My boyfriend knows absolutely nothing about the series other than that Natalie Portman is in the prequels. He wants to watch the prequels first - he likes her and is convinced you’re supposed to watch them in order.
I’m advocating Machete order (with pre-Special Edition VHS rips), but he really wants to watch Phantom Menace and I’m not sure where to put Rogue One/what other non-mainline material to include.
Do normies tend to like the sequels? I’ve told him upfront that I dislike them immensely, but I’ll tolerate them for him.
This may come across as ridiculous but please understand - I’m just trying to maximize my chance of a couples Han/Chewie Halloween costume this year.
If he really wants to watch Phantom Menace first, I suppose it would work if you jump from it to A New Hope.
If he is truly ignorant of Vader being Anakin, he’ll see a movie with kid Anakin, followed by a movie with old Obi-Wan lamenting how Vader killed Anakin at some point in the prequels, leaving the big reveal in place. Maybe actually making it better in some ways.
Honestly I don’t think Rogue One is worth watching. It’s pretty, but was very meddled with. I would highly recommend perhaps putting the Andor show in place instead of it. Either way, watching these after Episode 1 makes sense to me.
Then do the normal Machete Order.
If he doesn’t remember that the Han Solo movie exists, don’t remind him.
Of course that’s a BIG commitment. The sane way is to convince him just to watch the original trilogy first and the rest if he likes it.