If you know me, then you know I tend to stay positive about Star Wars.
That goes for the original 6 Star Wars movies, the Expanded Universe, now deemed Legends,
and even the newer Star Wars stories under the Disney ownership of Lucasfilm.
Wait…don’t run away yet!
As I did say I remain positive about the Disney owned Star Wars content, I now have a way
of explaining why.
And I think this will help a lot of Star Wars fans put it all into perspective.
Now, there are newer stories that a lot of people like.
But there are also stories that split the Star Wars fandom right down the middle.
Maybe that statement is also a bit optimistic.
But the point is, Star Wars fans like what they like and dislike what they don’t.
Nothing will change that.
Not even me.
And I wouldn’t try.
It’s all a matter of taste and I would never hold it against anyone for their tastes and
opinions being contrary to my own.
We can debate aspects of Star Wars and talk about our likes and dislikes.
But personal attacks are never okay.
No matter which side of the argument you are on.
But that’s the age we live in.
Where attacks such as this are not meant to cause harm, only a way of conveying passion.
See?
I’m even positive about the hate.
Okay, I’m getting way off topic, and I don’t want to talk about the negativity that comes
from those types of interactions.
It doesn’t serve the point I’m going to make about how Disney’s Star Wars COULD
be viewed.
And I’m really not here to ignite any fires.
Star Wars fans are passionate, and that’s truly amazing.
I mean, after you watch the Evil Dead, the Evil Dead 2, then The Army of Darkness, how
many fans of that franchise go crazy about how different all three films are?
Not many, if any at all.
But back to Star Wars.
I would say most of us got into Star Wars at a young age.
And during that time there was a lot of Star Wars content released.
Think about it.
If you are an OG Star Wars fan, such as myself, you went years without any Star Wars movies
and virtually no shows.
But in the 1990’s we got to see a resurgence of Star Wars stories in print form through
the Expanded Universe.
And it was a golden age for the older Star Wars fans.
Then came the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
And with it came a whole host of other Expanded universe stories through novels, comics, and
even video games.
Honestly, how many of you are dying to have Sam Witwer reprise the role of Starkiller
from the Force Unleashed games into live action?
Or a live action portrayal of Revan and the Old Republic.
Revan and Darth Nihilus are my dreams to see in live action.
Just imagine what they could do with a Sith lord who can eat a planet.
The point is, these Expanded Universe stories became as much a part of Star Wars lore as
the original 6 films.
Before the Disney buyout and before the Expanded Universe was rebranded as Legends.
Some take the rebranding as a slap in the face to some Star Wars fans.
And rightfully so.
Expanded Universe implies that these stories are just as important as the movies.
Where the word “Legends” means maybe they were real stories and maybe they weren’t.
For example, the legend of King Arthur.
Did he exist in the way we know?
Or were his tales exaggerated over time?
Well, to Star Wars fans the word Legends takes away from the solidity of the stories and
makes them seem to matter less.
And I am one who shares that sentiment.
But with the Expanded Universe came a lot of stories.
And depending on your tastes, some were good and some…well…not so much.
In my opinion the Dark Empire stories were some I don’t care to revisit.
I’m looking at you LUUKE!
Two “U’s” …evil clone of Luke Skywalker.
And I don’t want to say that was a horrible story.
Some love it.
I’ll just say it wasn’t to my taste.
Now, there is the flip side.
While we enjoyed the Star Wars Expanded Universe, George Lucas had another opinion of it.
Now, I’m not going to say George Lucas didn’t like it.
I mean, the guy allowed the stories to be written and published.
Other than Splinter of the Mind’s Eye.
That one he commissioned.
But I will say that George Lucas has stated that the Expanded Universe has some great
stories but THOSE weren’t his stories to tell.
He always held the option to retcon them if need be.
Honestly, I can’t really think of any that he did that to.
Other than changing the Sith home world of Korriban to Moraband in the Clone Wars animated
series.
But the point is that George Lucas always kept the option open of overwriting Star Wars
Expanded Universe material as he saw fit or to align more with his own vision of what
Star Wars truly was.
That doesn’t mean it was any less canon.
But with the Star Wars Expanded Universe came a whole host of other creators of Star Wars
stories.
I know, it’s a shock.
These stories were NOT written by George Lucas.
Not really.
Pretty much everyone knows this.
Authors like Timothy Zahn, James Luceno, Alan Dean Foster, and many more.
By the way, two of those authors, Timothy Zahn and James Luceno have also written Star
Wars stories under Disney ownership.
With Timothy Zahn writing the two newer Thrawn trilogies and James Luceno creating such great
works as Tarkin and Catalyst.
All great novels!
If you don’t like Disney era Star Wars, at least give these novels written by two
OG’s a go.
And if you’re feeling really spunky, I’d also suggest Claudia Gray, EK Johnston, and
Christie Golden.
All are very talented and worth taking time to read.
Anyways, the Expanded Universe, now Legends, was written by many different talented authors.
And they really did expand the Star Wars universe beyond the original 6 films.
Taking the timeline of Star Wars from a tight roughly 50-year period to expanding stories
ranging in thousands of years, adding a rich history to the universe we only previously
got a small glimpse of.
The Empire didn’t always control the galaxy.
Boba Fett’s fate wasn’t ultimately decided by a clumsy Han Solo, and Sith once registered
in the thousands.
But I think you get the point.
Now we are in the Disney era of Star Wars films, series, comics, and games.
