My wife has never seen Star Wars. She has never seen any of the series. She may have seen a little bit of one of the movies on TV or something.
She’s not a big sci-fi fan, and has no burning desire to immerse herself in SW culture. But she’s pretty willing to watch about anything, and has expressed an interest in finally see these movies because everyone else in the world has.
So, the question I have is this: For someone with practically zero background in the subject, what is the best order to watch the films? The order of theatrical release, or the episodical order?
On one hand, watching them in order of release would allow her to know everything in the early episodes that a life-long fan would, thus mirroring the experience of everyone else on the planet.
OTOH, the first episodes might not come off as disappointing to someone who doesn’t already know the outcome. For instance, things might be different if you don’t know that the annoying little kid in the first movie will end up being Darth Vader. (Her ignorance of the story line is literally on that level.)
So, which order would the true fans prefer to see them if they were starting fresh?
I’m sure this comes up occasionally, but a cursory search didn’t produce anything.