(picture of Darth Malak and Darth Revan based on the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic videogame)
So Long, Star Wars EU, and Thanks for All the Sith
It’s an interesting time in the world of Star Wars. Disney acquired the Star Wars property in October of 2012 and some of their plans are now beginning to take shape. Earlier this year, Disney announced that they were going to allow Dark Horse’s comic book license to lapse so that they could bring the comics in house via Marvel- another company acquired by Disney in the recent past. Earlier this month, Cartoon Network broadcast their final episode of the popular Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon after six seasons, bringing to end another offshoot. This past week has brought numerous rumors and reports of casting news for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII movie directed by J.J. Abrams (and due in 2015). And, in the midst of everything else, Disney announced the creation of a special task force to determine which of the many characters and stories that make up the expanded universe would be considered canon going forward.
The Star Wars Expanded Universe is a multi-media behemoth, with arms stretching into cartoons, comic books, novels and video games. The Expanded Universe has roots stretching back to the late ‘70s with the original comic book series by Marvel, an unrelated comic book strip for newspapers by Al Williamson and the novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster. However, the Expanded Universe really began to take form as a distinct entity in the early ‘90s with a series of novels by Timothy Zahn.
Zahn expanded the Star Wars universe by telling a story set five years after the end of Return of the Jedi. He introduced new characters, new species and new galactic threats, as exemplified by the blue-skinned, red-eyed Admiral Thrawn. Any new Star Wars story was bound to be popular but Zahn was also a master storyteller. The new novels were good. Dark Horse acquired the comic book license around the same time and kicked off their own take on Star Wars with Dark Empire, a story about a resurrected clone of the Emperor and Luke Skywalker’s walk on the dark side. Meanwhile, West End Games were publishing role-playing modules, expanding the universe into different interactive directions.
The various media fed off of each other and the universe expanded exponentially. Dark Horse eventually published comics based on characters introduced in the novels such as Emperor’s former assassin, Mara Jade. Comic book characters like Lumiya (originally introduced in the old Marvel series) made it into the novels. Video game characters like Darth Malak were similarly incorporated into comics. The prequel movies even got into the act, borrowing Aayla Secura from the Dark Horse comics.
The result was a universe as vast as anything ever created in fiction. The various writers and game designers were allowed to explore innumerable corners of the Star Wars world, from the distant past to the far-flung future. They filled in back stories for major movie characters and built entire life stories for minor ones. They introduced new characters who inhabited the same world and populated that world with an incredible array of species. The Expanded Universe is rich and diverse and occasionally excellent.
It is also, unfortunately, overwhelming. There are dozens of novels and video games, hundreds of comics. There are stories set 4000 years before The Phantom Menace and others set 50 to 100 years after Return of the Jedi. It’s a lot to take in, especially for those who are only familiar with the movies. And that’s why Disney has created their blue ribbon commission to determine what counts and what doesn’t.
It makes sense. After all, Disney wants to make sure that their movie writers have the freedom to create whatever they want. They don’t want to shackle J.J. Abrams to 45 years worth of novels (in Stars Wars time; in our time, it’s been 23 years). They don’t want predetermined outcomes for major characters in terms of when they die or how many children they have. Moreover, Disney also wants to make sure that the new movies are accessible to Star Wars fans who have only seen the films. They don’t want to create an expectation that film fans need to know about Mara Jade or Thrawn in order to enjoy the new movies.
As I said, it makes sense. Yet as a fan of the Expanded Universe, I was initially disappointed to hear that Disney had put together their Star Wars star chamber. I love the Expanded Universe and didn’t want to see it cast in the dustbin of history. That wasn’t idle speculation either. Disney has signaled that they’re going to do away with the whole thing. They told Kenner to stop producing any toys about the Expanded Universe, expect for a few prestige items that have already been advertised. No more Darth Malak statues or Quinlan Vos action figures for collectors.
Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I became first of all resigned to and then actually appreciative of Disney wiping the Star Wars slate clean. In a way, it’s very similar to the decision DC Comics made with its Crisis on Multiple Earths, in which they replaced their old multiple earths continuity with a new streamlined single earth in order to be more accessible to new readers.
For one thing, it’s not as if the stories themselves disappeared. You could always pull your old comic book collection out of the closet and read them. You could always remember them and enjoy them.
For another thing, beloved stories have staying power. All of those old Earth-2 stories that didn’t count anymore? Most of them have been collected in trade paperbacks and are widely available to new readers. You can even read many of them digitally. DC has also recognized that there’s a core group of readers and collectors interested in that continuity and has produced numerous toys of Earth-2 characters for them. If there’s money to be made, you can be sure that a massive entertainment company will eventually find a way to appease the market.
