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Lucasfilm clarifies the future of the EU — Page 3

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Fang Zei said:

I dunno, I think they should at least try to fit Episode 7 in the "old" continuity. I don't see any scenario as "too constraining" for the filmmakers. If anything, having parameters in which to work might actually breed creativity more than a blank slate would.

 Chewie's dead in the old continuity. That's pretty constraining.

ROTJ Storyboard Reconstruction Project

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Plus, just from a practical side, it's highly likely that nobody high up enough to be involved in the story (JJ, Kennedy, Kasdan, Iger) has actually read any of those books or comics. It would be utterly insane to create a story while checking wikipedia or with some intern about everything along the way.

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The new Story Group has been included in all of the story meetings for VII.

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@impscum: Yeah, they can still suck, I just see it as less likely this way.

@naysayers: I understand that creative freedom =/= quality product and that creative constraints can = quality product, but for me, at least, the excitement of these new films is that the possibilities are endless. The PT was the epitome of creatively constrained and look how that turned out. Not saying that's a great example, but still. Star Wars is a vast and beautiful universe, and it's exciting that the ST filmmakers have the creative ability to explore it however they want.


Also, and maybe it's just me, but for me, the established post-OT EU is silly. I don't want silly constraints on these new films.

I could never really believe what the books and Wookieepedia told me.

I can't wait to see what my favorite characters have actually been up to. It'll all be a surprise. It'll be all new to us. I'm excited.

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timdiggerm said:

Fang Zei said:

I dunno, I think they should at least try to fit Episode 7 in the "old" continuity. I don't see any scenario as "too constraining" for the filmmakers. If anything, having parameters in which to work might actually breed creativity more than a blank slate would.

 Chewie's dead in the old continuity. That's pretty constraining.

I don't get it. It's just a dead animal.

真実

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imperialscum said:

timdiggerm said:

Fang Zei said:

I dunno, I think they should at least try to fit Episode 7 in the "old" continuity. I don't see any scenario as "too constraining" for the filmmakers. If anything, having parameters in which to work might actually breed creativity more than a blank slate would.

 Chewie's dead in the old continuity. That's pretty constraining.

I don't get it. It's just a dead animal.

 .....

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Where were you in '77?

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imperialscum said:

timdiggerm said:

Fang Zei said:

I dunno, I think they should at least try to fit Episode 7 in the "old" continuity. I don't see any scenario as "too constraining" for the filmmakers. If anything, having parameters in which to work might actually breed creativity more than a blank slate would.

 Chewie's dead in the old continuity. That's pretty constraining.

I don't get it. It's just a dead animal.

 LOL, that's about what my dad thinks of him.

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Ha ha!

Well, I don't think any of us were surprised by this news. I was secretly hoping that they would err on the side of keeping some of the existing EU, perhaps even grandfathering in select works to this new ""canon.""

The "Legends" banner to me implies the same thing as the "Infinities" logo. Is it indeed all prior books that will carry such a label? Even things like KOTOR, set thousands of years before anything having to do with the films? That seems somewhat arbitrary and harsh to me. I totally get having to jettison the entire post-ROTJ EU, and perhaps even heavily pruning the rest. I'm just surprised it all had to go, even very recent publications set in prior eras.

Perhaps it's asking for too much, but I am a little disappointed they didn't put together a short list of a few key works that can be grafted into this new canon. Take something like "The Approaching Storm" for example, which was written during the production of AOTC as an official lead-in novel. Surely something like that wouldn't harm future continuity, even if other things like the various Clone Wars novels might. 

Even though I haven't done much more than dip my toes into the EU at any point, I appreciate its existence. To have that depth as a backdrop lends verisimilitude to the Star Wars universe and makes it feel like a genuine subcreation that can be explored almost endlessly. With the recent announcement, it's as if a black hole swallowed most of it up and created a vaccum of content. Are other authors going to now rewrite the various eras of the Star Wars story? Could Zahn or other others "resubmit" their books for "canonization," if they like?

Then again, I'm the sort of geek who was tickled by the Paul McGann 'Doctor' character popping up in the mini-episode of Doctor Who "Night Of The Doctor" to, among other things, bring into screen-continuity all his various audio adventure content. I like it when a franchise goes out of its way to demonstrate kindness to the continuity of its past. That care and attention to subcreation is part of what makes it fun.

All that being said, I still have questions about all this and I hope they continue to clarify what is going on. 

My stance on revising fan edits.

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By throwing out all EU works (many of which are admittedly crap), they have tried to nullify the validity of the Thrawn trilogy, which is among the best Star Wars stories ever written.

Since whatever they come up with will certainly be nowhere near as good as what Zahn has already done, I therefore reserve the right to completely nullify the validity of the new films and anything related to them.

That's really all that needs to be said.

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Well like Lucas tried to infest and replace everything with his beloved PT crap (PT and CW)... now they will do the same with their beloved "yet to be judged" films (ep7,8,9) and series (Rebels).

真実

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hairy_hen said:

By throwing out all EU works (many of which are admittedly crap), they have tried to nullify the validity of the Thrawn trilogy, which is among the best Star Wars stories ever written

 I think this may be over thinking the move a little.  Personally, I think they made the distinction for the benefit of the casual fan - or consumer - rather than to undermine anything that's been previously released.

