Lucasfilm clarifies the future of the EU — Page 5

It's not so much about stuff fitting together as it is about acknowledging "yes, this stuff you loved still happened." They don't have to bring up anything that's happened in the 35+ years since RotJ (in fact, I hope they don't), but the new movie can't make any blatant contradictions like Chewie being alive and still be in the same universe as the "old" EU. It's either one or the other.

Look, I don't mind minor inconsistencies. Star Wars is only slightly older now than Trek was when Enterprise started, and I can still remember being distracted when they played a clip of Zefram Cochrane from after he'd already left for Alpha Centauri.

Fang Zei said:

It's not so much about stuff fitting together as it is about acknowledging "yes, this stuff you loved still happened."

Except none of it ever really happened, because it's fiction, all of it. Labelling it "official" or "canon" doesn't make it anymore real than some fanfic a semi-literate schmuck posted on the Internet. 

Tobar said:

The decision in regards to the EU was purely an internal one and Disney had no part in it.

 Stop defending Di$ney. 

With Mayhew at the first table read, I guess that pretty much seals it. Then again, I really wouldn't put anything past Abrams. He could very well have cast him not as Chewie but in some role as a human.

I'm really kind of actually _hoping_ that Serkis is taking over Chewbacca, long term, and that Mayhew is playing some kind of awesome face role.  

KilroyMcFadden said:

I'm really kind of actually _hoping_ that Serkis is taking over Chewbacca, long term, and that Mayhew is playing some kind of awesome face role.  

 This would be the worst. Replacing a great and beloved suit-character either with CGI, or for some reason a much much shorter actor in the suit.

The "maintaining the element of surprise for the audience" is the crucial part of this whole announcement, methinks. We just won't know what exactly Abrams, Kasdan and company are gonna do with this thing until we see that first trailer, although I'm sure many a news leak will happen between now and then.

I look at that photo from the first table reading and I just want to start mapping the EU characters onto the new cast. "Oh, Daisy Ridley is clearly playing Jaina!" I want to exclaim. But then I remember not to get my hopes up.

You gotta wonder if there's gonna be a huge backlash to all of this. As noted earlier in the thread, a lot of fans on fb, tfn and elsewhere are pretty pissed about this already. I can't say I blame them. The money fans spent just on the books published since the early 90's probably totals well over a billion dollars by this point. It's that much less money George would've had to make the prequels with. Indeed, I can't help but see a parrallel with a common complaint we all have about buying the OOT on multiple formats over the decades, one of our greatest justifications for demanding that those versions be restored.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. "But that's a bad comparison. Lucasfilm isn't locking the old books away in a vault like the OOT. They're even reprinting them for the umpteenth time." Yeah, but they're also suddenly and without warning saying "sorry, but those books, retroactively, no longer count as the official continuation of the story even though that's exactly what we said they were. Thank you for the money, though."

Lucasfilm killed off Chewie to move more copies of Vector Prime and now they might be bringing him back just to sell more tickets to Episode VII. I really think they should've had a contingency plan in place. Hell, I thought keeping Han, Luke and Leia alive in the books was the contingency plan.

After spending 20 years chronicling the big three's adventures in print form, I think a return to the big screen owes the fans a little more than just "sorry, but that never happened."

I dunno, maybe I'm overreacting to this. If Episode VII surprises me and ends up a solid film I probably won't care that they've overwritten the post-Jedi EU (if, in fact, that's what they're doing). 

The difference is that the Star Trek books were never considered canon. Heir to the Empire, on the other hand, was touted as the official continuation of the story.

We never, ever expected them to adapt any of those books into VII-IX. That would've been stupid anyway, "yay, we already know what's gonna happen." But I really don't think it would've been complicated to at least make ST "compatible" with the EU instead of just placing the EU in its own timeline/dimension/whatever.

ETA:

Tobar, that's very cool to read! Could you provide a link or is that from his facebook page or something?

Yeah, there'll be backlash - from people who will still see the movie anyway. At the end of the day, making these movies fit the EU would be catering to a niche audience. The majority of people have not read the books and could care less about them. All they want is a good movie. If LFL decided the movie would be better if they weren't forced to adhere to the EU, then I think they had every reason to say that the EU will be ignored.

https://mobile.twitter.com/DelReyStarWars/status/461541040273764352

The novelizations are canon.

Excluding the earlier editions of RotJ, yes, they're all canon.

timdiggerm said:

Tyrphanax said:

TheBoost said:

Tobar said:

The decision in regards to the EU was purely an internal one and Disney had no part in it.

 Stop defending Di$ney. 

 Thank God we can still put dollar signs in these words!

 Yeah. I used to love Disney, but thanks to people putting dollar signs in words, my opinion really changed. There's nothing like a revolutionary and creative act of rebellion to force people to rethink their views. What a great idea.

/s

Whatever. You're probably a paid shill for  £u¢a$Film and Di$n€y.  

DominicCobb said:

Yeah, there'll be backlash - from people who will still see the movie anyway. At the end of the day, making these movies fit the EU would be catering to a niche audience. The majority of people have not read the books and could care less about them. All they want is a good movie. If LFL decided the movie would be better if they weren't forced to adhere to the EU, then I think they had every reason to say that the EU will be ignored.

 Couldn't care less. ;)

There, I got it right this time... :P

RicOlie_2 said:

DominicCobb said:

Yeah, there'll be backlash - from people who will still see the movie anyway. At the end of the day, making these movies fit the EU would be catering to a niche audience. The majority of people have not read the books and could care less about them. All they want is a good movie. If LFL decided the movie would be better if they weren't forced to adhere to the EU, then I think they had every reason to say that the EU will be ignored.

 Couldn't care less. ;)

 Exactly how I feel about my typo.

Fang Zei said:

You gotta wonder if there's gonna be a huge backlash to all of this. As noted earlier in the thread, a lot of fans on fb, tfn and elsewhere are pretty pissed about this already. I can't say I blame them.

Where was this backlash when Lucas blatantly contradicted the EU with the PT? Why does Abrams and the ST receive so much scorn when Lucas gets off scot-free without so much as a slap on the wrist?

These fans are all double-standardizing, cognitive dissonant @$$#%!&$, and they deserve to have their insular bubble burst.