NEW Star Wars Timeline

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/lucasfilm-unveils-new-plans-star-698973

In an attempt to end months of fan speculation, discussion and concern, Lucasfilm has released a statement about the position of the “Expanded Universe” of the Star Wars franchise in relation to the new movie trilogy.
For those unfamiliar with the term, the “Expanded Universe” is the official designation for all Star Wars material that has not been produced directly by Lucasfilm, whether it be comic books, novels, video games or any other project. While the official Lucasfilm projects have kept to a relatively short timeframe so far (essentially the lifespan of Anakin Skywalker), material from the Expanded Universe has spanned thousands of years, creating a vast history for the Jedi Knights that reaches beyond the movies in both directions. With much of that content taking place post-Return of the Jedi, fans had wondered whether or not it would be used as canon for the new movie trilogy. Now, they have an answer — and, following recent comments from writer and producer Simon Kinberg, it’s an unsurprising “no.”

“While Lucasfilm always strived to keep the stories created for the EU consistent with our film and television content as well as internally consistent, [Franchise creator George Lucas] always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU,” the statement on the official Star Wars website explains, clarifying that the official canon for the franchise consists of the six movies to date, as well as the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series. “These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align,” the statement states. The upcoming new animated series Star Wars Rebels is also identified as canon.
It continues, “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,” adding that elements introduced in the Expanded Universe material remain available for use in future; Star Wars Rebels will feature concepts that first appeared in roleplaying games related to the series in the 1980s, it points out.
Some existing Expanded Universe material will be kept in print, Lucasfilm said, under a newly-established Star Wars Legends banner.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is quoted in the statement as saying that the company has “an unprecedented slate of new Star Wars entertainment on the horizon,” referencing not just the new movie series but also “games, books, comics and new formats that are just emerging.” The continuity between these formats will be overseen by a newly-formed story group to co-ordinate development between projects.
A future prose project from Del Rey Books is mentioned as a result of this co-ordination, taking place prior to Rebels but offering “insight into a key character’s backstory.” Written by John Jackson Miller, the novel will feature input from Rebels producers Dave Filoni, Greg Weisman and Simon Kinberg.
The statement was accompanied by a new video from Lucasfilm about the Expanded Universe’s history, including commentary from Filoni, Miller and EU author Timothy Zahn. Watch the video Above.

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/new-star-wars-expanded-universe-699082


When Lucasfilm announced on Friday that the Expanded Universe of the Star Wars franchise -- essentially, all of the stories told in ancillary material outside of the six core movies and Clone Wars television series -- was no longer part of the larger continuity of the franchise, more than thirty years’ worth of stories appeared to be thrown away. So how did the fans of those stories take the news?

On social media, there was a sense of nostalgia for what had gone before -- “Star Wars fans in the 70s and 80s grew up with the movies. Star Wars fans in the 90s grew up with the EU,” posted one fan. “Sad day for all of us millennials” — but it wasn’t necessarily a biased nostalgia. “One must look at it objectively: most of the Star Wars EU was really, really bad,” another fan pointed out. “Space dragons, Jar Jar's dad, Beatrice Arthur…” Perhaps such perspective could be expected from social media -- which is, after all where casual Star Wars fans hang out -- but what about the reaction on message boards and forums with a Star Wars focus?

Perhaps understandably, the response seemed most negative at the EU Cantina message board, a site dedicated to the Expanded Universe as it currently stands. “I think we all knew this was coming, but the ‘officialness’ still hurts,” wrote one poster. “I knew that my fandom was in critical condition, but this feels like the official goodbye. Let's face it: a huge reason why I was a Star Wars fan was because of the EU. Had there not been an EU, I'm sure I would still love the movies, but so much of my Star Wars memories revolve around the EU.” Another simply wrote “R.I.P. Star Wars EU.”
Over on the RebelScum forums, reactions ranged from the resigned to the excited: One fan wrote that, while “this is just Disney trashing everything that was built so they can make it their own,” he had to admit that “between Marvel, Dark Horse, the comic strip series, the novels, the kids books, the junior novels, the roleplaying and computer games, etc., there’re just no way to make it all ‘fit’.” Other reactions went from a simple “this is awesome,” to optimism over “a new starting point” for the franchise.
Overall, the attitude of many hardcore Star Wars fans was one perhaps best summed up by one member of TheForce.net’s forums, who posted that “the fact that a Disney executive doesn't consider the EU to be canon doesn't alter the books in the slightest, and doesn't make them less enjoyable to read. The Star Wars EU was always about selecting your own material, about deciding which of the storylines to admit into your own 'universe' so to speak (you had to do that, because a lot of the stuff contradicted other stuff!).”
“Ultimately it doesn’t matter what’s [canon] or not,” went another message on the site. “The fans will still accept and reject whatever they choose.” That line of thinking was taken a stage further on Twitter, with someone suggesting “Disney can say the Star Wars EU isn’t canon anymore, but if these movies aren’t amazing, fans will always say the EU is what really happened.”
If all else fails, there’s always fan fiction -- or, if fans get truly desperate, Star Trek.