Lucasfilm announces a new direction for the Star Wars EU

[Reverend]

The post-Return of the Jedi continuity is overwritten. Thus, rebooted.

Did I somehow miss a whole slew of SW films that took place after Return of the Jedi?

Oh, only the visuals count?

Evidently not. Comic books have visuals. Video games have visuals. The Ewok movies/cartoon and the 'Droids' cartoon all had visuals. Even the Holiday Special has visuals. Hell, that pile of crap even has the film's main actors, sets and was made by Lucasfilm.

The media isn't what's relevant, but the content is.

 

[BillJ]

If you choose to put it in the most simplistic way possible, yes. The thing is that this has ALWAYS been Lucasfilms' policy. EU is canon until it's contradicted by a film (or a TV series, or literally anything Lucas decided to elevate to "official" canon status). People are trying to lay this at Disney's or JJ's door, but if Lucas had not sold the franchise and had decided that he himself was going to make Episode VII, we would still be where we are RIGHT NOW. At least where post-ROTJ EU is concerned. Lucas was never going to let himself be constrained by it, so why should Disney or JJ?

Winner! The EU was going to be overwritten by whoever ended up making Episode VII. Just like the Star Trek relaunches done by Pocket would be quickly overwritten by someone who wanted to make a follow-up to Nemesis or a new 24th/25th Century series.

I enjoy the stories for what they are. I don't give two shits if they "count" in regards to the filmed material.

 

[JarodRussell]

The media isn't what's relevant, but the content is.

That doesn't make it any clearer at all.

 

[sojourner]

It's easy really. 6 movies, 6 pieces of canon right now.

 

[Reverend]

It's easy really. 6 movies, 6 pieces of canon right now.

Well, 7 movies + 121 episodes of TV, but yeah.

 

[sojourner]

It's easy really. 6 movies, 6 pieces of canon right now.

Well, 7 movies + 121 episodes of TV, but yeah.

There's a 7th movie? Then what movie are they making?

 

[Reverend]

It's easy really. 6 movies, 6 pieces of canon right now.

Well, 7 movies + 121 episodes of TV, but yeah.

There's a 7th movie? Then what movie are they making?

The Clone Wars movie. Yes, I know it's just 3 episodes edited together, but they still count it as a movie.

 

[Set Harth]

They've come to the conclusion based upon quotes from Lucas and other higher ups at Lucasfilm and it's affiliates that novels? Never really has been the real Star Wars universe.

Quote-mining on this issue can go either way. There are quotes out there which create the opposite impression.

It's easy really. 6 movies, 6 pieces of canon right now.

Well, 7 movies + 121 episodes of TV, but yeah.

There's a 7th movie? Then what movie are they making?

Just imagine if Episode IV wasn't the fourth movie!

 

[Reverend]

They've come to the conclusion based upon quotes from Lucas and other higher ups at Lucasfilm and it's affiliates that novels? Never really has been the real Star Wars universe.

Quote-mining on this issue can go either way. There are quotes out there which create the opposite impression.

Well, 7 movies + 121 episodes of TV, but yeah.

There's a 7th movie? Then what movie are they making?

Just imagine if Episode IV wasn't the fourth movie!

Fucking with us numerically is a Star Wars tradition.

 

[Tulin]

Tim Zahn has weighed in.

[...] there's nothing inherently demeaning in the term "Legends." Think back (a little farther…a little farther) to Disney's 1950s "Davy Crockett" TV series, (a show I grew up with) which presented stories and legends about the King of the Wild Frontier. Historians have Crockett's genuine history, but there's nothing that says these TV adventures *didn't* happen, right? So until and unless the legend puts Davy in Tennessee at the same time the real history puts him in Virginia, we can still believe those adventures happened. That's how I expect it to be with the "real" Star Wars history versus the "legendary" adventures of the EU.

[...]

So you're saying this all depends on our point of view?

 

[Campe]

Tulin, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

 

[Jedi_Master]

It's easy really. 6 movies, 6 pieces of canon right now.

