Star Wars fans who have been enjoying fiction and games based around the films (and The Clone Wars) were told at the tail-end of last week that the Expanded Universe has now been declared non-canon, with LucasFilm and Disney effectively drawing a line under the series and starting afresh ahead of the release of Star Wars VII.
In a post on StarWars.com, the decision was given some context:
"While Lucasfilm always strived to keep the stories created for the EU consistent with our film and television content as well as internally consistent, Lucas always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU. He set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align."
"In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded," the post continued. Previously released now non-canon material will remain in print, but will carry the "Legends" banner from here now onwards.
"We have an unprecedented slate of new Star Wars entertainment on the horizon," said LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy. "We're set to bring Star Wars back to the big screen, and continue the adventure through games, books, comics, and new formats that are just emerging. This future of interconnected storytelling will allow fans to explore this galaxy in deeper ways than ever before."
It seems that from here on in, anything released in the Star Wars IP will be considered canon, and future expanded media (television, books, comics, games) will be more carefully positioned to ensure it fits into the new-look universe. This news might also explain the reason why Star Wars 1313 was sent out to pasture.
<bild>Star Wars 1313: let go by Disney following their acquisition of LucasFilm.</bild>