The official “Star Wars” website today made a major announcement regarding the fate of the Expanded Universe.
Like many of us have said, it would be foolish to tie filmmakers to the hundreds of stories told in the post-“Return of the Jedi” era while trying to tell all new tales that will thrill and surprise us. It seems as though this is definitely the tack that Lucasfilm is going to take going forward. On the website, they explained that the canon of the “Star Wars” universe is what we’ve seen in the six films and on “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” all stories that came directly from the mind of George Lucas.
While Lucasfilm always strived to keep the stories created for the EU consistent with our film and television content as well as internally consistent, Lucas always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU. He set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align.
This was not unexpected. In talking to many of the writers who have helped shape this era of the Expanded Universe, it felt almost inevitable. And, like with “The Clone Wars,” they’re committing to borrowing the very best bits of the Expanded Universe to tell better stories in the films:
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.
Most importantly, according to the release, we’ll be seeing the Expanded Universe remain in print, but under the “Legends” line.
Demand for past tales of the Expanded Universe will keep them in print, presented under the new Legends banner.
On the screen, the first new canon to appear will be Star Wars Rebels. In print, the first new books to come from this creative collaboration include novels from Del Rey Books. First to be announced, John Jackson Miller is writing a novel that precedes the events of Star Wars Rebelsand offers insight into a key character’s backstory, with input directly from executive producers Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman.
For fans, I truly believe this is good news. First off, we’re getting a new book from John Jackson Miller, but then we get the best of both worlds. The stories we already know and love will remain in print in the alternate “Legends” universe, and we’ll be getting new stories from a galaxy far, far away.