New EU Announcement

[Ornko'mad]

I sense a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of fans cried out in rage.

We all knew that something like this was coming. I, for one, was hoping it'd be a little softer than this.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

So basically, Disney are Lucas'ing it?

 

[chrisgelderd]

Ohh dear - so now, the EU as we know it will become the 'Alternate Universe' going by the "Disney" Episodes canon then....?

Gutted.

 

[Polarius]

So wait... are they using thrawn or no, not sure what i read... Because if he isnt canon id be sad...

 

[Onrai]

I am disgusted. Disney is foolish and incompetent by taking thirty five years of hard work by thousands of writers, filmmakers, typists, comic artists, and others, and have flushed it down the crapper. If they want to save face, then for the love of God, they better have the decency to not label these new movies "Episode VII-IX." That falsely advertises that they are actual sequels to the expanded universe, etc, which is a complete and total lie.

 

[Strider Garon]

i am just gonna wait tell it comes out before I make any assumptions.

 

[Aeron Zambrano]

They made it clear from the get-go they wouldn't be including any EU in the new episodes which was fine. Half the article sounds like "everything you knew is done" and the other half sounds like "well it's kind of done but it's not gone but maybe but we don't really know."

I'm on the same page, I'm just waiting until it comes out to get all riled about it because it's so far away. A million things could change between then and now, they don't even have casting completed.

Okay secretly on the inside I'm freaking out.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

This is the best thing that could possibly happen to the EU. Here's why.

Clone Wars ran roughshod over the EU. Mandos, Barriss Offee, and so forth and so on -- point is, how much more would these new movies have stampeded through the EU, requiring odd retcons and inconsistencies?

Instead, the EU stays intact under the Legends label, and a whole new story gets told, and every time a new film comes out there's not utter rage at what has to change to fit it.

 

[Ayden Cater]

I'm with Ashin on this. This is honestly the best move to make with regards to moving forward with Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. Nothing has to be ought slammed as non-canon and they don't have to spend months, years maybe even, going through the entire EU to figure out what stays, what changes, and what gets thrown out. The best comparison to this I can think of is this;

• Lucas changed it so Han shot second.
• Disney is changing it so that Han shot someone else entirely.

One of these is a change lambasted as unnecessary, crude, and takes away from the character. The other is simply telling the story a little different. You've all seen it with the Marvel movies. They deviate from the comic book canon on a number of places, but people don't care (on the whole) as it's still a great story. There's no reason to get up in arms and bash Disney for a move that allows them the freedom to tell the best damn story they can. And make no mistake, there will be nods to things from the EU, even if they play out. So relax, put down the pitchforks, and let's wait and see what comes our way.

 

[Kinn Xarjast]

^ All of this.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Not particularly unexpected. I don't mind this happening.

 

[Helmut Todstern]

My problem with this is that technically they're going against their own canon.

• The Witches of Dathomir were established in EU books and comics.
• The Nightsisters played an important role in the storyline of the Clone Wars 3D animation saga.
• By discarding all of the EU, that would mean scrapping the canon of the Clone Wars series.

So, if the Nightsisters are still part of the canon, its less of a scrapping of the EU and more of a "pick and choose" of the EU.

Also, side note, the article says they're still going to allow people to use the EU freely.

 

[Delila Castillon]

This is the best thing that could possibly happen to the EU. Here's why.

Clone Wars ran roughshod over the EU. Mandos, Barriss Offee, and so forth and so on -- point is, how much more would these new movies have stampeded through the EU, requiring odd retcons and inconsistencies?

Instead, the EU stays intact under the Legends label, and a whole new story gets told, and every time a new film comes out there's not utter rage at what has to change to fit it.

I had some real issues on what the Clone Wars cartoons did to SW EU. However in this announcement "Clone Wars" and the new "Rebels" cartoon are considered cannon.

Which I'm a little miffed about. Star Wars EU is still important to me, and I'll continue loving it. I glance over to my bookshelf and see all the awesome graphic novels and stories, which in my mind are often better than what we've seen on the screen. Of course Disney is going to run it over with a steamroller and do what they want, sticking those ugly mouse ears on everything.

