Speculation The Official Episode VII and the EU thread

Glove of Darth Vader.

 

Why?

My vote is Mara. She is irreplaceable. The 'Big 3' should be 'The Big 4', IMO.

 

Heir to the Empire. It already reads like a film.

 

The legal rights were *a* reason, not the only one I cited. People want new stuff and that's the direction the powers that be seem to have decided to move towards. Saying that it would make sense to make films out of EU material won't make it so.

 

Well, as Episode VII will open the Sequel Trilogy it couldn't be a standalone. It will be an original story, but I wouldn't mind if it was adapted from either Heir to the Empire or even Jedi Search. But if they wanted to be more faithful, something in the Legacy era with Cade and Krayt would adapt into a new trilogy very well.

 

The films are not going to be made out of EU material, I never said that, and I don't want that to happen. I fully support an original story. And plenty of new books and comics that will come with it.

And it also makes perfect sense for the new stuff to not contradict the old stuff.

He made those comments years ago, probably changed his mind already, plus he won't have total say, as you said, and in the new video he supports using the EU.

It doesn't need to be "squeezed" in. You can bet, with the way the EU has been acting all year, that the ST will take place around 40-50 years after the movies. Perfect age for the actors. And a huge blank spot. And continuity in Star Wars does mostly work. It would also be MOST profitable of them to embrace the EU.

 

Prepare yourself now. This film will not be made so that it can be happily placed somewhere between some EU books.

This film is not made for the "Star Wars hardcore" but for everyone.[/quote]

This is most certainly true, but I think they would be wise to respect all the work that has gone in to maintaining continuity over the years. Set Episode VII shortly after the events of the forthcoming novel Crucible and go from there....Mark, Carrie, Harrison and Billy Dee could make an appearance then that would make sense for the timeline. Crucible is set 41 years after ROTJ, and if they are filming the movie in 2014, that would be 32 years since they filmed ROTJ. That makes sense to me.

 

In a toss up between the obvious candidates, I'd have to choose Thrawn over Mara. He's just more interesting/entertaining. Plus the new trilogy would need a bankable villain.

 

WARNING: If you do not want to know who lives and who dies in the post-ROTJ EU, stay away from this thread!


Did you just read the above? Good. Consider yourself warned.






Post-ROTJ EU and its implications for the ST

Over the years, Lucas has kept the EU on a tight leash regarding who lives and who dies. In the New Jedi Order series, major deaths started to happen. First, Chewbacca. Then, Anakin the younger. The latter was preferred to Jacen, because Lucas felt that there were too many Anakins (especially too many powerful Jedi Anakins, is my guess).
The EU has also slowly moved forwards in time, in a pace that seems to pretty much match the aging of the OT actors. We are now at 40+ years after ANH, by which time Luke should be around 60 - which also happens to be where Mark Hamill is at.

My guess? GL's intention has always been to have a possible ST take place in a time that corresponds loosely with the ages of the OT actors. He's also been meaning to include certain EU characters, in order for the EU to keep its relevance.

By this reasoning, the ST should feature Luke, Leia, Han, Threepio, Artoo, possibly ghost Anakin (which might also be a reason for Hayden's inclusion in ROTJ), Lando and probably a few minor OT characters. Some of them might die or by other means disappear very early on, though.
It should also feature Jaina, Jacen, Ben and others from the EU. Some of these might also be disposed of quickly.

Do you think this would feel a bit weird? I mean, look at how tightly ROTS and ANH are tied together. ANH basically begins right where ROTS ended. Very little has changed between those two episodes. From ROTJ to EpVII, though, there'll be a huge leap! We'll have Luke and co with a whole, grown-up family that was nowhere to be seen in ROTJ. What do you make of that?

Other thoughts?





The future is in motion
/LM

 

wow, lots of threads about the eu. guys, it's time to let go.

 

Hey, don't take that out on me. I'm not an EU fan, but there are definitely implications in how the EU has been treated over the years.





GL - he is cunning
/LM

 

George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy said they'd be utilizing the EU while writing the Sequel Trilogy, and the EU continuity people have said they've been busy for monhs preparing for the Sequel Trilogy.

 

I think the EU is toast, but really, you just never know.

 

I think there's too much money in the EU for it to be toast, actually.

This pretty much confirms my thoughts on this. At least to some degree.





EU is a source for elements
/LM

 

Okay, I'm making this the official "EU and Episode VII" thread.

 

I've been reading the EU since I was a kid (it's what got me into Star Wars in the first place), but fandoms and their source material change and adapt over time, and to me, that's what Star Wars needs to do to stay relevant for future generations. For me at least, it's not difficult to accept the idea that there may be three or four different AU versions of the GFFA floating around; as it's a fictional franchise, I can just choose which one I want to play in at any given moment. Look at superhero comics; hell, they're all over the place. I think in a way that's the price of longevity.

 

My inner hormonal nine-year-old fangirl wants to see Zekk on the big screen.

 

Summer Dreamer - do you have a source on that?

This really deserves to be discussed. Up to now Lucasfilm has tried very very hard to have a cohesive Expanded Universe. Even when George wanted to do things differently that conflicted, the EU accommodated. Case in point is Boba Fett's backstory, the prequels, and TCW. George also has played a part in the EU and even contributed to it, such as his guidance on TFU.

I think the thing a lot of people are forgetting in this massive bombshell of news is that nothing fundamental is really changing at Lucasfilm. Kathleen Kennedey is the new head of Lucasfilm, though George will still play a large part. Just because they are moving forward on more projects than before under Disney doesn't mean they are suddenly fundamentally changing their approach to Star Wars and to the EU. Disney is now what will allow them to finally do what they wanted to do all along, but probably couldn't due to a lack of resources and backing.

It just makes no sense for them to suddenly say "okay screw all our licensed properties because Goofy said so". I agree that there is just too much money in it to completely change their approach now. It's part of what has kept Star Wars so successful, which is why Disney wanted to buy it in the first place.

 

Or the GFFA itself could end up AU... But I've got to say considering how celebrated the Zahn series is, doing anything to make part of it non-canon would make many of us EU people furious. Especially stopping Mara from being Mara Jade Skywalker. If they did that they better have a killer awesome story to placate us. Removing Zahn... that'd be like rebooting DC again and removing The Killing Joke, just not a good idea.

Now the Zahn trilogy has some things that would make it a bad movie... source, for one things those books are long and have got tons of bits and pieces of plot you have to include for it to make sense. I see them as more mini-series potential then actual feature film, much more manageable that way.

 

I'd hate to see the earlier EU--like you said, the Thrawn Trilogy--thrown out; I really think Mara ought to be considered an essential character, but I would really be happier if those responsible for the movie didn't have some of the more insane canon tripping them up during the writing process.

 

Mara Jade Skywalker and a very different Ben Skywalker maybe? I always figured the movies would focus more on the Skywalkers then the Solos.

 

well if 6 billion people can ingnore it then so can disney.....

 

well if 6 billion people can ingnore it then so can disney.....

 

Mara Jade would be awesome, but as has been mentioned, it would likely destroy everything she has done in the EU...Her life would essentially have to be re-written.

Thus, I think Jagged Fel or Ben Skywalker would work better.

 

The real question is how much of the EU that is considered canon now will get totally destroyed?