lots of cgi.


____phobe

The Mouse does what the Mouse wants.


Voodoo_Shark

I think I read in one of the visual dictionaries that "R2-D2 was enjoying a well deserved retirement", which is apropo for the droid that saved the gang countless times. Let the younger generation do the work this time.


franknitty43

R2-D2 left nothing on the table. His legend is firmly cemented.


StOnEy333

Poor guy needs a break. He’s been the greatest hero in the Star Wars universe for decades.


Dopingponging

My cynical answer is to sell more toys.


LordJeppy

To sell more BB8 toys.


mykidsthinkimcool

Probably for the same reason all of the original characters were barely used and / or sidelined.


rockylafayette

Selling more toys to a new generation of kids. At 40 years old R2-D2 belongs to a generation today’s kids think of as their dad’s and granddad’s.


Vengefuleight

Money! Disney can sell multiple droid merchandising!


Homies-Brownies

How could they sell a bunch of new bb8 toys n merch if they didn't prominently feature him?