Geek Speak: Is This The Final Nail in the Coffin for Star Wars?

In a galaxy far, far away ... well, Hollywood, the senior executives at Disney contemplated what was next in its bid to take over the world.

Naturally, Lucasfilm cropped up and as of 30 October 2012, George Lucas signed on the dotted line with Bob Iger and the rest of the Disney crew to sell the much loved Star Wars franchise.

Don't feel too sorry for Lucas though, he still walked away with a swag bag of $4.05bn, in a mixture of stocks and cash, meaning he is now the second largest shareholder in Disney.

Of course, whenever a well-established franchise gets bought out, taken over and injected with new management, there is always trepidation.

In fact, there is usually outrage.

But can you blame Star Wars fans for their reaction in hearing Disney and all its saccharine and mostly juvenile banality is going to even touch such a rooted franchise?

You can't blame them, not really.

If the creator of the Star Wars universe, Lucas, seemingly gave up on his own franchise years ago with 'meh' movies from episodes 1, 2 and 3 - what hope has Disney got in turning it into a powerhouse again?

Come on - Jar Jar Binks, the endless destruction of well-loved characters and lore, as well as some frankly embarrassing acting and scripts from Hayden Christensen and the rest.

The descent of Star Wars was encapsulated expertly by Spaced's Simon Pegg:

But when the red mist lifts from fans eyes, would it be so bad for Star Wars to be taken over by Disney?

I know we all think of 'It's a Small, Small World,' Mickey Mouse and child movie fodder when we think of Disney, but the so-called 'Evil Empire' has come a long way.

Disney is highly innovative and understands what the audience wants and moves with the times. Over the years, execs at Disney realised the appetite for a certain type of animation and of course acquired Pixar in 2006 and later Marvel in 2009.

The group turned out some tear jerking and incredible pieces of animation, from Toy Story to Wall-E.

These films, expertly crafted by Disney's Pixar unit, resonated with a huge audience; in 2009 Up! became the first animated film to open Cannes Film Festival in history.

For the nerds out there who love the Marvel comics (I have always been a DC or Vertigo girl myself), the separate Avengers movies, including Thor, Iron Man and later Avengers Assemble, went down a storm.

The movies handled the decades-long franchise with skill and love, while also reinvigorating a number of characters and storylines that had previously sunk without a trace for many previous years.

Comparing it to the Star Trek franchise (my actual first love), change can spell good and bad consequences when it comes to re-energising a fiercely protected franchise by the fanboys.

We all generally love The Next Generation and Voyager series but don't forget, this was a reinvention from the Original Series. We then had a hiatus of TV movies and episodes and then came Enterprise (yes - the one with the terrible opening theme tune) which summarily bombed and offended fans and news audiences alike.

However, cue J. J. Abrams and the Paramount Pictures crew and Star Trek was reborn. Long-time fans loved it and new audiences flocked to see it.

While I am still on the fence over whether Disney will either seek and destroy or shock and awe with its treatment over Star Wars, I don't really care as long as Jar Jar Binks isn't in it.