Why Disney reset Star Wars canon 10 years ago, and why it’s all gone terribly wrong

Ten years ago, Disney reset the rules of Star Wars Cannon – and within a decade, everything went completely wrong. Most viewers think of Star Wars Like a film franchise, but it was always so much more. I am one of the more unusual viewers; I looked A new hope Back in 1991 and picked up one of Timothy Zahn’s New York Times bestselling novels just a few days later (which meant I was spoiled for some pretty major original trilogy plot twists). I am comfortable with these Star Wars Expanded Universe as I am with any of these movies.

George Lucas’ return to Star Wars meant the EU Adopted a loose “tiered” approach to canon. Lucas does not hate the EU, however Nor did he see why he should be bound by it; He would adapt some elements in his stories (such as the city-planet Coruscant), but he didn’t mind contradicting anything if it got in his way. His work was seen as “God-level,” absolute canon, with everything else subsidiary to it. Anything that contradicted Lucas’ vision was rendered non-canon, or explained away in later works. And then, in 2012, Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney. And everything changed.

Disney needed to start again to tell new stories

It didn’t take Disney long to decide to reboot

Modern viewers are used to a constant stream of Star Wars Content. When Disney purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012, however, the House of Mouse was buying a studio that wasn’t used to putting out regular movies and TV shows. “Lucas has many talented employees, especially on the tech side, but no directors other than George, and No film development or production pipelineAs far as we know,“Disney CEO Bob Iger recalled in his biography The ride of a lifetime. That naturally had to change, because Disney wanted to make a profit on their purchase.

The old Expanded Universe was far too restrictive for that. The entire timeline was mapped, from the dawn of the Jedi to events a full century after the Skywalker saga (told in the incredible Star Wars: Legacy comics). What’s more, the sheer intricacy and detail of the lore is felt to be a barrier for new viewers. It took Lucasfilm two years to decide on a reset, branding the EU. “Legends” and arriving a new era in which – they promised – everything is now equally canon.

Disney’s new canon needed a focus on quality over quantity

The Lucasfilm Story Group was faced with an impossible task

Lucasfilm knew that keeping Canon would be a challenge. To that end, the studio formed the Lucasfilm Story Group—essentially the lore-keepers for the franchise. Viewers initially believed that their role was to maintain continuity, to ensure that everything was entered neatly, but there was only one problem; That would be an impossible task. The new one Star Wars Canon expanded at an unprecedented rate, even for Star WarsAs proven when you crunch the numbers. Back in April, celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the new Canon, I did a count of new Canon releases – and I was amazed.

Alan Dean Foster Split from the mind’s eye Was published back in 1978, although in truth the popular Star Wars Novel chain didn’t really start until the 1990s. Even considering that, though, it’s staggering to realize how quickly Canon is catching up to Legends in terms of sheer size. I didn’t even look at the comics, where there are regular weekly magazines. And, of course, there has been a constant stream of movies and Disney+ TV shows under Disney.

There’s a sense in which it doesn’t matter how good the Lucasfilm Story Group is at keeping an eye on continuity. The Star Wars Galaxy is growing too fastAnd contradictions will inevitably creep in. The task was an impossible one – and so, in recognition of this, Lucasfilm seem to have subtly changed the remit.

Lucasfilm’s deliberate contradictions have created a new canon row

Star Wars TV changed everything

Enter Dave Filoni, George Lucas protégé, now Lucasfilm’s Chief Creative Officer. Filoni is a skilled storyteller, but he also doesn’t care much for continuity and canon, and he doesn’t hesitate to contradict other mediums—a trait he picked up from Lucas himself. This means that the number of contradictions grows, especially when you compare the TV shows to comics and books. Character arcs change, origin stories are rewritten, and entire characters are erased. Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath Trilogy and EK Johnston’s Ahsoka Novels have suffered especially.

Lucasfilm execs wave this off by comparing Star Wars To mythology, insisting it is fine that there are contradictions and that you just have to accept that everything is “From a certain point of view.“The argument is an interesting one, but it is fundamentally flawed because The device on the screen will always feel as if it is primary Star Wars – Just because more people are aware of it. Filoni’s stance inadvertently created a whole new tiered approach to canon, comparable to the old EU. The promise of equal canonicity is broken.

Can Star Wars canon ever be consistent again?

And does it even want to be?

At this stage, I think we simply have to accept that there are some major contradictions baked in Star Wars canon and study. Most of these are impossible to solve; There is no way to simply pretend Kanan Jarrus’ Order 66 story isn’t told twice in different mediums, with massive differences. Going forward, a reduction in production is the only way to try to prevent Canon continuing to break. That seems to be happening, with comic book arcs coming to an end at the same time Lucasfilm is reportedly moving to only releasing one TV show per year.

But does Lucasfilm even care about the canon problems? That’s the real question, and I think the answer is probably “no.” Filoni’s opinion seems to be ascending, not least because of his prominence as Lucas’ protégé and the way TV shows are now headed to the big screen. My strong suspicion is that Star Wars Canon is pretty much broken, and it will remain the case, with the same old tide approach gradually reasserting itself – even if it is not explicitly acknowledged this time.