Original ‘Star Wars’ Editor Marcia Lucas Blasts The New Films From Disney: ‘The Storylines Are Terrible’

As diehard Star Wars fans know, Marcia Lucas is the unsung hero of the original trilogy, and her editing skills famously saved the first film, which launched the sci-fi franchise into the pop culture behemoth it is today. While married to creator George Lucas at the time, she was instrumental to the success of the original trilogy as well as lending a hand to the Indiana Jones films. After the two divorced, Marcia faded into the background, but Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, has continually praised her as the “heart” of the original films.

In short, Marcia Lucas’ opinion carries a considerable amount of weight when it comes to the galaxy far, far away, and she’s reportedly not thrilled with the state of Star Wars since Disney purchased the franchise. In a newly released book on The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi producer Howard Kazanjian, Lucas blasts new Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams for their work on the divisive “sequel trilogy.” Via IndieWire:

“She was full of beans. She was really smart and really bright. Really wonderful woman. And I liked her husband, Frank. I liked them a lot. Now that she’s running Lucasfilm and making movies, it seems to me that Kathy Kennedy and J.J. Abrams don’t have a clue about ‘Star Wars.’ They don’t get it. And JJ Abrams is writing these stories — when I saw that movie where they kill Han Solo, I was furious. I was furious when they killed Han Solo. Absolutely, positively there was no rhyme or reason to it. I thought, You don’t get the Jedi story. You don’t get the magic of ‘Star Wars.’ You’re getting rid of Han Solo”

Lucas also took issue with Disney’s insistence on “spitting out movies every year” before returning once again to Kennedy and Abrams.

“It sucks,” Lucas said. “The storylines are terrible. Just terrible. Awful. You can quote me… J.J. Abrams, Kathy Kennedy — talk to me.”