‘Star Wars’ writing veteran Lawrence Kasdan has made an interesting statement recently while speaking to Wired about ‘Star Wars.’ According to the long-time screenwriter, he believes that the epic space-opera is not actually part of the sci-fi genre, as for him, the franchise in many ways seems to stand outside of any genre. In his own words:

Star Wars is its own genre. It’s not really science fiction. It’s really something on its own, fantasy and myth and science fiction and Flash Gordon and Akira Kurosawa all mixed up together. For that reason, like all genre it can hold a million different kinds of artists and stories… It can be anything you want it to be.”

For the nerds among us (including yours truly), it does make sense to remove ‘Star Wars’ from the science-fiction label, as the films have never had much to do with science or even pseudo-science, and the spaceships and technology are merely plot conveniences that allow the fantasy to take place in outer space and across many planets. And having grown up being an avid follower of the original expanded universe of ‘Star Wars,’ it was clear that depending on what kind of story you wanted to tell, ‘Star Wars’ could be adapted to any genre, from horror to western, with ease.

Kasdan also spoke on his hope for ‘The Force Awakens,’ and what he and Abrams were going for while writing the new story:

“The feeling we wanted was from the first trilogy, which was, it’s fun, it’s delightful. You take all of JJ’s gifts, the dynamism of his camera and his sense of humor and feeling of momentum, his ideas of story, and I feel like we were able to achieve that delight. It’s an unusual feeling even for me. When I look at the movie, I can’t resist it. It just tickles me.”

For me, hearing the writer speak with such praise about the film so close to release is a great sign, as often the writers are so disappointed by the final result and how much their vision changed during production that they do not say anything at all.

What are your thoughts on whether or not ‘Star Wars’ in science fiction? Do you trust Kasdan’s appraisal of the film’s quality? Share your opinions below!