Let me write this without seeing Kenobi, but since the topic came up...
On one hand, I hate the notion of these apocalyptic visions of the future of cinema and how huge franchises destroy the art of movie-making, etc etc. I'm sure there are "eras" in filmmaking just as there are eras in history, you know, monarchies going and republics coming, and I'm sure in filmmaking there's the possibility of living through this current era of mega-franchises and find ourselves in a newfound world of "new wave" cinema, where originality and small productions of visionary filmmakers rule once again.
But - I still believe there's something wrong with how Disney (almost single-handedly) is shaping our understanding of films and our culture of watching them. I definitely have a weird feeling when I see tons of new SW content announced, even though I have no problem with - the possibly endless stream of - fan-fiction novels and comic books that have come before. Maybe the difference is that with these new series and films and whatnot, fan-fiction and that sort of expansion of a well-known universe becomes "canon" or "mainstream", and for some reason I dislike that.
One part of the problem for me is that, in most films or stories in general, characters aren't living beings. They don't have histories, past lives or even futures. They are elements of a story. They are colors on a painting, and asking questions like "Where did they come from? How did they meet? What were they doing before the events of the film?" are extremely childish in my eyes. As a grown person, I think, we should be able to understand that stories, films, novels, etc. are - or supposed to be - self-contained pieces of art. Knowing where Leonardo da Vinci bought his paint for Mona Lisa should be interesting, but not on an artistic level, rather a historical one. And this is where the confusion arises: fan-fiction, the whishful expansion of self-contained storylines and characters shouldn't be more than it is.
I just can't stress enough my idea that a single character in a film should have no life before "the events of the plot". They aren't people, they are storytelling tools. "Before" shouldn't even make sense when it comes to the starting point of a plot. But nowadays this sort of attitude is nowhere to be seen. Every single character in a film must have a lifestory, from birth to death and beyond both. And, to me, this is a complete misreading of film as an artform, and a form of storytelling. I am, of course, not trying to deny the existence of good sequels or even prequels in the history of cinema (and literature). But, to my taste, whatever is going on with SW (and the MCU) these days is definitely extreme.
But it's not entirely Disney's fault, and that is something I just realized a few days ago. George Lucas himself is surely to blame for a whole generation's desire for retconning and reverse storytelling. The guy went to great lengths to alter his past films, the original SW-trilogy, even daring to change scenes in order to re-interpret main characters (you know, the "who shot first" controversy). I mean, I don't know the background that much, maybe it wasn't Lucas but rather the studio, but this whole bullshit trend definitely originated from that environment. By thinking that audiences would like your already classic movies more by altering them in hindsight in order to make them stand up for your imaginary standards, you completely misunderstand your whole craft and art. That is what I believe of the original creators of SW, whether it's Lucas alone or a bunch of people: their wish to change past films is undeniable proof that they just don't get it on a massive level. And their legacy is surely felt to this day, and provided the groundwork for the present state of blockbuster filmmaking and fan culture.
And this is something I just feel more and more alienated by every passing day. I would love to love Star Wars, but whatever is going on right now has nothing to do with whatever fantasy we have in our minds about this mythology. It is a toxic relationship with someone who we wish would be the perfect partner, and our hope and self-delusion is the only thing keeping this relationship together. Okay, this might've been a little too dramatic, but still.