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Star Wars is getting brand new Expanded Universe
- Thread starter DieH@rd
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Well, we don't know if he's doing all three movies so there's that. Plenty of different people will probably approach the franchise in the years to come.
And I honestly think he'll do fine job anyways, but I am not ultra passionate about Star Wars though.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
How long do you figure before it all goes out of control again by writers where a force user got so OP'd maybe something simple passing gas could defeat an army? Like I said in the other thread about the most powerful Sith/Jedi, it was ridiculous. It was nothing like this in the films at all, people were going ham with the power wankings like it was DBZ.
so wait... their Phoenixing the EU?
I'm not the biggest star wars fan.
However think the movies are pretty good, and he concept of magical space samurai is something I am down for. This news will be good or bad or me depending on the following
- If they make the force more subdued like in the first 3 flicks bad
- if they go ape shit with it in the new EU good.
However think the movies are pretty good, and he concept of magical space samurai is something I am down for. This news will be good or bad or me depending on the following
- If they make the force more subdued like in the first 3 flicks bad
- if they go ape shit with it in the new EU good.
cj_iwakura
Member
I really enjoyed the Jedi Academy Trilogy. Daala was boss.
Freezasaurus
Member
Even with the later novels, like the Legacy of the Force series, there were still some genuinely good books mixed in with the dung pile.
Tragicomedy
Member
As a very casual Star Wars fan, I fully support this idea. I love the Thrawn trilogy, but that's basically the only EU stuff I'm familiar with. I prefer a clean slate going forward, and will probably give Rebels and the new books a shot.
Fisher, Hamill and Ford won't be the main characters...so why would you say they'll build the movie around them?
And I always find it funny when people imply that the original Star Wars was some sort of bold, daring art movie when it was released...it was an effects-laden fairy tale in space. Doesn't get more pandering to the masses than that.
Where would you put the new non EU stories in the EU timeline though? There is no room post RotJ. Their choices were basically ignoring the EU, or doing an existing EU story as a movie.
Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
C0DA.
Ideally it would be somewhere around the 30 -40 year gap. I doubt the books ruled out the notion that Luke, Han, and Leia's only adventures were chronicled in Fate of the Jedi or the surrounding series. Filmmakers should be creative enough to work around it, ithink however JJ is just going to recycle old themes to appease the masses and play with nostalgia.
Episode 7 is going to be full fledged nostalgia run no doubt. There was the report already they had to rewrite stuff to give the old cast a much more prominent role than the original side character type roles.
I still think it is pretty shitty the way its all being handled. I mean they have said regarding say Mara Jade. Oh Lukes wife is probably going to be a lot like her in attitude etc. but just wont be named Mara Jade etc.. Is Disney that fucking cheap they cant just pay the author for using the name?
I still think it is pretty shitty the way its all being handled. I mean they have said regarding say Mara Jade. Oh Lukes wife is probably going to be a lot like her in attitude etc. but just wont be named Mara Jade etc.. Is Disney that fucking cheap they cant just pay the author for using the name?
30 or 40 years after RotJ? That's... brave. Skipping 40 years post RotJ sort of seems to be missing the point of the new movies.
I agree they will by cynical retreads, but there is no reason to make them uninteresting cynical retreads as well. And it's not the people making the film that would be making this decision.
If they use the name they also take on all the baggage associated, which is clearly what they are trying to avoid.
I like this solution, fans of the EU can see it continue, people who think it is a bit silly don't have to worry about it being the basis for the new movies.
How much sense did it make to have Kyle Katarn as a part of the Star Wars canon? Apparently it was highly irregular to accept Anakin as a Jedi since at age 7-8 he was already "too old" to begin training. Yet in the EU Katarn is probably well into his thirties and eventually becomes a Jedi that was at least as competent as Luke or Anakin.
Well, Luke was a late starter himself so he didn't have any scruples about training a older person to be a Jedi. I think that would hold up in this new EU too.
It's been a long time but doesn't Luke train a lot of people that are fairly old in the EU?
kingofthedead45
Member
http://www.destructoid.com/knights-...&utm_campaign=Feed:+Destructoid+(Destructoid)
Somebody really wants their gaf account
Somebody really wants their gaf account
Tatersalad
Member
There was a lot of good stuff in the EU, there was also a lot of junk. Hopefully in this 'new' EU if they want to revisit some of the old storylines or plots they can, but the can ignore the garbage. Wouldn't mind them picking and choosing select characters to bring back.
Bobby Roberts
Banned
It's what most people do, even the people who are actually upset about this.
It's not that many fans who have actually read ALL of this shit, and played ALL of these games. The fact it all fits on the same timeline is what appeals to some of these fans, not the quality of the stories/games themselves.
Canon is a means to point to some sort of outside validation for your choice in fiction. That's all. If you dont' need that outside validation, you don't give a shit WHAT counts or not - because you're the one deciding, based on what you like.
Although, heh - to satisfy my own curiosity, I did just tweet at Leland Chee asking if the NPR/Highbridge Radio Dramas are part of the new canon.