Some people prescribe to canon, others do not.  Personally, I never care one way or the other - but I won't stop people from having an idea of one if they want.

A Goon in a Gaggle of 'em

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Something tells me that I probably won't even bother reading anything from the NuEU, especially if Ep. VII proves to be a disappointment.

I don't know why, to be quite honest -- it isn't as if I have any love for the cancerous growth that the old EU became. Something about it all, though, just screams "jumping off point" to me.

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It's like I've said. Whatever is coming in VII can't be retconned. Most of the post-ROTJ is likely going to be jettisoned but I imagine they'll slowly start clarifying how much of the old material still stands.

At that recent Del Rey panel the authors there viewed the announcement as a non-event and it hasn't changed the way they write at all.

We just have to wait and see how it all shakes out. 

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I can't wait to learn about how the Sith were founded almost 2000 years before TPM and about Palpatine's life in ancient times. I want to learn about the TRUE history of the galaxy.

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Nullifying the entire EU seems unlikely. Note that the fact that the new EU books are part of the new EU seems arbitrary. They could have easily been stuff that was released before the reevaluation of the EU. 

I think they just don't want to step on their toes with the new films. They're releasing a blanket statement: the story told in the EU post-ROTJ will not be the same story told in the new films. They want to get this out of the way sooner rather than later, so as to not disappoint fans when info about these films gets out.

I expect clarification as to the rest of the EU as these films solidify.

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Dominic and Tobar make good points in this thread.

I'm certainly not surprised. There was never any part of me that thought they would just take the existing EU books, comics, and games and just make a movie out of them, or even try to fit the story into the existing EU continuity. A new story will be far more interesting than a story I already know anyway.

Like most people here, I'm pleased by the decision. I feel like the current continuity was getting bogged down with all the retcons and bad stories and whatnot. I think a clean slate was in order to give the movie (and whatever comes next in the EU) some breathing room. While I'm sad that certain aspects I liked about the Post-ROTJ EU are gone, I'm really happy that it's wiped out a lot of stuff I didn't enjoy (I'm looking at you, Karen Traviss), and I'm really excited to see what kind of new stories come out of this.

I think with us especially, it's easy, because most of us have a personal canon already, and like it was said, that's what matters anyway, but it is funny to see prequel apologists, who don't have any concept of a personal canon flailing around like their world is coming apart.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

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Tyrphanax said:

While I'm sad that certain aspects I liked about the Post-ROTJ EU are gone, I'm really happy that it's wiped out a lot of stuff I didn't enjoy (I'm looking at you, Karen Traviss).

Isn't most of her work pre-ROTJ? =P 

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Tyrphanax said:

There was never any part of me that thought they would just take the existing EU books, comics, and games and just make a movie out of them, or even try to fit the story into the existing EU continuity. 

 I wasn't expecting the former, but I was expecting the latter.

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AWK wants to completely ignore the decision and pretend everything is still the same. The rest of the people there seem to have pretty good suggestions. I like the idea of having two different tabs for every article.

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DuracellEnergizer said:

Tyrphanax said:

While I'm sad that certain aspects I liked about the Post-ROTJ EU are gone, I'm really happy that it's wiped out a lot of stuff I didn't enjoy (I'm looking at you, Karen Traviss).

Isn't most of her work pre-ROTJ? =P 

Yeah, which is bad enough, but at least I don't have to think about Boba Fett's heart growing three sizes that day and then breaking down and crying.

Of course, on the flip side of that is that Boba's now primarily what Lucas made up, but maybe we'll see the end of that eventually, too, right?

Right? =(

Also, on Dominic's link: lol @ the massive circlejerk going on over there about how they should be consulted on the EU. ALLOL.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

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I must echo what Hal and Tobar and Mr. Cobb have said. We need to wait and see how this all shakes out. For the moment, I'm still taking this news merely as confirmation that the new trilogy won't be an adaptation of any existing EU story. I'm sure I'll be proved wrong, but there ya go.

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Fang Zei said:

I must echo what Hal and Tobar and Mr. Cobb have said. We need to wait and see how this all shakes out. For the moment, I'm still taking this news merely as confirmation that the new trilogy won't be an adaptation of any existing EU story. I'm sure I'll be proved wrong, but there ya go.

I agree.

Either way, we're not "losing" the now-Legacy stories. They'll still be as readable and as good as they were before, and some of them will still hold a place in each of our individual canons, and I can almost guarantee that we'll be seeing the best parts of those stories cropping up again in new stories.

Like the writers themselves said, it's not changing how they write their stories in any meaningful way, so I wouldn't even count it as a loss.

Maybe we'll even see some rewrites to fit whatever new canon there is, and, again, it's just too early to say anything concrete.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

END OF LINE

(It hasn’t happened yet)

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I'm glad no one went bananas on Wookieepedia and deleted a bunch of articles. I like that site and wouldn't want all that removed as a result of some business decision.

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If Wookieepedia's going to divide their articles to distinguish the old EU from the NuEU, they should go all out and also divide their articles to distinguish pre-TPM EU from TPM+ EU.