“also not sure we need to have a Big Bad at all.”

Any post-TROS stories should be smaller, self-contained. No arcs. No big bads. One shots and *maybe* a trilogy. 5/5

In the original Marvel and EU continuity, the answer was, “Palpatine, for all his evil, at least kept a greater evil in check, and now that greater evil has no impediment to sweeping across the galaxy.” Not sure we should tread that ground again, but also not sure we *should*. 4/

From a holistic perspective, it kind of always needed to be Palpatine at the end of the saga. And what do you do when your now-dead villain was a generational planner, the ultimate Xanatos, seeding his plans within plans within plans? 3/

For all the shit #TheRiseofSkywalker gets, a resurrected Palpatine kind of is the only acceptable villain. He’s *the* villain. Should it have been built up better in TFA and TLJ? Yeah. Project Necromancer shouldn’t have been relegated to novels and TV shows. But it is what it is. 2/

Bond and Star Trek definitely get it. I’m sure the big 80s horror franchises get some of it, too, but I only see it around Halloween.

I’d say “Pffft, amateur”, but as I nuked all my older posts I can’t be *positive*.

I'm so glad you liked it. I love going out to the movies with you.

My other quibbles are all "greater Oz mythos" related and I have to just keep telling myself, "It's an adaptation (movie) of an adaptation (show) of an adaptation (book) of an adaptation (movie) of an adaptation (book)." There is no Ozma, the Scarecrow doesn't become king and that's that. 4/4

I also always assumed we got more time with Fiyero as the Scarecrow. Basically, I wanted *some* time with Dorothy to get his perspective on all the propaganda and where in the timeline of this movie did he and Elphaba establish their plan to fake her death? 3/

...taken more time to properly set up the major beats instead of just rushing through the "such and so happens because for this part of the story we already know where everyone is." I definitely felt like Nessa got short-shrift with very little build up to her being "the witch of the east". 2/

I love that they're such good friends and that there was literally no fall-out from him realizing he misread something.

I have made so many posts about this. I'm low key obsessed with why they bothered to recast with someone twice her age, and then there are so many subtle nods and jokes about it.

I definitely fell for it when Holly got to the rocks.