Lit Do you like the new canon?

Talk about what the title of the thread actually indicates. The New Canon. Talk about the movies, tv shows, comics, novels that you watched/read and what you like or don't like about it. If people want to specifically talk about how much they hate TFA it should go in its particular thread.

How much of the New Canon have you watched or read?

 

I know this question wasn't directed at me, but I've read quite a bit of the new canon.

Han gambling with Rebellion money, Leia being verbally abusive, Dr. Cylo and his clone bodies (that are for all purposes clone bodies despite a throwaway line of being a program), Quinlan Vos becoming even more psychotic than in Legends (how was that even possible) and the Jedi knowing full well and reinstating him as Jedi Master undermining ROTS, killing many characters without waiting to gauge whether fans wanted to see them again (including one who had a strong Legends following), implying that Depa Billaba being Kanan's master has a strong story-based reason which still hasn't been revealed even in the last season of Rebels, ignoring Dantooine base entirely in Rebels...

The above stuff I listed was pretty bad for me. I'm hoping the new canon gets better than this, I really do. A bright spot of the new canon is Rogue One, a fine film I'm glad to wipe out Kyle Katarn (who I really like) for.

 

Since I apparently can't talk about TFA I'll mention my other problems with the NuCanon.
The one year fall of the Empire. - 25,000 Imperial-class destroyers vanished, huh?
Operation Cinder, as perpetrated by the EVIL Imperials.
Star Wars Rebels in general.
Useless New Republic. With the magical power of hindsight, you'd think Disney would know better.
Palpatine's character. I prefer the "Hold my Empire; I'll be right back" Palpatine to the "If I die destroy everything" Palpatine.

 

To clarify my own issues with Rebels, I feel Zeb and Sabine are borderline unlikable, along with their teasing of Ezra (who's also kind of unlikable--however, it doesn't excuse Zeb and Sabine subsequently acting the exact same immature way).

I didn't like TFA, but one of the few things I did like was that Rey managed to be a strong, tough character without making her into a jerk like Sabine (and what new canon is doing to Leia in Marvel Comics).

 

I actually really like Rebels. I think it has done a really good job detailing how the various cells came together. The way they handled Ahsoka was well done as well in how they gave her her own specific arc while at the same time not allowing her to outshine the Rebel characters. I'm really interested to see how they close the story out in this final season.

The novels have all been pretty darn solid. Bloodlines was especially good and it really changed the game on a lot of people's opinions about the 30 year period between ROTJ and TFA. Catalyst was a great lead in to Rogue One. Lords of the Sith is one of the better new canon novels in my opinion. Instantly made Cham Syndulla (a character I had practically forgotten about) very interesting.

Just finished the Phasma novel and it was really good as well. Gave a lot of added depth to her character (and much needed depth as well).

The comics have all in all been great. Especially Gillen's series of Darth Vader and Aphra. Now with him moving to the regular Star Wars line I fully expect that series to become very very interesting as well.

The New Canon has been great so far. Yes it has stuck with the familiar time periods but that will likely soon change after TLJ comes out.

 

THERE IS AS YET INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR A MEANINGFUL ANSWER.

 

Hmm, it might be more fair to compare the first 3 years of new canon (starting with Son of Dathomir 1 in 2014) till now in 2017 with the first 3 years of EU from 1977-1980.

Well, Splinter of the Mind's Eye was odd, but the Han Solo Adventures books by Daley are quite good. And Domina Tagge > Dr. Aphra. Love the newspaper strips too, nothing too jarring with characterization there. And that Fett character in Frozen World of Ota is going to be big!

And Han's characterization in the old EU Marvel, newspaper strips, and novels is more sympathetic than the newer one.

 

That's a far better comparison seeing as how the EU (as we know it) may as well have started with West End Games' sourcebooks as the foundation for everything that was released after 1987.

 

It's a thread about "Do you like the new canon" and the asnwer can, yes, be "no."

 

There was a need I think to play it safe after the prequels, people had gone for years without an actual, objectively, good new Star Wars movie without having to defend terrible writing, poor acting (mostly due to excessive green screens), and other flaws.

TFA still is pretty distinctive for at least half of the film. The new locations are interesting, the new power trio won most audience members over, and the idea for a wanabe Darth Vader was absolutely inspired.

So yes, with the benefit of hindsight, could they have taken more risks? Sure, but you have to walk before you can run after getting your legs runover by a semi truck.

 

Especially considering that LFL didn't want references back to the old comics and such.
Usually, the 'start' of the Expanded Universe is the publication of Heir to the Empire.

"No" it is, then.

I should clarify that I don't dislike it. I thoroughly enjoyed Rogue One as a movie, and as a Star Wars movie at that. I just don't have the slightest interest in the NEU universe.

 

I like Ncanon, but the difference with me is that don't separate the old eu with the new, or cancel that one for this one, or not make the other one count. To me that's a very hard thing to do because like most of you, I grew up with the old eu. From the anticipation of Heir to the Empire to the micro-series Clone Wars, to the Legacy comic books. Shatterpoint, LOE, and Darth Plegieus are as canon and important to me as Rogue One, TFA and Lords of the Sith.

