You think people didn't see Solo because Ford didn't star in it? I haven't heard that from a single person before right now. All I heard was - "I'm not paying to see another Star Wars movie after TLJ" and "dead character - who cares?"
I think expecting escapism from the SJW/PC concepts of the real world is fair from moviegoers. I don't think it has anything to do with "comfort" for most people. I, personally, dislike Captain Marvel because it's a mediocre film. I actually feared that it would pander too much to real-world politics (because of the trailers). It thankfully didn't (too much). The Last Jedi does things that don't make contextual sense. The reason? Well, if I go on I'll get some warning points, so let's just leave it at that. My, and most/all people I know, are only motivated to criticize TLJ for how bad it is as a Star Wars movie. I've heard it's allegedly a "good movie" if you don't consider its existence within the franchise. Outside of that, other connotations simply add more to the pile. The lack of escapism is tertiary in nature to how bad the characters and story are.
Your final point is exactly right. There are usually fanboys and fangirls in droves who speak up for their fandom, though. CM itself, as a new character within a franchise, receives more defense than TLJ (based on most populated social media and articles). I think that also says something as a storied franchise vs a new character.