And some of these stories are almost as good as the original Expanded Universe.
Some…not so much.
Where George Lucas always held the rights to create Star Wars movies and series, the
newer era is seeing a lot of people writing the live action and animated Star Wars continuations…or
abominations, if you prefer.
With big names such as JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Robert Rodriguez
being some of those writers and directors.
But as dismal as you may think it is.
Let’s try to put it into a new perspective.
Now, I’m not going to say you should like the newer Star Wars films or series.
Instead, I will say to continue feeling the way you do about them.
Like them or dislike them, it’s your choice and your right.
Now, as you look at me with disgust over my next statement, let me just add that my position
will make sense when I’m finished.
There are two main arguments against the Disney era of Star Wars.
Not each individual movie, or trilogy, or show but Star Wars as a whole.
The first being that too many cooks are in the kitchen.
While George Lucas was the only one to create Star Wars live action, there are a lot of
showrunners for the new stuff.
In other words too many visionaries are interpreting Star Wars in their own way.
The second is that THIS Star Wars is not George Lucas’ vision.
That these stories are not his.
Both are true statements from different points of view.
But let’s go back a second.
Back to the Expanded Universe.
Remember when I talked about George Lucas and the Star Wars Expanded Universe?
Well, those weren’t his stories either.
He admitted that.
Then there was the fact that the Expanded Universe was written by many different visionaries.
The argument could be made that George Lucas gave them guidelines.
And that’s true.
But now there is a Star Wars story group that does the same things for the writers of everything
Star Wars.
Sometimes it may seem like the story group doesn’t have as much control as we would
like, but here we are.
But the fact remains, there were a lot of people writing the stories we loved and disliked
back under George Lucas’ ownership.
He just kept them to print media and video games.
But it’s when we change our perspective that it starts to make more sense.
I’m not saying it’s any more or less enjoyable with a different outlook.
Only that it can validate either feeling.
The way I view things…well, that’s a bit tricky and some of you may agree, while others
will spit on my grave one day.
I’ve stated many times that I go into any new Star Wars project with fresh eyes.
The eyes of someone seeing Star Wars for the first time as a young lad.
That isn’t the entirety of it.
Although it’s true, I learned after watching The Force Awakens that it’s different.
That there is a 30-year gap in the Skywalker Saga.
How could this new trilogy be labeled 7, 8, and 9 with that big of a gap?
Well, they really shouldn’t.
Although they do have limited interactions with the original characters, they shouldn’t
technically be Skywalker Saga episodes.
So, when I watch them I drop the episode numbers and just call them The Force Awakens, The
Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.
This turns these movies into Expanded Universe stories.
So, I started doing the same bit with the other Star Wars stories released.
The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Kenobi, Rogue One, Andor, and even the Ahsoka series
coming up.
I look at them as the Expanded Universe.
All written by different people.
All with the writer’s own vision of Star Wars.
Some are good and some…not so much.
It doesn’t change my enjoyment or dislike for them, but it gives me a different way
of viewing them.
Sure, the difference may be that these new Expanded Universe stories are deemed canon.
But then again, my canon still includes Revan, Darth Malek, and Darth Nihilus too.
I mean, Anakin Skywalker had an apprentice in Ahsoka Tano that we didn’t know about
before.
So, why couldn’t Darth Vader have the same in Starkiller?
By the way, if they make Starkiller in live action, please don’t make him more powerful
than Luke Skywalker.
For the sake of fun in the game, he would be way too OP in live action.
But the adventures of Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo should be looked at
as Expanded Universe.
No matter what we are told they are.
Retitling the movies would not hurt anyone’s feelings in the least and it doesn’t seem
like weakness to give in to fans.
George Lucas would change the movies and their episodic titles throughout his ownership and
most people didn’t mind…okay…some Star Wars fans didn’t mind.
C’mon man!
You changed the way we are told to look at Han Solo by making Greedo shoot first.
Well, to me, Han Solo still shot first.
And that’s one of the beauties of Star Wars.
We can view it however we like.
We can also dislike what doesn’t sit right with us.
And again, I’m not asking you to change your opinion of newer Star Wars.
Just that you try a new way of looking at it with hopeful thoughts that you may like
what comes next.
Unless you’re one of those that sits down with a notebook ready to take notes of what
you DON’T like about the shows or movies.
In that case, I don’t know what to tell you.
Either you feel you have been burnt too many times, you just do not like Disney, or you’re
just not the life of a party.
But you obviously love aspects of Star Wars, or you wouldn’t give it a second thought.
Unless you are making money off the negativity.
In which case, to each their own.
Do you, boo.
For me, the visions of George Lucas ended with the Clone Wars animated series.
But the franchise continues with more Expanded Universe stories.
An Expanded Universe that I enjoyed when others were only writing about it.
Now, I get to see them in live action or in animated series.
But as a side note, George Lucas has been involved in the newer Star Wars a little more
lately.
He still holds stock in Disney as part of his sale of Lucasfilm.
So, he is involved, but it is limited.
So, just look at the Disney era as the continuation of the Expanded Universe.
Love some of it, hate other parts, but pick and choose what you want to see.
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It really does help me and my channel.
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Also, leave a comment of your thoughts.
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Thank you all for hanging out with me today.
Until the next video, this is Gerald, a Star Wars Fanatic wishing you all great health,
happiness, and peace.
Thank you all for watching and remember, this is the way…and positivity in the Star Wars
community should be the only way!