jueves, 24 de enero de 2013

The Expanded Universe: alternative universe on the way?

Adi Gallia was killed by Savage Opress. Even Piell died in the Clone Wars. Asajj Ventress left Count Dooku. The Mandalorians are different now.

What do all of these events that have taken place in The Clone Wars have in common? They all have overwritten events that had previously taken place in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The fans have revolted over such minor things, that have perhaps declared a comic or two as ''non-canon'' and created some inconsistencies with other previously established works. Now, a new trilogy of Star Wars lies on the horizon, in a time period which is heavily convoluted with so many things it's not even worth tracking what has transpired since Return of the Jedi. With the story treatments coming from George Lucas himself, that entire time period faces the near-certain inevitability of being no longer part of the Star Wars canon. We are talking about nearly 200 comic books and novels combined. If the fans get upset because Adi Gallia was killed by Savage Opress and not General Grievous, imagine what will happen now? 

The problem ultimately doesn't lie with George, even if many will be and are angry at him because he ''allowed so many novels and comic books to be written and now wants to make movies that will render those irrelevant.'' George has every right to do what he wants with his own universe, whether you like it or not. The writers of the EU have the privilege to be playing in George's playground, not the other way around. Perhaps the opening crawl of Episode VII will say something like ''The galaxy has been at peace since the Battle of Endor'' and will render that part of the EU as non-canon, or it will throw it into an alternative timeline. Who knows. It's not my universe to decide. 

The important thing to point out is that many fans have moved on from the films and have established the EU as something as sacred or even more important, than the movies. They have delved themselves so badly into the EU to the point in which they no longer read or watch something for fun, but are instead preoccupied that it won't adhere to the continuity. 

Star Wars used to be about having fun for these fans, but now that they have immersed themselves so badly into this fictitious universe that they take everything that happens in it too seriously, as if they were Christian fundamentalists who take everything from the Bible as literal. They are literally stabbing themselves in the back for being too immersed into every single product that comes out of Lucasfilm. 

That is a great part of the reason why I have only read 2 novels of the Expanded Universe: Labyrinth of Evil and Star Wars: Darth Plageuis. I like to read things that have some sense of relevance to the films, or watch a show that also has some sense of relevance to it. That's a great part of the reason of why I have little to no interest about what the novels depict happens after Return of the Jedi

I guess that also one of the main reasons why it seemed to make some sense to continue making books and comics depicting the events after Jedi was because well, back in 1983, the ending with Yub-Nub didn't exactly give sense to what had transpired in the galaxy as a whole, nor with the main characters. The stories of Luke, Han and Leia, could have continued with Thrawn as the bad guy. But ever since 1997, 2004 and the release of Episodes I-III, you get the sense that Darth Vader's redemption becomes the act of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Chosen One, and that the Sith should have never returned. You also get the sense that if even in the most backwater and criminal planet of the galaxy, Tatooine, they are celebrating the death of the Empire, then that means that almost every planet in the galaxy manage to liberate themselves from the Empire. Besides, the simple fact that both the Jedi Temple and the Galactic Senate are present when Coruscant is shown, must imply the fact that democracy has returned to the galaxy. So ultimately at the end of the day, the stories that take place after Jedi are basically a complete contradiction to everything settled down here. 

The EU after Jedi is written by so many different authors, that the direction of the story goes off in a strange sense. By the time you get to New Jedi Order you are beating on a dead horse, and by the time you get to the Legacy comics, the formula of the films is so xeroxed and repeated it's not worth even paying attention. It's better to see things the George Lucas way and think that none of that ever happened. 

But now that the long speculated sequel trilogy is lying their, to be released in 2015, you go back to look at the EU post ROTJ, floating around, contemplating whether the hateboy's wet dream, and my worst nightmare, might have a chance of coming true. The good thing is that George hasn't given the bastion yet, and the next film is on the way of being an original story taken from his story treatments. So if you add up that with the fact that in his universe, non of the post-ROTJ EU ever happened, then, we have the likely chance of seeing a film that will not only stay true to what was previously established in the Star Wars films, but also take the story of Star Wars into a place we haven't seen from George Lucas's universe. 

An alternative universe might be helpfull in getting both George's film into the screen, while at the same time controlling some of the rage of the hateboys. What do you guys think? Share your thoughts below. 






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