Disney finally put Star Wars back in theaters, and instead of a victory lap, what we got looks a lot more like panic.
With The Mandalorian & Grogu now out as the first Star Wars feature since The Rise of Skywalker, the conversation should have been simple: Is the movie any good? Did Lucasfilm finally give this franchise a real shot in the arm? Did audiences get something worth waiting years for?
Instead, the story now turning heads is the reported damage control coming from Disney leadership, with Josh D'Amaro accused of brushing off the movie's weak critic response as politically motivated backlash.
If that's really the line they're going with, it's a disaster.
I have a very hard time taking that excuse seriously. Critics are not burying this film because of politics. They're burying it because, in their view, the movie is flat, safe, and stitched together like a streaming project that got upgraded to a theatrical release at the last minute. That's the real problem. Blaming politics is what executives do when they don't want to admit the product didn't land.
And that's what makes this so revealing.
For years, Disney had the luxury of pretending every wave of criticism came from bad actors, trolls, or some fringe group online. That shield is getting weaker now, because even the usual friendly voices have started to turn. When people who normally bend over backward for modern Star Wars are calling out the lazy writing, the thin emotional beats, and the overreliance on Grogu as a marketing prop, you can't just wave it all away as partisan sabotage.
At some point, the studio has to face the possibility that the audience isn't confused. The audience is bored.
That's how I see The Mandalorian & Grogu. Not offensive. Not shocking. Just bland. And bland is deadly for Star Wars. This is supposed to be a cinematic event. Instead, it sounds like Disney delivered a stretched-out Disney+ idea and hoped the big screen would do the rest of the work for them.
It won't.
Grogu was a phenomenon in 2019. No one can deny that. For a while, he was the engine keeping the brand alive in the public imagination. But you can't build the future of Star Wars on the same "look how cute he is" trick forever. That magic has an expiration date. If the deeper story isn't there, if the characters aren't evolving, if the dialogue feels half-asleep, the gimmick wears thin fast.
That's where Disney may have badly misread the moment.
A high audience score or a flood of Grogu merch enthusiasm does not automatically mean the franchise is healthy. It may just mean the company still knows how to sell a familiar face. Those are not the same thing. Selling tickets off brand recognition is one thing. Rebuilding faith in Star Wars is another.
And that's why this reported reaction from D'Amaro matters. When a studio boss starts framing criticism as illegitimate instead of engaging with what people are actually saying, it tells me they still haven't learned the lesson. The worst move Disney can make right now is to treat every bad review like a political conspiracy. That's not leadership. That's denial.
If The Mandalorian & Grogu was supposed to mark a triumphant return for Star Wars on the big screen, this is a rough start. The film is already fighting mixed reception, and now the executive response risks making the whole thing look even more defensive and out of touch.
Disney doesn't need another lecture about politics. It needs better movies.
And until that happens, no amount of spin is going to save this franchise from looking tired.
