Lit Star Wars Cinematic Universe

Should Star Wars have a Cinematic Universe? I mean creating a universe that does not depend on comics, novels or animated shows to tell their stories

For me it would be the best option because Star Wars was always a cinematographic saga and most people expect more the new movies than new animated shows or novels

Of course Clone Wars and Rebels can coexist with this universe but those shows would not be relevant to this cinematic universe

I very much doubt that the new films will be based on what was told by The Clone Wars since most people only know the movies

The Old Expanded Universe was deleted for no limit the directors to create new films the same happens now with the new EU

The Old EU was erased because it was a nuisance for them and that nuisance can happen now with the new EU and I will be honest with you the new EU was created only to earn more money

They sell this material as canon but never tell anything really revealing the same happens with animated shows and they are entertaining but do not necessarily have to be canonical for it

A Cinematic Universe would work better for everyone since there would be more liberty and creativity for create new movies

They could create new characters, new eras and new stories without depending on anything told in the new novels, comics and shows

And of course The Clone Wars, Rebels, the new comics, books and videogames would be canonical but to a certain extent and they would not necessarily have to be 100% canon

For me all Star Wars material is "Legends" and the only 100% canon are the movies

 

Yes I'm crazy but here's what I want:
Comic-centric universe. Most everything will be told in comic form.
Video games will exist but only as tie-ins.
Important story arcs will be released as films. Each film will be crafted in a way that they *can* be viewed without reading the comics, however the films bow to the comics and not the other way around. These films will be your usual length and they are animated in the style of the DCAU.
This is my dream for Star Wars. It is absurd, but a trooper can always dream.

 

Well everything is possible although I doubt very much that Disney wanted to make such a complex Universe
Most people only care about movies and only very few we are interested in comics, video games, books and other lore

That's why for me it would be better to have a cinematic universe since it would be simpler and easier for all
In fact Star Wars was always a cinematic universe the old EU was another "universe" but it was not less important

I would like comics and video games to have their own Universe
and that the animated shows had its own and that the movies and series in live action were another universe that will be pretty cool

DC does it with its series, movies and comics
and even Star Trek have several universes I do not see the reason why Star Wars did not have its own universes

 

Nothing in the tie-in material is really dictating what happens in the films. If anything, it's a pool from which writers can draw for future films -- like Saw Gerrera, who was an established character created by Lucas for The Clone Wars, so when Rogue One needed a partisan rebel, there he was. Gareth Edwards didn't have to use Saw, but the character fits the story, and it's not as if Rogue One relies on the audience knowing anything about Saw's backstory.

Besides which, Star Wars has always relied on its supplementary material to fill in the gaps. A lot of details only came through things like the old RPG and Decipher card game -- names like Twi'lek, identities of background characters, stats for ships and tech -- and then there are examples like Coruscant being codified by Zahn before being brought into the films. Personally I think it's a great place for Star Wars to be in, because the creators get to draw from this rich pool of material (which also happens to be great in its own right) and can make lots of fun connections between different stories to make it feel more like a whole universe.

 

I would argue that the new Star Wars continuity since the buyout IS the Star Wars Cinematic Universe, with the old Legends/EU being the comic book universe, similar to how Marvel has their Marvel Cinematic Universe with the comic continuity 616 universe. The films drive the universe in Star Wars now whereas before the reboot the future of Star Wars was driven by comics and books (like Star Wars: Legacy). The Marvel Cinematic Universe also has its own supplementary comic book prequels to bridge gaps between movies.

The main differences are that the Marvel comic book universe is continuing while the Star Wars Legends universe, with the exception of TOR, is not. Also some elements are exactly the same in both Star Wars univserses (Eps. 1-6 and TCW). But this is no different than say Batman's parents being killed in both the comic book universe and the DC Movie universe. Obviously between comic book and movie universes some events will be exactly the same.