 

You don't have to. Most of it all fits in the same storyline anyway, and the old EU isn't any less real than the new EU

 

In my head, the New EU is an alternate universe from the Old EU and they both exist parallel like the JJ Abrams timeline in Star Trek.

 

LOTF was PT with some OT.

 

Do I like the new Disney-era owned saga canon? For the time I have available, I enjoy reading and gathering up EU material.

The expanded saga in the EU was already too rich with detail. Relegating the old EU saga canon to "Legends" creates a status quo of borrowing and using ideas that have already garnered a following from their original contributors. The planet Korriban should stay named Korriban. I'm not a fan of the name Moribund, but I just explain as an in-universe gaffe or creator out-universe gaffe.

I didn't follow the Clone Wars cartoons since I found too many fans questioning whether they followed the other parts of the Clone Wars canon. The Clone Wars timeline was developed down to months, dates, and years around the Episode II era.

- - -

Everyone can point to a different literary work, comic book series, or RPG module, cancelled project, or tv episode as being the start of the Expanded Universe. I'm really at a loss to pinpoint where I think the EU started. The ancillary material going back to 1977-78 was joined with the early 90's revival era.

Also, there's something to consider if you are going to use Heir of the Empire as the formal start of the EU.

Veitch and Kennedy developed Dark Empire and gained approvals directly from George Lucas before Tim Zahn was hired to write Heir of the Empire.
That was my hunch all along, given the backstory that ran in the text afterward section of the original DE issues and appears in complete form in the first printing of the DE tradepaperback.

Here is a recent interview with Tom Veitch: http://www.starwarsunderworld.com/2016/08/interview-with-dark-empire-writer-tom.html
According to Tom Veitch, Zahn wrote the novel fast. Tom has been interviewed in recent years by Star Wars Insider and a few other venues to give his information on how he developed Tales of the Jedi and Dark Empire.

 

The reason that HTTE is usually made the benchmark is because it represented a novel that used prior existing secondary material - West End Games' RPG; it was LFL that suggested it to Zahn, according to him. From that point forward, there was an attempt to keep all the secondary material - comics, novels, RPGs and video games - working in concert with each other. Veitch and Kennedy didn't work with WEG while writing their comic, but WEG incorporated their comic with the Dark Empire SB, often considered one of the best of their RPG supplements.

LFL didn't want some of the early material included, but many of the authors over the years referred back to the Marvel comics, the Holiday Special, etc. to render the point moot.

 

I feel pretty mixed. I loved most of legends but was so excited for the new movies and even the cartoons. By genre:

Movies: rogue one fits the universe well though intrigued to learn more about legends. Definitely enjoyed the movie though. TFA. Loved on the first viewing went down on each subsequent. Putting aside cinematic elements I don’t like how empire fell so quickly and the resistance/Republic interaction feels odd. Characterization of leia and Han feel off to me. First blush Luke sitting out seems odd but will suspend my feelings for the future.

TV: I can appreciate parts of rebels and TCW. TCW feels mostly like a continuation of what came before with the exception of mandalorians and obvious contradictions. Didn’t like mortis but know it came from GL. Rebels is less intriguing to me from a storytelling position and character development. Intrigued to know more about the inquisitors and love thrawn here.

Comics. Mostly meh IMO. The unquestionable highlight to me has been the new Vader. It’s great world building and character dev. Others have been less intriguing although phasma has fleshed out the character well and feels in universe in a way others don’t. The Poe comic, old Vader series and citadel stories felt very separate to me.

Books: loved thrawn, phasma, lost stars, tarkin. Good universe development. Those 3 rank with the best of legends to me but I find the rest worse than most of legends. Aftermath certainly got better as time went on but left too much unanswered for me to consider it great.

Sorry for the stream of consciousness. Not sure it’s helpful but trying to enjoy the new even if I loved the old more.


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AS one who did not find the locations that interesting and rather uninspiering, I have to ask: what was it you found interesting about the new locations?

 

For me even though it was a desert planet it was a planet where a big galactic battle had taken place post ROTJ.

 

jamminjedi23
I agree that Jakku is interesting, but not in TFA. The history of the planet isn't told in the film. Jakku is as interesting as Yavin IV. We know something happened, but the interesting details are in the lore.

 

Well if that is the case you would have to say that none of the planets in the OT are interesting because the only purpose any of them served were to show various environmental differences. Then when Lucas did try to explain a little planet history in the PT things became so bogged down with exposition (and badly written exposition at that) that it became uninteresting because we did get all that info.

 

I saw the ideas Disney had of making Jakku a jungle planet. That would have been cool

 

And they did really use that type of environment for Takodana and then the fight scene between Rey and Kylo. I can see why they chose the more open landscape as the main planet though. It would be a lot easier to show the remains of a battle in a desert environment than a forest. Plus it makes more sense for Rey to advance to more lush locations as she progresses through the story.

 

Yeah I agree. I am fine with Jakku now and have grown to appreciate it. The history and MYSTERY surrounding the planet is intriguing