Yeah, I had a discussion with some friends about that. Not everyone who hasn't seen Solo is boycotting it. Some just aren't interested in what they tried to do with this movie. I wasn't interested in it, and despite the negative criticisms, I still went and saw it. I respect that others liked it, hell, I know people who really liked The Phantom Menace. I'm not going to troll them and say they're not true fans because I disagree. Solo just wasn't for me, so I'll move on.
It's actually a bit sad though, I've purchased every Star Wars movie released, I even bought The Last Jedi even though I didn't like it. I won't be buying Solo. Not because I am boycotting it, I just have no desire to see it again because, to me, it felt devoid of Star Wars. With the exception of a few scenes, it just didn't feel like Star Wars. I felt like I was watching a rip-off of Star Wars, like a generic space pirate movie.
I gave it a chance, twice, and it didn't do anything the second time around. In fact when I first saw it I left the theater just blah, the second time I was actually irritated.
But my friends and I were talking about this and one in particular brought up the AE argument. He knows based on our previous conversations that I just didn't see Solo in this kid. It didn't bother him at all. So I turned the tables and brought up his favorite movie, Rocky, and I asked him how he would feel if they tried to do the same thing with that character. He said, "would never work, Stallone was young when he did that movie and no one would ever buy anyone else as Rocky, especially with how many times he played that character. Rocky is too iconic".
As you can tell, my friend isn't the brightest, and at I times even wonder why I still talk to him. It might be because he sucks at poker but he still buys in at $20.00 a game.
I think he understood my position as soon as the last word in that sentence above left his mouth. It's all subjective though, I get for some people it doesn't and never will matter, it just depends on how you feel about the character.
I get no joy in seeing a SW movie fail, it's part of my life and I want all the movies to succeed in taking me back to that galaxy far, far away. But I do hope Disney learns at least something from this experience.