Multimedia > Star Wars Universe
Disney to Purge Select EU
JediJman:
As probably one of the few big EU supporters here, I'm with Nick. I've read most of the EU novels and comics from the Old Republic stuff through New Jedi Order all the way out the Legacy series set 100 years post ANH. While some of the storylines are crap, most are really good tales set in the universe we all know and love. I loved the NJO series with the solo kids and some of the new jedi characters coming out of those books. Legacy and Invasion are also great titles worth a read.
I get Disney wanting to reign in some of this because there is so much out there, but plucking certain storylines to say this happened and that didn't really annoys me. Probably too Star Trekish to go the alternate reality route, but I'd almost rather that than them just saying certain things never happened. I don't know why they have to say anything at all. The Avengers-based storylines differed from previous origins and material and I don't recall Disney coming out with a list of canon for superheroes. Imagine you've written a few chapters of Star Wars lore through novels or comics only to have Disney swoop in and tell you your storyline no longer exists. Nice.
I totally get that they want to make it their own, but why not go the Superman Returns route? Just say, this story starts at this point in the SW universe and then do whatever you want from there. If it differs from EU material down the road, then so be it. But better to ignore it than erase it in my opinion.
Pete_Fett:
I have always enjoyed the EU stories I have read, because up until now, they have offered me the ONLY way to experience the further adventures of the OT heroes I grew up with.
That being said, I can totally understand why they need to do this.
Maybe I'm being too forgiving, but you can't blame them if they throw out all of the NJO stuff. Chewbacca's death, what children the Solo and Skywalker families have, the eventual death of one of the Solo kids, the turn to the dark side of another, the death of Luke's wife, etc....
Those novels start 21 years post ROTJ. If they wanted the ST to be set 20-30 years after ROTJ, you either have to film those novels and embrace that storyline or you have to throw it out. There is no middle ground.
There will be some novels that are included. I would be very surprised if the Zahn Trilogy isn't. Those books were created at a time when there wasn't an EU and have the distinction of having their story, plot, and author scrutinized by George Lucas. (Or so was said at the time) However, the second you say that Luke married someone other than Mara Jade OR that Leia and Han didn't have twin children named Jaina and Jacen, well, guess what that means. And if that is the case, then "oh well".
When it comes to the Star Wars Universe, you really can't make the same analogy to the Marvel/Avengers stuff. The comics themselves all exist in multiple universes, the movies are in their own universe, and if a movie is being produced by someone other than Disney/Marvel Studios, it too is in it's own separate universe. Sure they could take all the post-ROTJ books and comics and say "these exist in Star Wars Galaxy 154825173855271" (sorry, just poking fun at the Marvel Universe numbers) - but why bother?
Going back to the Zahn Trilogy. If it had been the only EU material to come out, then maybe including it would be fine. But what about the Dark a Empire comic books? They have shoe-horned the two of them together, but the reality is that the two of them are supposed to be happening at the same time, and even back in the early 90s many fans who read both were like "huh?" - both have their own merits, but in the end, almost negate each other because conflicts in the two stories.
I think fans of the Star Wars EU need to embrace the change that the a Star Trek EU fans had to face years ago, and that is that if your book/comic/whatever does not fit with a story the television or movie makers want to produce then guess which piece of media loses and becomes a "what if" story. I'll give you a hint, it certainly isn't the one that cost millions of dollars to produce. ;)
GrandMoffNick:
--- Quote from: Pete_Fett on January 13, 2014, 08:31 AM ---I think fans of the Star Wars EU need to embrace the change that the a Star Trek EU fans had to face years ago, and that is that if your book/comic/whatever does not fit with a story the television or movie makers want to produce then guess which piece of media loses and becomes a "what if" story. I'll give you a hint, it certainly isn't the one that cost millions of dollars to produce. ;)
--- End quote ---
I have no problem with this, but it still doesn't mean Disney has to "change" or "cancel" things out. They can do their thing and the stories can not match up, but don't tell me it's not canon because "you" say so. Just acknowledge anything post Thrawn isn't necessarily going to fit into Disney's story. It would be impossible to do it otherwise, but Walt's frozen head just coming in and wiping it out, at least in Disney's mind, is a slap in the face.
The EU lovers and haters both need to accept the stories haven't been congruent and never will.
McMetal:
I think it is a potentially slippery slope when someone starts arbitrarily deciding what IS and ISN'T considered "canon" anymore. There need to be clear lines of demarcation, IMHO. What seems non-contradictory today may not be that way a few years from now. It's an unwieldy burden to manage with all the different media.
You have to start setting boundaries someplace. But even then it's hard. Even if you recognize ONLY the six films, you have to figure out how to reconcile revisionist crap like Geedo shooting first, etc.
I think the whole thing has gotten way out of hand personally, and I welcome the coming cull. That's not to say people still can't enjoy what is already out there floating around, it's just a way for them to open up the narrative for the next batch of films.
Scott:
I wouldn't be quick to blame Disney on this. First of all Pablo Hildago and Leeland Chee are both leading this effort. They are also the same two guys who for years have supposed to be handling the EU and the Holocron. I agree with you Nick that they really have no choice and I think the writing is more or less already on the wall concerning that whatever is going to happen in EpVII will be vastly different than the existing EU. I guess shame on Lucas and Lucasfilm for making lots of money on all of EU over the years only to give everyone the middle finger and say HA HA, it didn't really happen that way.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version