Lucasfilm announces a new direction for the Star Wars EU

[Peach Wookiee]

I'm thrilled that Chewie is again canonically alive.
And as for the EU being discontinued, I'm fine with that, as much as I loved the Thrawn trilogy.

 

[Tulin]

Holy shit. I just read it - it's true. Apparently Chewie dies saving some stupid brat called Anakin(ironic!), when a damned moon FALLS ON HIM!!!

Lame and fail EU!

THIS fan wankery is part of the reason why people hate the stupid EU.

 

[Reverend]

Personally I'm rather fond of the material set several millennia prior to the films like the old 'Tales of the Jedi' comics, the KotOR era games etc. I think it's mostly immune to the problems rife in the rest of the EU because being so far removed there's a degree of freedom from not having to include the Skywalker clan in everything.

Indeed, in my experience the best post-RotJ EU material was also mostly divorced from the movie's central characters. The X-Wing novels leap to mind.

Not sad to see any of it go though. It's long since past time to wipe the slate clean. The way I see it, the old EU is now to the new stuff what the Marvel comics are to the Marvel Cinematic universe. A source to draw from for raw material, but not beholden to for continuity. They're free to cherry pick the best without being encumbered by the worst.

 

[Campe]

I loved Tales and the X-Wing books/comics. The X-Wing series and the Thrawn Trilogy are the only EU materials I've kept. I'm going to be picking up the Tales Omnibus eBooks soon.

And yes, killing Chewie was a huge part of starting my lack of interest in the EU. You don't kill Chewbacca. You just don't.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Anakin was Han and Leia's youngest son in the EU.
ETA: Pardon me, the first EU.

 

[British Khan]

I'll admit some of the EU is good and some bad. For example the Vong invasion would've been more believable if they had been from a nearby galaxy and not refugees from their own galaxy for thousands of years then population imbalance compared to the SW galaxy wouldn't have been a issue. The Second Galactic Civil War should have dragged on as long it did. The Galactic Alliance should have crushed the Corellians and later the Confederacy with ease and the number of ship present at various battles seemed rather small despite the large resources it had. Though that's a common problem with other wars in SW. That's just a few things wrong with the old EU.

I don't mind the EU being declared non-canon. I knew that was going to happen as soon as I heard Disney had bought Star Wars. What makes me angry is that their not going to publish anything new set in the old EU. I'm still plan to see the new SW films and hopefully Abrams will handle them better then he did NU Trek, which is okay but has many flaws. Also I'm excited by the this new EU because I'm a fanfic writer so being able combine stuff from the new and old EU makes me excited.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Not really a surprise. I though it was an open secret that the EU was going to be treated similarly to Marvel comics in regards to film. A place to mine characters, plots, and concepts if needed, but the movies will be their own thing.

 

[AgentCoop]

I hated that they killed off Chewie, but I have to admit that there's something badass about the fact that it took a frickin' MOON to do it.

 

[davejames]

J.J. Abrams grew up with Star Wars. He's a huge, lifetime fan of the franchise and with his decades-long nerd devotion to things from the pen and typewriter of George Lucas I can't imagine him deliberately torpedoing the Saga and/or not caring how the story's executed. There's a true, born-and-bred fan of the Lucas universe in charge of one of the films, and while not everything Abrams has helmed has been great he's made enough good product that I have faith he'll direct a good film.

Will it be on par with Hope or Empire? Likely not, but then again it could be one of the best films in the entire franchise and surprise everyone with just how good it is without the aging, rusty George in the director's chair.

All I know for sure is: we know nothing for sure. Claiming that all films, TV projects and novels from this point forward are going to be stinkbombs because of the Disney corporate logo is presumptive and downright illogical.

Agreed. And people seem to forget that this new trilogy still comes from Lucas's original story that he dreamt up decades ago.

If Abrams was creating a new story completely from scratch (as with the Trek movies), I'd probably be worried as well, but that's not what is happening here. At the most, he and Kasdan have probably just changed some of the details of Lucas's story here and there, and improved the action and characters.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I think the new movies (and thus the new EU) will recycle a fair few characters from the old one. Maybe a few broad plot ideas too, so we probably haven't seen the last of Mara Jade.

This. There are characters that have become iconic staples of their own that would fit right on screen. In fact, Mara Jade and Talon Karrde are the two characters I could see them borrowing, even if it meant changing names and keeping the general idea of those characters.