 

I wish it was like the Marvel situation. Have a film universe and comic (Along with novels and games) universe running side by side with the canons staying separate. Assuming they handle it properly, it would be just terrific.

 

Interesting point and we might be headed there anyway. I think the movies have to stand by themselves especially now more than ever. Lord Sith, you touched upon a nerve that has been hitting me for some time. Disney EU has been more about the money, but also, like you said, the stories that they have told don't really add much to canon, like stuff from the prior EU. Under the Lucasfilm banner, the video games, comic books, and novels were the future of star wars. Disney EU is really more the movies and one cancelled animated series and a second one that is about to end. That's it. The comic books from Marvel have been good, but, if you take into consideration the 23 years of Dark Horse comic material, and over look some info and time line bits, the entire run from the first batch of Marvel to Dark Horse to this new incarnation with Marvel really fit into a larger universe.

Star Wars animation is a great medium, but, not to tell those deep meaning stories. I think we need more colorful wide ranging action stories like the Marvel ones and less, deep driven character stories that in the long run only bring in the die hard fan. My daughter likes better the Avengers Assemble animation over Rebels. She says that Rebels is boring and too complicated.

In the Disney era, the comic books of star wars have really enjoyed the most success.

 

The movies are already their own thing. The movies are already allowed to do whatever they want and will be in the future. This is why we havn't gotten hardly any post Jedi novels or comics yet because they are waiting for the movies to tell the initial story of the post Jedi time period before they come in and start filling in the gaps. It will be the same situation once they start working on Ep. X-XII. While the movies will be in the middle of working on the SST the books and comics will stay in the post Jedi/pre TFA period until the movies are done telling their story of the SST and they then can move in and start filling in the gaps of that time period.

As far as the books and comics just being their own thing so they could be more adventurous and exciting well that could work however most people like the idea of the one universe concept. They like the idea that what they are reading in book or comic form is directly connected to the movies they go to the theater to see. Yes Marvel and DC does do their own thing in the comic universe however neither of those bring in near the bucks that Star Wars does. Star Wars not only does extremely well in comics but the majority of their novels make the NYTimes list. You don't see that kind of thing happening with either Marvel or DC.

An argument can be made that Star Wars novels do sell that well because it is all considered one universe and if the books were just their own thing separate from the movies not nearly as many people would be interested in it.

 

The Last Jedi taking place right after Force Awakens, and the spinoff films still circling ANH may be limiting the scope of the tie-ins somewhat.

 

I'm a big fan of the one canon. It's really fun to have it all matter and be integrated. And, it also motivates me to want to consume all the stories...so I have the whole picture.

Sent from my Moto X-Wing

 

I like the model that looks like has been going on, and I hope to see continue:
1. A Saga movie carves a big narrative chunk forward.
2. Books and Comics add nuance, new characters to the era, background, and new refining concepts that give further life to and enhance the era.
3. Animated series takes elements of both, bring them together, and pushes forward.

Stand Alone Films going forward, when referencing or taking place in an era, will have all of steps 1-3 as its native background material to draw on. (see Rogue One)

Rinse and repeat.

 

I disagree. I would much rather it if the books, comics, video games, and movies are all connected. I know that the more casual fan won't like that idea, but I personally don't care. I don't want to see the casual fan have their needs catered to rather than the people who are currently following the new canon.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the saga films taking up all the big chuncks. I would much rather if it was split more evenly. Like you get a saga film that introduces a new generation, then you get a couple of novel series that take place after the movie saga. That way both sides get something. Sure, it makes the movies into basically advertisements for the books, but I think that's only fair, at least in my mind anyways.

 

I quite like the way it's happening now where we're getting some backstory pieces filled in, and some of them are pretty darn important pieces of Backstory as well, the Battle of Jakku, Vader finds out Luke is his son, and Leia splitting off from the New Republic. Movies move very fast and don't have time to delve into those bits. Hence one canon and I don't see any reason to split into a cinematic unvierse.

