October 30th, 2012 had some big news for Star Wars fans. Disney purchased Lucasfilm and announced a new movie trilogy that will start in 2015. I brought up some questions at the end of my report such as what this might mean for The Clone Wars and how things could change for licensees such as Dark Horse Comics, but the biggest question on my mind is what happens to the Expanded Universe going forward. After having a night to think about it I’ve come up with a few different ideas on how this might affect the Expanded Universe that I wanted to share with everyone. After reading please share your ideas, hopes, and concerns in the comments!
How the EU Could Affect the Films
To start things off, it would be pretty difficult for the people working on these films to stay 100% true to decades of Expanded Universe content which covers hundreds or even thousands of years of “in-universe” time depending on if you’re looking at things later than or earlier than the existing movies. We’ve already seen this with The Clone Wars television series having various minor to major clashes with Expanded Universe continuity. Trying to make everything fit would limit the creative freedom of the filmmakers and honestly could leave a lot of people that don’t read any EU material in the dark if the back-story from dozens of novels and comics are needed to know what’s going on. The easy solution to this would be to set the films in an untouched time period. Instead of picking up with Luke, Leia, Han and potentially their children, jump ahead to the era of the Legacy comics or beyond, or go the other way and play around in an empty area of the Old Republic. This would be direction I’d like to see for the new trilogy as it limits any potential continuity hiccups, but if the deals can be worked out I think the draw of possibly having Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and/or Harrison Ford make appearances will be too strong for them to not try to make this a trilogy set 30-40 years after Return of the Jedi, and I doubt they’d want to do a straight adaptation of an EU storyline.
Expanded Possibilities
If the new trilogy is set not too far post-RotJ, the chances of EU continuity lining up perfectly with it will be pretty slim. In this case one of two things is likely to happen. Either the long discussed in fandom EU reboot will actually happen, or the EU will split and we’ll have the “Original EU” and the “New Movie EU”. Both of these options have pros and cons, and we’ll start with discussing a reboot. The biggest advantage to a full or even partial reboot of the EU would be accessibility. Like we saw when the Prequel Trilogy started, this new trilogy is going to bring a lot of renewed attention to Star Wars and hopefully a lot of new fans as well. Giving the EU a fresh start would make it easier for people new to Star Wars to jump in, and it would help make continuity moving forward a lot simpler to keep in line with the new films. The Catch-22 here is that a reboot is also a big con. Fans of the Expanded Universe can be very passionate, and the thought of all of the stories we love ‘not counting anymore’ is a pretty bitter pill to swallow for a lot of us. This is understandable, people have invested a lot of time and money into the EU and would hate to feel like it was being thrown away.
That leads to the other potential scenario, where the EU is split. One branch continuing the EU we currently know and (mostly) love, the other starting fresh with the new trilogy in mind. The obvious pro here is that we keep getting stories set in the current continuity, while letting the rebooted EU allow for a new level of accessibility to the franchise. This also fixes the worry of continuity conflicts as the Original EU would ignore the new movies and the New Movie EU would ignore the old stories, each doing their own thing. The problem with this plan is that it could be pretty confusing for a lot of people. If someone isn’t paying attention it’d be easy for them to pick up a book in the EU they aren’t familiar with and have no idea what’s going on. That isn’t a huge con though, and this is really my preferred route for the EU to go in the future. It frees the filmmakers up to do whatever they want without feeling beholden to EU stories and characters, lets the EU continue on as it is without continuity issues or fans feeling like things have been erased, and offers an accessible fresh start in a New Movie EU. The New Movie EU could also be exciting for current EU fans, as it would be a new playground for authors to work in and come up with fun new stories that might not necessarily mesh with EU continuity as it stands now.
A New Hope
I know a lot of people are worried about the future of the Expanded Universe. Right now we really don’t have any idea what’s going to happen, and that’s in part because we don’t even know what the new trilogy will be about or when it takes place. It could be a lot of stress over nothing, we might end up with one of the situations I described, or something totally unexpected could end up happening. I want to end this column with some statements from people at Lucasfilm that leave me feeling optimistic for the future of the Expanded Universe and Star Wars in general.
Jennifer Heddle, senior editor at LucasBooks, posted a few quick responses to the news on Twitter. As of right now it’s “business as usual” at LucasBooks and she’s excited to potentially work on books for the new trilogy. While they might not know how those movies will affect the EU quite yet, they’re aware that it’s something we’re wondering about and will be keeping us informed.
Leeland Chee, Keeper of the Holocron at Lucasfilm (for those not in the know, he helps manage Star Wars continuity) posted the following quote: “…and obviously we have hundreds of books and comics and everything you can possibly imagine…” That statement comes from George Lucas himself, discussing the future of Star Wars in this video. This more than anything has me excited for what’s to come with the EU. Most importantly it shows that those stories haven’t been forgotten. On top of that, think of the possibilities of these stories being at Disney now. I know I’m not the only one that would love to see some EU stories adapted into films by a collaboration between Lucasfilm Animation and Pixar.
-Brian Novicki
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Brian joined EUCantina in 2012 as a news reporter. He saw the Original Trilogy when he was so young that he can’t even remember the first time he saw them. His earliest EU memory is listening to audio books of the Jedi Academy trilogy with his family, and since then he has gotten his hands on as much EU material as he can, loving the novels, comics and video games. 