The experience of Crisis on Multiple Earths gives me a lot of hope for Star Wars’ Expanded Universe. I know that my favorite stories by authors like Timothy Zahn, Kevin Anderson, R.A. Salvatore, John Ostrander, Tim Truman and John Jackson Miller aren’t going anywhere. I can keep my Quinlan Vos poster and cherish my memories of Zayne Carrick, Cade Skywalker and HK-47. But I also know that if enough fans care about the Expanded Universe that it will eventually resurface in some way. Disney may prevent Kenner from producing Expanded Universe toys for a while but, like DC’s Earth-2 characters, they’ll be back if the demand is there. In addition, beloved characters may find their way into the new continuity whether they’re supposed to count or not. A new Star Wars author who grew up reading about Mara Jade or fighting along Bastila Shan in a video game may wish to pay homage to them by introducing them anew. And while Disney may hold the line for a time, times change and they may relent in due course.
Nothing lasts forever… not even sweeping decisions about fictional universes. So I say, “Bring on the new Star Wars Universe!” It has the potential to be the best of both worlds. I can always enjoy the old one on my own time, and I can look forward to entering a new Star Wars Universe as it’s unveiled.
Replies
"Crisis on Infinite Tattooines"?
I can see what your saying, but it took me a while to warm up the Clone Wars on Cartoon network and now Asoka's final fate will be in the hands of fanfic writers.
I too am a big Star Wars fan, so I read this with interest. While we don't always see eye-to-eye on various titles (the first Legacy series), I too am looking forward to see what Disney does with the franchise. I'm pretty excited, something I haven't been since the Episode 1, or more recently when I was first started the Knights of the Old Republic MMO (the shine on that wore off in about 1-2 months).
I still remember what little we had to sate are appetite close to 25 years now? I went and bought the third book in Timothy Zahn's trilogy the day it came out, and then I read the whole thing in one day.
Perhaps my biggest disappointment in the acquisition was the loss of the video games that were in the pipleline that we will probably never see. Some of those looked great. (After the sale the video game department was completely shut down).
But I will enjoy the ride for the next few months of the Dark Horse series' I am reading, and look forward to what is to come.
I am one of those you describe as finding the EU overwhelming.
I loved the first three movies, followed Marvel's title, read some of the early novels and followed the comics franchise to Dark Horse. But after a while, it became too much to keep track of. I'd forget if the title I was reading was before or after the movies, or run across a name and become irritated because I couldn't remember where I'd seen it before, see references in the comics to novels I hadn't read, plus I was reading about a lot of new characters that I had no vested interest in, and some of which I found utterly boring. I found myself enjoying Star Wars less and less. First I stopped reading the novels, I only made it through one season of the Clone Wars cartoon and I gradually dropped comic-book title after title until the new trilogy killed my enthusiasm entirely.
But I'm continuity fan enough that I hate seeing Disney wipe the slate clean for all those fans who have kept track of the EU. That doesn't seem at all fair.
But for me, of course, it will be a relief that I don't have to know who X or Y is, or what else happened in a given time period, to enjoy a given story. Especially the movies, which is probably all I'll still keep up with, unless J.J. Abrams can rekindle my enthusiasm enough to pick up the Disney/Marvel comics.
If Disney sees no value in Indiana Jones, why would they in the Expanded Universe?
This way they can create their own "Luke Skywalker, Jr." and "Han Solo, Jr."!
Philip Portelli said:
Because the multi-media success of Star Wars dwarfs Indiana Jones?
Also, I did enjoy this video from Cracked about Disney's plans for Star Wars.
I read the Zahn novels when they first came out. I remember reading the original printing of Splinter of the Mind's Eye when it hit stores. I never read the 'revised' one that later came out & became semi-canon.
When I heard the news about Disney buying Star Wars & shutting down so much of the active SW-EU that was already running, my disappointment deepened. I wondered if Disney would crack down on established & authorized fan-groups like The 501st Legion in an effort to solidify their grip (or should I say stranglehold) on their newest property.
I don't listen to the lightspeed-fast rumors flying around about "Episode VII". People like to rumor-monger, gossip & speculate about things they have no information about, trying to spoil the enjoyment of others for their petty entertainments.
I still cannot stand to try to watch JJ Abrams' "iTrek" movies. Lens-flares tend to blind me. It's a pathetic cheap & insulting method of distraction, telling me the movies were so badly written & made, they aren't worth watching even for free.
I somehow still bear some nanoscopic hope that what comes from Disney's acquisition of Star Wars will still bear worthy results.
Four blockbuster movies, countless video games, numerous comic books, young-reader novels and now-iconic imagery. Granted, Indiana does not have the scope and scale (not to mention the multitude of marketable characters) of Star Wars but his success is nothing to sneeze at or outright ignore.
Travis Herrick (Modular Mod) said:
I never said it was anything to ignore, but when you try to compare Indy to Star Wars there isn't much of a comparison at all. Also I wouldn't say Disney has completely ignored Indiana Jones either. He had 2 video games in the past 4-5 years. A comic back in 2008. If those had fared better I imagine we would see more.
Philip Portelli said:
And I agree with you that Star Wars is bigger than Indiana Jones but Indy still has value. Disney said they bought out Lucas for Star Wars and have little or no interest in Indy, which I believe is both a shame and a mistake.
Also we will see a Disney's Star Wars animated feature with songs one day! After all, there's already a princess....
Travis Herrick (Modular Mod) said:
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