 

We pretty much have a cinematic universe right now, the new canon. Unfortunately, that doesn't work for me, because most of the EU books, comics, and games mattered to me, so without them I just don't care. Especially, when combine with the film and television people always seeming to find a way to make decisions I don't agree with.

 

I don't think we needed a reboot. We didn't need a NuCanon in the first place. I don't see the artistic need for an ST. Surely not the Anthologies. In TCW's legacy of awfulness, grounds that have already been covered are being retread. Prior to the buyout Star Wars could've slowly and peacefully faded away. But now we have this- and we're covering the same things twice!

 

Stuff needed to be changed after FOTJ, but a whole reboot that makes us restart from from ROTJ? No thanks.

 

Zeta you are going to wake up in a little while and realize this was all a bad dream. In reality they chose to keep the EU and tell stories starting immediately after Crucible. Problem is the movie flopped and only made 150 million at the box office because nobody could understand all the jibberish they were trying to explain the entire movie. So Disney cancelled the rest of their plans for more Star Wars movies.

 

Who says we need movies?!

 

Says everyone who wants to see more movies.

 

I know this is gonna sound crazy but I could take SW without films. I like having em sure but if I had to choose I would go with all eu for one specific reason, there is no hierarchy of canon then. As it stands the major stories are gonna all be in the films, with books and comics being the top of the totem pole then major stories that change the fate of the universe would not be in saga films but rather be in novels. That would mean minor book characters would be more likely to get to show up and events from other novel series can factor into stuff like the ST equivalent. As opposed to everything having to get at best a reference or cameo in the films

Now LF has been making great progress with having eu stuff in the films like Saw, but I still am holding out for the day when a character like Aphra can be just brought into the saga as a major character without needing an anthology first or something. That would be so cool but i don't know if that kinda of synergy would happen anytime soon. I had a whole argument with a friend a while back on whether or not Ahsoka could show up in a film . I still think that honestly could happen but with just novels or better yet all canon being even you don't even have to argue about that kind of thing.

So yeah I see the appeal of the novels being the main storytelling medium even if I do enjoy getting more films. But like i said LF is making so great steps to win me over. Though to the cinematic Universe question, no not at all. Having several mediums is a great thing. not only does it allow more types of stories, risks, but above all else more types of creators to have an involvement in the franchise. Why make it so comic writers and artists can never do something that impacts the films? It seems really unfair. I feel like films already get to much power in most franchises and in society in general so yeah just having SW films be canon would be utterly terrible imo

 

Thank you, I can't agree with you more. I would love to see Aphra show up in a major movie without the need to introduce her, I'm hopeful that at some point we get that far. Like you said, they are moving in that direction. I don't want to see the canon be reduced to just movies, no one has any drive to read books anymore it feels like. I feel like it actually hurts the creativity and flow of the series if they make the movies the major source of Star Wars storytelling.

 

That is exactly what they are doing. It's been 2 films in though. Of course the connections haven't built up.

 

Yeah like I want more stuff like how Saw was done just on a larger scale. Bit of exposition and new comers to the character will have no idea there is info on the character everyone other than them has. I mean that's how I got introduced to a ton of characters, watched 2d clone wars with no idea that many of those characters had been given even more background in the comics at first. Obviously someone like Aphra will need to have some explanation but if she say shows up in a OT era film set between ESB and ROTJ you could just have Luke or Leia explain who she is the same way Han explains who Lando is to Leia in ESB. Lots of stuff clearly happened that we did not see which is informing that scene, it should be no different when said stuff has actually been shown elsewhere

 

Aphra in a film would be great but, frankly, I want the creators driving her in the medium she originally appeared in. Like Ahsoka had her big final moment in animation by much of the same crew that created her. Like it would be horrible if Aphra pops up and then drops some exposition and randomly decides to die like Saw did. I want Gillen and Marvel to drive her journey, not just begin it so she can be an Easter Egg fodder.