Lit Dark Empire article series in Insider

Not as much as Ackbar getting a DUI.

 

"From Star Wars Insider [The Official Star Wars Magazine] - Issue 77 , Using Dark Empire & The Thrawn Trilogy As Examples. - https://ibb.co/K9PMgH3

"So do episodes beyond Return of the Jedi exist? Nothing beyond possible storypoints and ideas, certainly not fleshed out story treatments or scripts. Fans often wonder if Dark Empire or the Thrawn Trilogy were based off those note sor are meant to be Episodes VII, VIII, IX. - That's not the case.

Those works are the creation of their respective authors with the guidance of editors at Lucas Licensing. They are not, nor ever were, meant to be George Lucas' definitive vision of what happens next."

~ Pablo Hidalgo, 2004 - https://ibb.co/K9PMgH3
..
Dark Empire Introduction - Kevin J. Anderson -


"When you read Dark Empire, or any of the other novels [EU] remember that although Lucasfilm has approved them, these are our sequels, not George Lucas's."

"If Lucasfilm ever makes films that take place after Return of the Jedi, they will be George Lucas's own creations, probably with no connect to anything we have written."

But in the meantime, enjoy these graphic stories, read the novels of TimothyZahn, Kathy Tyers, Kenneth Flynt, Dave Wolverton, and myself.[Kevin J.Anderson]"
..

"That said, I think George has always felt that the comics were an “alternate Star Wars universe” from the films. I don’t think he ever saw the comics as canon — although he did use them as a resource for ideas and images."

~ Tom Veitch, EU Author, Dark Empire Trilogy 2016

 

EDIT: Never mind, didn't see how old this thread was. Don't want to contribute resurrecting an old thread.

 

While years ago I never believed the Legends EU to not be Lucas canon, the emergence of such early articles and bits helps to understand that they evolved from something intended as canon that Lucas can overwrite however he pleases to some large Legends EU that had become unavoideable and THE de facto canon. Entire generations got started with it and ingrained with it so officials couldn't any longer pretend it can be overwritten, tweaked yes but not completely ignored. The PT had enough issues but resolved them well.

Still, for every quote of the ancient days of how the EU is canon but not Lucas version one can find later quotes that tell the contrary and how it is THE ultimate SW canon as they promised at celebrations, in interviews and even in markting.

I and many fans have less a problem with the original intent of the Legends EU and more with the attitude of creatives after the reboot. They devalued it, they for marketings sake pretended "now you get the real canon new EU and it all matters" and more hollow phrases and crap talk. It really showed how lying, moneysucking they all are no matter how much they smile and pretend in public or towards fans. Also with some good people leaving angry at what happened behind the scenes you get the notion not all is as happy as they market it.

The new canon is still a pool of creatives where all is canon means nothing is canon until a movie or tv show cements it. And worse even, the reactionism of LFL/Disney with scrapping and altering plans all the time fearing financial loss or online haters is tiresome and stupid. Get a creative vision and masterplan and stick to it with minor tweaks, not throwing all to the t rash for recycling once something does not get the reception you hoped for. Their lack of decisions and sticking to them is hurting new canon most. One can in retrospect unite all in retcon, or have one uniting vision from the start. Like the ST was retcon bonanza on topmost level where each movie tried to retcon the previous.

And to close the circle back to Dark Empire:

One always has to be careful if one can believe what officials say for they wouldn't want to reveal anything that could portray them or production in a bad light. Nor would they spill any BTS secrets that could still come to pass (like Lucas Sequels back then) or might limit any future stuff. Fans asking for any of that are inviting lies for sure.

Therefore, believing officials is like believing in unicorns. They talk a lot, and like politicians, every season they tell you different for nobody memorizes or compares the old notes with the new.

I have met my share of them at celebrations and while they all are nice and chatty, I never got the people cult others made around them or actors or else. To me they are human and it is nice to chat but nothing special like folks fangirling over having met an editor or storygroup member.

I am sure Dark Empire is based in some Lucas ideas, which those are though is open for debate. That said, execution and all is not Lucas. He liked them though as we know. But what of them is Lucas or not, does it matter? After the OT probably every fan would guess a few storyhooks for a possible ST right, be it Jedi Leia, be it Lukes next challenge or even the further war with the Empire given Endor was just one battle of many to come.

Fans jumping to absolutism and overreactions should be more careful for there is a huge difference if something shares ideas with Lucas Sequels, if something is based on them which includes pre-knowledge of creatives of them instead of by accident doing the same, or if something was outright planned or approved to use them.

 

Star Wars publishing is, and always has been, a business. Every single Star Wars book sold, ever, has been made because someone thought that the profit they would make from selling it would be greater than the cost of making it. And you know what? It's the same as every book ever sold, especially franchise tie-ins.

I shook my head at the fans who said "these books are different, now they actually count" when the EU reboot was announced, and I shake my head now at the fans who clutch their pearls and say "I can't believe that these books got overwritten by the movies". It was always going to be this way. And if that's a dealbreaker, if your enjoyment of these stories will be negated by them not being 100% consistent and relevant to the film and TV instalments of the franchise, then probably best to get out now and save yourself that future heartbreak. Stick to standalone novels or series by a single author, although even that's no guarantee of consistency.

So no, I don't think it's at all fair to call these people "lying [and] moneysucking". They have a job to do, and it's naive of adult fans to think otherwise. Plus, I can't say I've seen or heard from anyone involved in Star Wars publishing who didn't genuinely passionate about the franchise. You wouldn't work in Star Wars books if you didn't love Star Wars,

This is totally irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but it's a real pet peeve of mine to say TLJ retconned TFA. Not doing what fans expect is not the same as retconning. Nor is contradicting YouTube theories.

TRoS, on the other hand, yeah, sure, retcons aplenty there.

 

Since it seems the thread is proceeding regardless despite it being revived by necromancy, I'll just say what I was going to say then. It feels the quote "If Lucasfilm ever makes films that take place after Return of the Jedi, they will be George Lucas's own creations, probably with no connect to anything we have written." and others like it are very, very odd ones for Disney fans to throw around because, quite simply, by everyone's admission (Bob Iger's book and George Lucas himself!) what we got since 2014 are NOT George Lucas' own creations. They threw that into the trash the moment George's signature pen ink dried on the buyout.

So... what's the point of Disney supporters using the quotes? It's like trying to say one fanfiction is better than another fanfiction and providing the illusion that the work's creator is on their side, when it's very much public that he's not (I mean he went on talk shows saying as much!).

I'm pretty sure that death by Force projection is a massive retcon that has no support in previous Canon, or even EU. Yoda put it simply, "A Jedi's strength flows from the Force." I mean it's even a contradiction to Canon where Yoda projected himself to Ezra in Rebels without dying!

The whole idea that Luke can even "cut himself off from the Force" is in contradiction to practically every line in the original movies that said "The Force will be with you, always." I get you like TLJ but the retcons are there (and no, just because the EU did it too doesn't change the fact that TLJ still did this retcon. You can't have it both ways, ignore the EU when it showed Force projection to be nonfatal in Dark Empire, then use the EU did it too as a defense when it's convenient).