I’m not willing to bow in allegiance to brand alone.
For what its worth, I think this is a valuable lesson to learn, no matter how you came to learn it. Nobody should be “bowing in allegiance” to any brand, and forcing an expectation to do so onto yourself is pretty unfair to both the movies and to yourself.
Star Wars shouldn’t be expected to “top” anything. It’s not really a competition. Star Wars movies need to be good, entertaining, involving movies on their own, first and foremost. Whatever standing they may or may not secure in some later brand hiearchy isn’t really anywhere near as important. If Star Wars isn’t the A1 premier brand in film anymore… eh. I don’t think I was getting anything more out of the movies and stories when it was. That status doesn’t really have anything to do with why the stories are great, you know? Something else can be the biggest brand for awhile. I’m not a shareholder in those brands so it really doesn’t matter to me which “team” is ranked #1 anyway, so long as the movies are good.