Sorry, I should have specified - I meant that Disney taking the reins hasn't suddenly made the Marvel movies more watered down. The bad guys still got defeated and the good guys still saved the day before Disney got involved. They're superhero films and, unlike several other superhero franchises, they're not grim and gritty. That tone hasn't changed since Disney bought Marvel, and my point (that I didn't articulate well, sorry about that) is that the Star Wars tone hasn't suddenly been completely overhauled since Disney bought it.
The SW films have always been enjoyable as family films. Sure, they're skewed much older than an animated Disney film, but kids do love them. And I think TFA fit into that mold nicely. Like you say, Han's death would likely hit older audiences more strongly than younger audiences - the movies aren't suddenly only about children and their enjoyment, they're still primarily focused on telling a story everyone can appreciate. One of the bigger complaints about The Phantom Menace (amongst many, many complaints) was that between introducing Anakin at such a young age and Jar Jar's childlike personality, it seemed obvious that Lucas was trying to aim for a younger audience. I didn't get that sense at all from TFA. The closest thing to a merchandise-friendly character that children would automatically adore is BB-8, but the same could be said about R2-D2 in the original trilogy.
I do think they'll look into Kylo Ren's motivations and that could possibly involve some sort of redemption arc for him. But that's mainly because that's an established SW pattern, not because Disney have to make him a good guy because of toy sales. The PT was about Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, the OT has Palpatine and Vader trying to pull Luke to the Dark Side too, and ultimately failing, thus leading to Vader's sacrifice to save Luke. I think we'll see something similar, with a juxtaposition between Rey having to fight the temptation of the Dark Side and Kylo having to fight the temptation of the Light. They've already humanised Kylo in TFA more than Vader was for most of the OT, so it'd be a wasted opportunity not to explore his inner conflict. I think it's more likely any act Kylo takes against Snoke and the Dark Side will be fuelled more by personal revenge than wanting to help the Resistance. Whether he actually will end up being fully 'redeemed' is a mystery, obviously, but I don't see him getting a happy ending either way.
I don't think including the Netflix shows make sense with the comparison I was trying to make, but again that's my fault for not being clear. The MCU movies remained the same in tone when Disney took over, the SW movies remained the same in tone when Disney took over. Now, the spin-offs from the movie will be where it gets interesting. The Clone Wars cartoon may have started out cheery and kid-friendly, but it got deeply dark and complicated by the end. Disney cancelled the show, but they've been quite clear that it wasn't the tone that was the problem, it's that they're trying to move away from the PT era and focus more on OT era and beyond. Rebels is on Disney XD, so that has to remain a certain level of family-friendly, but already the second season is considerably darker than the first. I think the most comparable thing to the Marvel Netflix shows will be the SW Anthology movies, since they can create their own tone and style without having to fit with the rest of the SW films. That doesn't necessarily mean grim and gritty, but it does mean a stylistic change, and that's where a potential comparison could lie.
To be fair, I don't think you can say Vader being a mass murderer and child-killer is "glossed over". Yes, he dies doing a noble thing, but the last five minutes of ROTJ don't suddenly invalidate the rest of the OT, or his fall in ROTS. Vader as a mass-murderer very much is focused on in the movies, it's literally his entire role for most of the OT. He's the villain, he murders and kidnaps and tortures main characters. And when we find out he's related to Luke, it's because he's trying to use that fact to turn Luke to the Dark Side. When people think of Vader, whether they're casual or diehard fans, their first thought is going to be him as the villain of the saga, not "oh, he did a good thing at the end, so none of the rest of his evil shit matters".
Re: Interesting patterns you've noticed in fanfic
Sorry, I should have specified - I meant that Disney taking the reins hasn't suddenly made the Marvel movies more watered down. The bad guys still got defeated and the good guys still saved the day before Disney got involved. They're superhero films and, unlike several other superhero franchises, they're not grim and gritty. That tone hasn't changed since Disney bought Marvel, and my point (that I didn't articulate well, sorry about that) is that the Star Wars tone hasn't suddenly been completely overhauled since Disney bought it.
The SW films have always been enjoyable as family films. Sure, they're skewed much older than an animated Disney film, but kids do love them. And I think TFA fit into that mold nicely. Like you say, Han's death would likely hit older audiences more strongly than younger audiences - the movies aren't suddenly only about children and their enjoyment, they're still primarily focused on telling a story everyone can appreciate. One of the bigger complaints about The Phantom Menace (amongst many, many complaints) was that between introducing Anakin at such a young age and Jar Jar's childlike personality, it seemed obvious that Lucas was trying to aim for a younger audience. I didn't get that sense at all from TFA. The closest thing to a merchandise-friendly character that children would automatically adore is BB-8, but the same could be said about R2-D2 in the original trilogy.
I do think they'll look into Kylo Ren's motivations and that could possibly involve some sort of redemption arc for him. But that's mainly because that's an established SW pattern, not because Disney have to make him a good guy because of toy sales. The PT was about Anakin's fall to the Dark Side, the OT has Palpatine and Vader trying to pull Luke to the Dark Side too, and ultimately failing, thus leading to Vader's sacrifice to save Luke. I think we'll see something similar, with a juxtaposition between Rey having to fight the temptation of the Dark Side and Kylo having to fight the temptation of the Light. They've already humanised Kylo in TFA more than Vader was for most of the OT, so it'd be a wasted opportunity not to explore his inner conflict. I think it's more likely any act Kylo takes against Snoke and the Dark Side will be fuelled more by personal revenge than wanting to help the Resistance. Whether he actually will end up being fully 'redeemed' is a mystery, obviously, but I don't see him getting a happy ending either way.
I don't think including the Netflix shows make sense with the comparison I was trying to make, but again that's my fault for not being clear. The MCU movies remained the same in tone when Disney took over, the SW movies remained the same in tone when Disney took over. Now, the spin-offs from the movie will be where it gets interesting. The Clone Wars cartoon may have started out cheery and kid-friendly, but it got deeply dark and complicated by the end. Disney cancelled the show, but they've been quite clear that it wasn't the tone that was the problem, it's that they're trying to move away from the PT era and focus more on OT era and beyond. Rebels is on Disney XD, so that has to remain a certain level of family-friendly, but already the second season is considerably darker than the first. I think the most comparable thing to the Marvel Netflix shows will be the SW Anthology movies, since they can create their own tone and style without having to fit with the rest of the SW films. That doesn't necessarily mean grim and gritty, but it does mean a stylistic change, and that's where a potential comparison could lie.
To be fair, I don't think you can say Vader being a mass murderer and child-killer is "glossed over". Yes, he dies doing a noble thing, but the last five minutes of ROTJ don't suddenly invalidate the rest of the OT, or his fall in ROTS. Vader as a mass-murderer very much is focused on in the movies, it's literally his entire role for most of the OT. He's the villain, he murders and kidnaps and tortures main characters. And when we find out he's related to Luke, it's because he's trying to use that fact to turn Luke to the Dark Side. When people think of Vader, whether they're casual or diehard fans, their first thought is going to be him as the villain of the saga, not "oh, he did a good thing at the end, so none of the rest of his evil shit matters".