As a huge Batgirl fan, I try to look at the same way I do when the DCU restarts every ten years or so. Still, tough to swallow since its a different realm than comic books.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

It's the only thing they could have done. We know what every character does every day of their life from ROTJ to 40 years later. Trying to put the movies in there would either be anti-climactic since we know what would happen or it'd destroy the EU anyway.
This way they've separated it off onto a new track, and this makes sense.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Never was a massive fan of the EU anyway.

 

[Tefka]

In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe. For example, elements of the EU are included in Star Wars Rebels. The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems are story elements in the new animated series, and all these ideas find their origins in roleplaying game material published in the 1980s.

I agree, this is the best course of action available.

It's the best of both worlds, and as long as we get a good movie out of it - probably even a trilogy - I'm down like a clown. And this means we'll likely get a good movie out of it.

Because as awesome as Thrawn, the Yuuzhan Vong, the Jedi children, etc are... I want a new story, and it looks like they want it too.

 

[Fallon deWinter]

Okay, so they can't actually nix EU after so many years. That would be ridiculous. Also, riot. Hardcore. But mostly, people bragged about what they read first. I wouldn't panic too much just yet.

And hey. I have anciently old VHS proof Han shoot first. No amount of them sitting in front of their computers with their fancy programs (which I totally want, by the way) will ever change that. <3

Beyond that, I gave LOTR a shot, of course I'll go watch this in cinema. Because Star Wars.

P.S. Lets leave Witches out of this. Mine!

 

[Corey's OOC]

2 days late to the party.
Blame Boaternet.

I do kind of like this idea. While I love love love EU and all that the 'Legends' stories have, the Clone Wars canon bugged me with some of the stuff that happened. Knowing Mandalore as a warrior race, the peace-loving ones kind of confused me. The Witches being founded when it was said that stye were removed from society (could be a weird memory on my end with that). The new ones are going to need to be exciting, sure, its Disney, but its also LucasArts, they'll be there somehow, and they didn't do too badly with MCU, I know its a bit different, but like Delila said, it happens with comics. And fiction and at the scope of Star Wars, it was only a matter of time.

I still hope they give me the Sword of the Jedi trilogy somehow, but I'll take what I can get and enjoy the two timelines, comparing, contrasting and loving and hating aspects from both.

 

[Janus Rogo]

Am I the only one that liked seeing the Mandalorians turned into easily manipulated drones, with a core set of psychotic warriors, and a single commanding, pacifistic presence ruling over them?

Maybe it's just because I hated Karen Traviss.

But I am disappointed about some of the EU going out. Much of the stuff up through the YV crisis wasn't TOO bad. Even afterwards, you got some good stuff. Operation Emperors Hammer, the Last Stand of Ganner Rhysode.... We'll just have to wait and see what they include in the new movies and EU novels.

 

[Tallia Farn]

As a Star Wars Literature fan, it's sad to see all the books I've read over the years go down the drain. I think it would have made logical sense for the new series of movies to pick up after Star Wars Crucible and go from there. Still though, through the course of the EU, we have lost a lot of characters that are pretty essential to Star Wars plots after episode six.

First off, 2 of 3 Solo children are already dead. In the books, they make references to Anakin's demise and discuss Jacen's fate almost constantly. In a film where those characters have never been introduced onscreen, these names mean little to nothing to the average movie goer, and their deaths, and how it effects others, would be lost.

Second, Luke has a son, but no wife. Now, I know it wouldn't take too much to explain away the absence of Mara Jade, but time is everything in a two hour movie. The emotions that Luke has for his dead wife would again have no meaning to most viewers.

I've heard the new Star Wars movies been equated to how the marvel universe has been handled, with similar characters and plot lines from the source material. I think is sounds like a great idea, considering how well done I think the marvel movies are. It will give us a chance to see characters from the EU in the films that we never would have seen if they hadn't gone this direction.

Now, what I wouldn't appreciate would be if they invented new characters to fill the slots of Leia and Hans kid's or Luke's wife. I hope Disney realizes that sequels work best when they have a good blend of both familiar and new.