DuracellEnergizer said:

NeverarGreat said:

On one hand, it would be a breath of fresh air to dispense with the EU. On the other hand, it would be admitting to the fans that a vast swath of the Star Wars universe simply doesn't exist anymore. I find that to be a less than creative solution. In my opinion, the most important, most sacred duty of writers is to their created universes. If the creators and stewards of a fictional universe treat it with contempt, why should anyone else do otherwise?

Lucas has already shown contempt for his created universe, and has shot out the legs of both the OT and the EU in his pandering to Generation Stupid. If someone else decides to pick the gun up at this point and continue the target practice, who cares? The damage is done.

I don't think that Lucas has contempt for his universe. He's certainly not adept at reconciling the chapters of his changing story, but I honestly think that the prequels were the best that Lucas was able to do, given the twenty years he was out of practice and his misguided view of special effects.

I'll echo a previous point and say that a skilled writer can solve a million story problems by simply being careful about the time and place of the story. Framing is much of what makes a story work, especially in a universe with pre-established history and rules. If Han Solo is not the focus of these movies, there is no need to explain where Chewbacca has gone. If our heroes are in the middle of a new war from the outset, there will be little time to slow down and explain the events of the past thirty years, and a few words of exposition may be enough to get us up to speed. I don't want to hear about things that happened in the EU, as we're supposed to be focused on the present and the future. My point is that it may be easier than it seems to gloss over thirty years of history in a way that seems natural.