You should listen to the radio dramas if you haven't. They're pretty fucking awesome.
Darknight34
Member
I really hope kotor isn't destroyed..
A Black Falcon
Member
I loved the Star Wars books in the '90s, starting with the Zahn books of course, and own something like 50-plus of them all the way up to a bit past the end of the New Jedi Order series... but the EU just got SO stupid in the last decade that this is a good move, honestly. There was a time when the EU was somewhat sane and interesting, but that's over, it's just too broken now... so yeah, a reboot isn't a bad thing. I just hope they do a better job this time... though given that my hopes for the new Star Wars movie isn't all that high (Abrams is okay, but certainly hasn't ever done anything remotely near Original Trilogy-level stuff!), who knows. But at least it probably can't get worse than the EU has been for some time now!
It does? Shit, there goes my argument from up thread, lol.
But as you say, it brings its own problems if they want to just pick up from dozens of novels and comics.
They are going to have to do some sort of look back anyways because series ends with dancing on Endor and suddenly 30 years later Jedi are still fighting Sith. Have to explain how the Sith Orders supposed destruction with the Death of Palpatine really wasn't the destruction of the Sith order all of a sudden.
At the very least they could have gone through the EU and picked pivotal moments that would not interfere with the movie and said yeah this happened along the way and kept fans happy.
The new movie starts right around the time of the New Jedi Order arc in the books. That's a huge ass gap
Opening title crawl could take care of most of it if they don't have universe changing events to take care of.
If they cherry pick whole stories or characters from the EU, they will get a backlash if they change things at all, or if they ignore some things but not others.
I think the makers of the new films should treat the EU like Marvel treats the Marvel universe for the MCU. The MCU takes from the regular MU, the Ultimate Universe, one shots, and also makes their own stuff up and adapts where necessary. And it works wonderfully. There is a ton of Star Wars EU stuff to adapt and modify. It's a pretty successful game plan for Marvel.
Hopefully that is where they are going with this.
It kinda has to take place 30 years after the OT, if they want to explain how aged and decrepit Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford look. I do kinda wish they had just decided to exclude all the original actors so they could have a story that takes place closer to RotJ.
If they had to include the EU, there would just be a ton of weird ass moments where pivotal exposition was just waved away as ancient history. "Oh by the way, Chewbacca is dead and Han Solo's kid is a Sith Lord. That was like 20 years ago, didn't you hear?"
Yeah, I hadn't really thought they would go wit the actors actual ages, I thought they would make it set 10-15 years after. So much for the faint glimmer of hope I had for an interesting story. You are dead right about the impact of the EU stuff if they had to get audiences up to speed with all that stuff.
that's crazy enough to work
Looking at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I kinda wonder why Lucasfilm is getting so much hate and pushback over this continuity change. When The Avengers came out I guess some people were bothered, but nobody said anything as crazy as "OMG, 40 years worth of comic books now mean nothing!"
At the same time, I guess some people did admire that Lucasfilm had managed to build a somewhat cohesive continuity that did not revolve around multiple universes and timelines. But if you're going to build an IP that lasts for literally decades, I think it's impossible to avoid splintering of timelines and continuity.
I don't think that was ever really the case, though. I'm a very casual follower of the Star Wars franchise and even I know the movies and Clone Wars are the only things that REALLY count. Maybe a game or two if Lucas was directly involved with the story. The majority of the EU doesn't count unless you personally deem it to count. All those comics, novels, and games are just people playing in the sand box, but those castles can be stepped on whenever the owner wants.
Nydius
Gold Member
I know quite a few people in Rebel Legion who are probably pissed off with that news. Some of the "named" EU characters were grandfathered in when they changed their costume requirements and now those folks are no longer "LucasFilm Approved" with this change.
It makes me exceedingly glad I went with a standard prequel design when I decided to get a costume crafted. However, I imagine even that standard may end up getting revised. Generic troopers will always be easy to admit since they were mostly nameless and faceless but I won't be surprised if, in the future, Disney/LucasFilm clamps down on generic prequel-era Jedi and only allow canon Jedi/Sith costuming.
IdreamofHIME
Member
I'm glad the KOTOR games are no longer canon.
The 1st one had an amazing self contained story and was fantasticly dynamic romp....but it was stupid as hell in terms of the whole universe.
It was supposed to be set 4000 years before the movies. FOUR THOUSAND YEARS!
WTF? what idiot decided that time piece?
Does the Star Wars Universe not evolve or change or something? Look at Earth 4000 years ago and where we are today, yet in KOTOR their civilization, technology etc were pretty much exactly the same as what we see 4000 years later in the movies.
Little Vacuum cleaner droids, humanoid metal droids, lightsabers, blasters, ships. All these things were never improved upon in 4000 years.
Like I said, I'm glad they've shoved that timeline in the garbage.
The 1st one had an amazing self contained story and was fantasticly dynamic romp....but it was stupid as hell in terms of the whole universe.