Personally, I’m also concerned about the expanded universe. I don’t want a “reboot” like Star Trek has. I would like to see a movie that flows with the EU. I think they could possibly do one after the New Sword of the Jedi Trilogy as they haven’t announced some big nine novel series. Then, they could have the old gang come back and see Ben and Jaina in it as well which would be SUPER cool! Another place i though could be before the Yuuzahn Vong war. there is a span in time there where a trilogy could be produced without a whole lot of continuity issues. Personally. I’m just excited. I’m not happy nor mad about this. i think that there are too many unknown variables right now. I think that when they pin down a place in time, then fans will choose a side. They do have the risk of losing a lot of fans though if they destroy the current EU. I think that there is a lot to work with and we can only hope for the best.
I’ve been think of the EU sense the news like the rest of you, reading peoples comments and reactions. How would you feel if they ended our generations EU with a set ending? With the new movie they could start a new EU. I feel ending our EU would at least give fans closure.
Craig, I would definitely be okay with there being that closure with the current EU. While I’d be sad that it wouldn’t continue and would definitely prefer the Original EU/New Movie EU possibility to a firm end, I can’t deny that the completionist in me would love to be able to say, “I have every EU novel on my bookshelf.”
I am greatly hoping that they do not change around or overwrite the EU content that I’ve come to know and love since I was a child. I know it will be difficult to follow the continuity of such a vast amount of lore, but the thought of having two separate timelines or a slew of retconned material makes me shiver.
Disney is a quality company, and I have faith that they can create some very respectable films under the Star Wars banner. My wish is that they either do some “filling in the blanks” projects or respect the deep, established EU timeline.
That being said, how awesome would it be for Episodes VII-IX to be the Thrawn trilogy?
I think I’d rather see the Thrawn trilogy as an animated project. Not sure how I’d feel about seeing so many characters recast if that was what the new movies were.
I also hope they don’t change the EU but I just don’t think it’s not going to happen. That why I suggested a set ending. I think the most that will happen is Disney will use event from the EU, creating new story’s around them. i think they should remake the original trilogy(my favorites are the originals). Remaking would help a people who didn’t grow up with the originals connect with those characters. Having new actors play those roles would also separate both the new and old EU. Han solo x goes to movie/EU x while Han solo y goes to movie/EU y. An example would be example the battlestar galactica series(I was again the remake of bsg but became one of the biggest fans). Your thoughts?
Sorry for typos using a cell phone to post.
I would be fine with animation or live action. Animation would remove the need for casting, but I’m not opposed to seeing new actors/actresses filling the roles of previous movie characters. I know some are against that idea, but to me, it’s more preferable to altering established content.
I know this is most likely a futile argument, but I’m a passionate fan. Is it not that passion that has propelled Star Wars to what it is today?
I defo think that what we can hope for is an homage to the existing EU. Character names and possibly broad stroke character arcs as well, in situations or tales that are new. So we will still probably see Jacen and Jaina and Anakin ect., but things may not flow as they have in the books. Instead we’ll probably see a mingling of the existing character traits of those younger generation SW with newer ideas in live action film versions.
I think that would be the best way to appease the continuity that we’ve all accepted as canon for the EU, but still allow Disney to blaze their own trail and tell their own stories.
We still get characters we love, but the movies shouldn’t'/cannot be beholden to them.
Pick the story up 30-40 years post-ROTJ and tell us about these young people who have inherited a galaxy and how it’s in turmoil. Have Luke, Leia et al in Alec Guiness generational supervisory roles, and let stuff like Jacen and Tenel Ka or Jaina and Jag’s love stories sell to the teen audience who love HUNGER GAMES and TWILIGHT. Best of all worlds.
Either way, I’m super excited to hear what they will do.
I think you’re right Scott, they definitely could bring in EU characters and ideas, but they won’t stick 100% to what we know. If there’s something they want to do that doesn’t line up perfectly with EU continuity they’ll do what they are going to do. Examples of this pop up in The Clone Wars from time to time, like how they used Onderon as a setting or featured Quinlan Vos in an episode, but killed off Even Piell and Adi Gallia in different ways than they died in the EU.
“Character names and possibly broad stroke character arcs as well, in situations or tales that are new. So we will still probably see Jacen and Jaina and Anakin ect., but things may not flow as they have in the books.”
Another possibility is they could erase characters like jacen and jaina or completely change there personalities. I hope Scotts right. It would be upsetting to see major EU characters disappear or have there personalities changed.
I’m still quite torn over this issue cause i really really don’t want the EU to get screwed up. I’ve come to what i think would be my happy place. The new trilogy can use original characters and new characters from the books thats fine. I think a new story that leaves the eu alone can exist in its own right and be successful. This note only creates jumping off points for new stories but it doesn’t completely wreck the EU. But my complete nightmare with this would be a new trilogy that destroys the basics of what we have come to love. I hope the new movies follow the established formula of… Han and Leia married…..two kids Jacen and Jaina, possibily three Anakin. Luke and Mara Jade Married with son Ben. I’m gonna wake up in cold sweats every day if I hear stuff like bring yoda back. or Luke had a girl or was never married. I’m just horrified some MAJOR thing is going to screw it all up.