I think the Marvel analogy is appropriate.  When Marvel studios launched they deliberately found someone who would effectively map out the MCU in Kevin Feige.  And truth be told, I think he's been a pretty good steward for the material.  The Star Wars Story Group seems to have been started so that there would be an authority that could devote their attention to all of this continuity in a similar fashion.

The movies really do need to be the end-all, be-all of the Star Wars universe.  And I see the trade-off for these new movies very much being the change in status of previously existing EU material as "Star Wars Legends".  The "Legends" status at least keeps the existing material on the market for fans of that material to continue to enjoy.  I'm left wondering if at some point the SW Story Group will relent and let some "Legends" storylines continue, but I think that's probably not going to be the case.

But it's really not without precedent that some EU material is going to get trodden upon.  Witness the CLONE WARS series trodding all over some of the stories that had been established in some EU novels.  It led EU author Karen Traviss to quit working on Star Wars novels since George Lucas effectively disregarded her work with his own story decisions for the CLONE WARS animated series.  At a point like that one, you get down to some fairly ruthless thinking:  which medium is going to reach the larger audience?  Or who's vision regarding Star Wars is more important/relevant?  In the case of the CLONE WARS/Karen Traviss controversy you knew how this was going to turn out:  George Lucas was going to get his way, and his vision was deemed more important for the overall direction of Star Wars.

I get the sense that the new EU is going to try to expand more on stories that have been established during this new Disney era.  And the vision of the filmmakers will be given the utmost consideration over other material.  THIS is the price of getting a Sequel Trilogy.

True dat.  ROTJ wound up having TWO working titles before it was eventually finalized.  And of course the easiest title to figure out was that of Episode III, and that just seemed very obvious. Hell, people thought that this new movie was going to be called A New Dawn, and that wound up being the title for an EU comic or book IIRC.  What I've been seeing is that the title is set to be announced at SDCC this summer.  So we should know in about two months.

The Ewan McGregor talk has been somewhat interesting, as far as him reprising his role as Obi-Wan.  But how to do it in a way that makes sense?  After all, Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force Spirit resembled him at the end of his life, as played by Alex Guiness.  How do you justify Ewan McGregor playing that Spirit Guide to Luke now?  One thing that came to mind is that in his exile on Tatooine Obi-Wan spent time making a holocron about the Jedi Order as a tool for Luke's training.  This is something that could be done with Ewan McGregor, although I think it would work to best effect if he's made up as if he's 10 years older than when we last saw him at the end of ROTS.  And let's face it...where is Luke really going to learn about the history of the Jedi if there is to be a new Jedi Order?  It has the potential to make sense from a plot standpoint.

...Just an idea!

I enjoyed it pretty well.  I'd say it was my second favorite to the first Spidey 2.  Garfield does really well in the role.

Spoiler:  I was kinda surprised they actually went through with the Gwen Stacey part.

That was a huge plot point in Spidey's comic history.  And it's something that I would expect to get explored since that event had so much of an impact on Peter Parker going forward.  Sam Raimi looked like he might have been going there with his series when he introduced Gwen Stacey in Spiderman 3.  But when Sony decided to reboot that effectively ended the possibility of that happening in the established Raimi/Maguire series.

Quote from: Nicklab on May  1, 2014, 10:34 AM

Also, no Kenny Baker in the photo.  But what is he going to do at a table read?

What are you talking about?  He's in the crate.

Oh, Kenny....

Sony owns the rights to Spiderman, and Fox has the rights to X-Men.  So any tie-in does seem a little forced.  But I can see studios that have the rights to Marvel properties trying to work together in an effort to present a similar kind of continuity to what Disney and Marvel studios have been able to establish to great effect.

As for this movie?  Eh.  Probably going to skip it.  I tapped out on Spiderman movies after the third Raimi/Maguire film.  The reboot seemed like a clear case of Sony trying to retain the rights, rather than letting Marvel and Disney regain control over Spiderman.  I've had multiple opportunities to check out The Amazing Spiderman on cable, and I just don't feel any interest.  I hope that at some point the rights are going to revert back to Marvel Studios, because their projects have really given a lot of fans a sense of optimism that these comic properties are in good hands.

The Jedi Temple Guardian is definitely the star of this lineup for me.  Very, very cool to offer that up.  I suspect that Clone Wars characters are sneaking their way into this line simply because there's nowhere else to place them.  Same goes for Commander Gree.  I wish that the JT Guardian was in a line that wasn't limited to 5 POA, but that's another discussion. 

Also interesting to see a REBELS Obi-Wan in the mix.  It pretty much says right there that he's likely to turn up in the show.  And you had to figure with the offering of the AT-DP walker that there would be a pilot, so that figure is pretty welcome, too.

It makes some sense, and lines up with the whole notion of 'A New Hope' as well as the title of Episode VI.

Lucas very likely came up with the outlines for the Sequel Trilogy in an effort to sell Lucasfilm / Star Wars.  Without something like that to sweeten the deal, I can't see why Disney would have bought the company.  The big money for them would have been with new movies.

I think the status of some stories in the EU will become more clear as we move forward.  Clearly, the REBELS series is going shape things as is the production of the Sequel Trilogy and the spinoff movies.  Those productions are going to be the signposts that determine what's valid or "canon".  I think the Star Wars Story Group is going to have to remain somewhat mum about things in an effort to keep from spoiling the new movies and tv projects.