It was supposed to be set 4000 years before the movies. FOUR THOUSAND YEARS!
WTF? what idiot decided that time piece?
Does the Star Wars Universe not evolve or change or something? Look at Earth 4000 years ago and where we are today, yet in KOTOR their civilization, technology etc were pretty much exactly the same as what we see 4000 years later in the movies.
Little Vacuum cleaner droids, humanoid metal droids, lightsabers, blasters, ships. All these things were never improved upon in 4000 years.
Like I said, I'm glad they've shoved that timeline in the garbage.
CadetMahoney
Member
They should just do straight up 20 second clone wars episode intros as the exposition complete with goofy narrator.
Then straight up next scene is a battle, explosions, thousands of lasers flying everywhere, ppl running around waving the sabers. . .
I should be a director.
Yea, that's pretty stupid.
Nydius
Gold Member
I believe the idiot's name you're looking for is George Lucas.
Lucas established the Jedi Order timeline in the very first movie. This is from Star Wars IV, written by Lucas himself, and is one of the most memorable lines spoken by Sir Alec Guinness in the film (emphasis added):
Your father's light saber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire.
I think the idea always was that a civilization could "max out" what it was capable of accomplishing with their available resources and limited intellect of its component species. I never had much problem buying into the idea that the Star Wars civilization had reached its theoretical peak, and just stayed at that peak for millennia.
At the same time, it was a little dumb to set The Old Republic stuff thousands of years before the Original Trilogy. Would they really have lost anything by having events take place only 100 years before the birth of Anakin Skywalker? It's as if Lucasfilm was so interested in milking their universe that they had to leave a thousand-year buffer that would allow them to tell decades worth of stories that wouldn't affect OT continuity. At the same time, I guess JRR Tolkein did exactly the same thing with Middle Earth/The Lord of the Rings. He created a world that could have a nearly infinite number of world-changing stories precisely because he choose to cover thousands of years' worth of history rather than just a short span.
Sneaky Gato
Member
I still find it intruging that the Clone Wars TV show is the only Pre-Disney buyout EU that still exists. It was very popular and I wonder just how many original things it introduced would be seen in the movies. Ahsoka and the Mortis stuff are what comes to mind. And hey it gives us a way to see some of those aborted season six stories all the better.
Technically nothing is changing in terms of cannonicity, it's just confirming that everything post-RotJ is non-cannon. The only real loss is all of Zahn's books, but chances are we'll get Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn in some form in the future. I can deal with losing storylines, just keep the characters and for God's sake, don't reinvent the specs of all the ships. I'm glad that they're finally standardizing things in that respect.
EDIT: Also, I suspect that they will be letting us know at some point that The Old Republic period is safe, seeing as it can exist as lore in the distant past and doesn't represent the current Star Wars universe. More importantly, like others have mentioned, George had a bit of a hand in the creation of Darth Bane, and he is referenced directly in The Clone Wars.
EDIT: Also, I suspect that they will be letting us know at some point that The Old Republic period is safe, seeing as it can exist as lore in the distant past and doesn't represent the current Star Wars universe. More importantly, like others have mentioned, George had a bit of a hand in the creation of Darth Bane, and he is referenced directly in The Clone Wars.
There are tie in comics that are prequels/interquels/follow ups to the movies that are allegedly canon, but I think things have been contradicted once a new movie is made more than once. The biggest one story wise is Fury's Big Week, which showed what Nick Fury was doing during the week when present day Cap 1, Thor 1, Incredible Hulk, and IM2 took place. Because all those happened in the same week.
I believe Black Widow has her own set between IM2 and The Avengers, Nick Fury has a couple, a few different IM ones, a Cap/Thor team up, an TIH prequel, and a Thor solo set between his movies. I think they are all digital only, though. The writers of the movies/top producers are involved in all of them. If they're really canon or not is up to you because I don't think anything in them has really been referenced on screen.
Its nothing to do with paying the authors. AFAIK Lucasfilm (now Disney) own all the characters written for the EU. Its part of the deal for getting to write a Star Wars book.
Curious fact: Revan and Darth Bane were supposed to appear in a episode of Clone Wars as Force Ghosts but GL said to remove them since he did not created them.
Half right. They were going to appear as Force ghosts, but Lucas stepped in with a ruling that the Sith were unable to return as force ghosts.
The Darth Bane that appears in the Yoda arc of the Clone Wars
is an illusion created by the priestesses as part of Yoda's trials.
Why not, aren't these new movies set sometimes after as well? Why not just find a break in the EU timeline and plug it there.
sadly
Good. I love the Kotor games, but I hate the expanded material on them. Kotor shouldn't be canonized. Just trash it all.
It was also a bit silly how the entire Jedi Order decided to change its uniform in a matter of five years while most of the members were in hiding to match the uniforms 4000 years into the future.
It was also a bit silly how the entire Jedi Order decided to change its uniform in a matter of five years while most of the members were in hiding to match the uniforms 4000 years into the future.
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