Skip to main content

star wars - How aware were the makers of The Force Awakens of Legends/EU Canon?


When Disney took over Lucasfilm, and announced the creation of new movies, current Extended Universe works were deemed to be non-canon.


Interestingly though, there seem to be a number of plot points within The Force Awakens that seem very similar to events that took place in the EU (renamed "Legends" by Disney).





  1. The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa trains as a Jedi with Luke but turns to the dark side. (Jacen Solo in EU).







  2. The name 'Ben' is used for a descendent of Anakin Skywalker (in EU this was actually Luke's son, not Han/Leia's).






  3. Luke's Lightsaber that he inherited from Anakin turns up again despite seemingly being lost at Bespin (in EU Luke encounters a clone of himself, cloned the hand he lost fighting Vader and wielding his lightsaber. Luke later gifts this to Mara Jade).







  4. A stormtrooper becomes disillusioned and runs away after being ordered to kill civilians (In the EU novel Allegiance four stormtroopers run away and become vigilantes for the same reason).





There are quite possibly other examples.


Additionally there is evidence that George Lucas was fully aware of at least one of these plot points.



George Lucas actually got directly involved the Jacen Solo storyline: 'it had been the creative team's intent to kill Jacen Solo in Anakin's place and have Anakin become the major hero. This was abandoned when Star Wars creator George Lucas vetoed the idea of Anakin Solo becoming the dominant figure, and the brothers' dramatic roles were swapped. Jacen Solo became the central figure of the arc; according to editor Sue Rostoni, "in many ways, the NJO is really his series."' - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Caedus




Is there any evidence that the writers were paying homage to the EU here? They certainly were happy to pay homage a LOT to A New Hope! Or is this all just coincedental. The EU is so massive that pretty much anything that could reasonably happen has happened. However, some of the plot points are pretty well known, so can we reasonably assume that somebody being paid a lot of money to work in the Star Wars universe may have been aware of these things.



Answer





  1. It is obvious that they were aware, since the "creators" included Leland Chee (Keeper of the Holocron database of canon facts), Pablo Hidalgo, Kathleen Kennedy and the rest of Lucasfilm's Story Group (Disney name for it) and higher-up brass who were also previously responsible for the canon during Lucas era.




  2. Moreover, during Disney Canon Wars, they explicitly said in the speech anouncing the creation of Disney Empire:



    Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe.




    This was further confirmed by Jennifer Heddle (LucasFilm's senior editor) on Twitter:



    @Hoopserwan It's all non-canon, but it all exists as a resource that could be used down the line. 2:17 PM - 25 Apr 2014





enter image description here


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Did Gandalf wear his Ring of Power throughout the trilogy?

After Gandalf discovered that Sauron was back and sent Frodo on his quest to Rivendell, did he continue to wear Narya (one of the Three Rings)? It seems like a huge risk to continue to wear it after the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) started to try and reclaim the One Ring; if they managed to get the ring to Sauron, couldn't he be corrupted by his power? Whatever powers Narya bestows upon him couldn't possibly be worth the huge risk, could it? Answer When Sauron forged the one ring and put it on his finger, the other ring bearers were immediately aware of him and his intentions and removed their own rings. There is no reason why they couldn't merely do so again. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and preceived that he would be master of them, and of all they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Silmarillion
Post a Comment
Read more