The REAL question is: how many pieces of BACON are there?

 

[cooleddie74]

Tulin, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

Heck, entire forums of this message board live by that philosophy.

 

[Sci]

Still not a reboot.

The post-Return of the Jedi continuity is overwritten. Thus, rebooted.

In essence, this boils down to a simple fact: What is Star Wars (or Star Trek, or whatever) in the fans' hearts is not the same thing as what the actual intellectual property is from a legal standpoint.

Your syllogism is based on the premise that the post-RotJ continuity of the so-called "Expanded Universe," which was only ever enjoyed by a small percentage of the overall SW audience, was ever equal to the films upon which it was based. That it was, in essence, Star Wars rather than something based on Star Wars.

It was not, and only somebody with an unrealistic understanding of how Hollywood works would have ever imagined that future SW films would be built around the SWEU rather than ignoring them, as any sensible filmmaker would do.

Thus, no, there has been no reboot. Because the SWEU was not Star Wars, it was based upon Star Wars. It may be Star Wars in your heart, but it is not Star Wars in reality.

 

[cooleddie74]

^
This.

Well phrased.

 

[Jono]

Disappointed by what has happened as a long time fan of the EU, but not surprised. I was looking forward to more from the Legacy era. It will be interesting to see where they go, though I'm guessing not far until the next 3 movies are done.

The first line up for the new novels is out (I guess it isn't EU any more as its all one canon or does the term still count?), of which 3 of the 4 I'm quite interested in. So it looks like they will still be getting my money for books.

 

[sojourner]

The 4 new books will be canon about as much as the old EU was. In other words, until contradicted in a movie.

 

[Relayer1]

I think that in reality that has to be the case, but I don't think that is the intent.

If they really want everything to be all one continuity they will have to either drastically reduce the volume of novels to prevent events in the novels from 'spreading' too far into territory that may encroach on areas that the movies may inhabit later, insist that everything is 'back in the box' at the end of each book, or have a severe editorial oversight policy that scrutinises every single little thing for approval.

Or maybe all three...

 

[sojourner]

All of those things would limit the number of novels, which would limit profits, so yeah, good luck with that.

 

[Reverend]

The 4 new books will be canon about as much as the old EU was. In other words, until contradicted in a movie.

Uh, that's not at all how it worked before.

They way they did it was with a hierarchical, multi-tiered system of "canon" that determined what could override what. Something wasn't actually canon at all unless it was in the movies. The system just made sure the non-canon stuff was consistent with the films and each other.

The distinction is that if something (say a book) is canon, then it's something the films would be required to adhere to. That's what canon is and to my knowledge, it has never happened. The arrangement up until this point has been strictly one-way with the movies and TV series setting the rules and the EU jogging to keep up.

It was cumbersome and convoluted and weight down by innumerable contradictions, retcons, rationalizations and hand-waves all in an attempt to keep 40 years of material in one big fuzzy mess of a continuity. I mean for goodness sake, even the 'Jedi Prince' kids novellas have been jammed in there!

Frankly wiping the slate clean is the only sane approach and for the most part, good riddance. I'm sure the rare "good" material will eventually resurface in a new form, so no loss in the long run.


P.S. Incidentally, I suspect the use of terms like "absolute canon" has not helped with all the confusion. Technically speaking, the word "canon" is by definition meant to be an absolute term, hence it's use in describing the only recognised holy scripture vs. the apocrypha. Implying that something is "sort of canon" or "canon unless something else contradicts it" is like saying binary code is made up of ones and sort-of-zeros.

All of those things would limit the number of novels, which would limit profits, so yeah, good luck with that.

But then one must ask just how profitable have they been for Lucasfilm to date? Somewhat, sure, but when was the last time a Star Wars book was in the top 10 best sellers? Have any of them *ever* won the Hugo or Nebula Award?
Perhaps Disney thinks a quality over quantity approach will yield greater profits for a smaller, less diffuse investment.

Or perhaps within 10 years the new continuity will be an unmanageable mess again. Who can say?