But they are starting over and have to create a bunch of new characters anyway, so I wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't.

 

[sojourner]

There'll be two new characters named Tara Kade and Malon Jarrde.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Cute..

And gender switched too?

 

[Reverend]

I think the new movies (and thus the new EU) will recycle a fair few characters from the old one. Maybe a few broad plot ideas too, so we probably haven't seen the last of Mara Jade.

This. There are characters that have become iconic staples of their own that would fit right on screen. In fact, Mara Jade and Talon Karrde are the two characters I could see them borrowing, even if it meant changing names and keeping the general idea of those characters.

But they are starting over and have to create a bunch of new characters anyway, so I wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't.

Agreed, there's plenty of potential to mine characters and the broad strokes of some stories and I'm interested to see where they go with it.

Mara Jade is probably the most obvious choice with the likes of Talon Karrde, Corran Horn, Mirax & Booster Terrik and Borsk Fey'lya also being strong possibilities.
Since Dathomiri witches were quite prominently featured in TCW, I could see Teneniel Djo and/or Tenel Ka Djo being tapped.


Speaking of loosing interest in the EU, I stopped reading the novels regularly back around the time the likes of 'Crystal Star', 'Planet of Twilight' and the 'Black Fleet Crisis' books came out. It just got so stagnant and repetitive with next to no character character growth despite several decades of in-universe events. In short, I got bored.

I did check out Vector Prime when it came out but was unmoved and didn't bother to continue following the series. Frankly the whole endeavour smacked of a desperation to shake things up. Killing off Chewie or the way the did it didn't bother me so much as the reason it was done. Likewise the Vong were a blatant attempt to up the dramatic stakes with a new threatening and seemingly invincible big bad with no idea where they were going with it. They'd clearly run out of ideas by that point.
Indeed from what I've read my instincts were right. Apparantly in the books that came later, the Vong were quietly swept under the rug. To be mentioned only in passing and having no real significance once that conflict was over.

 

[British Khan]

The Vong do become important again in the Legacy comic series.

 

[cooleddie74]

Agreed. And people seem to forget that this new trilogy still comes from Lucas's original story that he dreamt up decades ago.

If Abrams was creating a new story completely from scratch (as with the Trek movies), I'd probably be worried as well, but that's not what is happening here. At the most, he and Kasdan have probably just changed some of the details of Lucas's story here and there, and improved the action and characters.

Also, critics and haters tend to forget one important element:

Lawrence Kasdan.

The man who helped craft both Empire and Jedi and make both movies as good or even epic as they are. Kasdan knows what he's doing and he's a 35-year veteran of the Lucas universe. The participation of a man who played a critical role in making two of the three films in the Original Trilogy will be nothing but a good thing for the story of Episode VII.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I'd be happy if they just took a few of the more important characters from the EU and add them to the new canon and go from there. At the very least bring in Mara Jade, especially if Luke is supposed to have a grown son.

Maybe bring in Jaina Solo too, maybe Jacen as well if they avoid him becoming another Sith Lord.

I'd also think that they are almost certainly keeping the whole Boba Fett survived the Sarlacc Pit element.

 

[Campe]

Apparantly in the books that came later, the Vong were quietly swept under the rug. To be mentioned only in passing and having no real significance once that conflict was over.

Soooo... this epic end all, be all, Borg of the Star Wars universe, villain that they created, and had the storyline that killed off two central characters really had no bearing going forward? Wow. And that's the "real" Star Wars Universe? Glad I gave up on it. (Legacy, just like Tales of the Jedi in the opposite direction, not counting because that's far enough in the future that it has no bearing on the main thrust of the Star Wars storyline.)

 

[JoeZhang]

The other weird thing is the idea being pushed by some that Abrams will simply be able to do whatever he like - that is never the case with a corporate franchise like this.

 

[Campe]

You edited your post, Joe. Now my response makes no sense.

But there still is a lot of truth to your statement.

 

[cooleddie74]

Isn't George Lucas the high-ranking executive consultant for the Sequel Trilogy, anyways? He might not own his company anymore and he's not directing the new films, but he's the creator of this entire geeky mess we call Star Wars - he's gonna have some say over what Abrams does and step in if and when he feels J.J. isn't doing something in the tradition or spirit of the preceding films.

Just because he sold Lucasfilm and is no longer in the director's chair doesn't mean he won't pull rank if he feels he has to.