Rogue 2 Part 8

Longest movie we've done so far. There's part of me that wants to get back to shorter movies like in the early days, but part of me enjoys the storytelling possibilities of a longer format. The right answer is probably somewhere in between. Mix of shorter stuff and longer campaigns.

Rogue Two really has been an epic. I'm incredibly pleased with how it turned out. I can't believe we managed to finish it, it was a beast. I was quite proud of the idea of splitting up the teams so that play and scheduling could become more manageable, but really it introduced a lot of other unforeseen headaches, both narrative and logistical. Ultimately I enjoyed the conceit, but I think I just need to go back to smaller casts. These huge casts are such a nightmare to manage. 

But anyway, logistics aside, I'm super pleased with Rogue Two. It's huge, it's unique, it really explores the limits of our format, and ends up interacting in interesting ways with the movies we're playing off of. To a certain extent there's something slightly surreal about combining Rogue One and Episode IV into a single narrative. While Rogue One was designed as a direct prequel to New Hope, they're such completely different movies, separated by forty years and a massive build-up of oft-cumbersome lore. They're separated by fundamental changes in how Hollywood operates (of which Star Wars itself was one of the key culprits.) They're separated by enormous gulfs in technology in audience tastes and expectations and in cultural reach. Nominally they exist side by side in the canon, and yet there was something that felt playful, almost rebellious in trying to actually marry them, because they fundamentally don't belong together. Star Wars is a very odd franchise, and chronological viewing order will always be an almost incoherent experience. But that made it all the more fun in trying to bash them together into a single story.

This was so much fun. Thanks for coming on the journey. Back in two weeks with Galaxy Quest.