Lucasfilm Confirms STAR WARS Expanded Universe Has Been Thrown Out

Earlier this week, we reported on comments made by Star Wars producer Simon Kinberg about the vast Expanded Universe. Kinberg stated that while the future films and TV shows may draw from the EU, but “the canon is the six films that exist.” Pretty straightforward, right? Okay, if you’re like me, maybe you were hoping for a little wiggle room on that rule.

Today, Lucasfilm sent out a press release putting the issue to rest once and for all. While elements of the EU will be drawn upon for future projects, such as The Inquisitor and Sienar Fleet Systems in Star Wars Rebels, the “immovable” stories of the Star Wars canon are the six films and the Clone Wars TV series. They also confirmed that the sequel trilogy will be not be based on any EU stories.

In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe.

Well, if you were still hoping to see cinematic portrayals of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade, those hopes have been blasted away. The press release stated that starting now, “all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected.” To manage this new continuity of stories, Lucasfilm has created a story group to “oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development.” Past EU stories will continue to be sold, but will be imprinted with the “Legends” banner.

The first on-screen addition to the new canon will be the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels, which will premiere in Fall 2014. The first new book to be published will be Star Wars: A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller, which will precede Star Wars Rebels and will tell “the story of how two of the lead characters of the series, Kanan Jarrus and Hera Syndulla, came to cross paths.” Books that will be released after A New Dawn include Star Wars: Tarkin, Star Wars: Heir To The Jedi and Star Wars: Lords Of The Sith.

Well, there you have it. Now we have two continuities of Star Wars stories: the main canon and what I’m calling the “book universe,” which will encompass all the Star Wars novels, comics, video games and other media of the past. Look, we knew that the post-ROTJ stories were going be pushed aside since they would be telling original stories. The way I see it, if this new content ends up disappointing, at least you have the stories of the past to fall back upon.

Personally, I was never brave enough to wade into the post-ROTJ stories past the Thrawn trilogy. There was just so much of it! However, I did read my fair share of pre-A New Hope stories, and unless future material directly contradicts the historical stories like The Old Republic or Darth Bane, I still consider those canon. Shoot, I probably just jinxed that, didn’t I?

SOURCE: Star Wars