I was thinking of making this into a video (since I dont have a blog or anything), let me know what you think and if I left a point out: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Star Wars Expanded Universe is, well, just what it is - an expanded universe! It expands the mass franchise (universe) of Star Wars storytelling through various forms of media, such as novels, comic books, video games, short stories published in the magazine and other such things. People seem to overlook that Star Wars has become a multimedia franchise, especially when the evidence is right there in front of them. Yes, Star Wars did start out as a movie series, but it gave us such a rich setting that had great potential for expansion and thats what we got through the Expanded Universe. It gives us new characters we come to enjoy and relate to and we see them grow, as well as give new character developments and traits to the characters we first saw and grew up with in the films. If you thought the first film alone gave you such a rich science fiction story with awesome elements of the genre, then why not check out what the Expanded Universe offers? Its still Star Wars, it isnt a spin-off of Star Wars called… some other thing that takes place in a different galaxy. Its part of the whole story of Star Wars. And isnt that what Star Wars is? A story? Sure, its a story thats told over the course of about 35,000 years, but its all Star Wars. It all fits together like a 35,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Oh sure, some casual movie-goer will tell you that it (the EU) is full of holes and its just a Force-forsaken broken down mess, but in reality, it isnt. Are there some flaws here or there? Of course there are, but then again, what in Banes name doesnt have flaws? It doesnt even come close to the number of flaws casual fans say it has. Star Wars, to a lot of us fans, is a big multimedia story that weve come to enjoy over its 35,000 year span. Now for the whole business thing. Yes, I get it, Disney isnt the magical wonderland we thought it was when we were kids; its a big corporate conglomerate, perhaps the biggest. But heres what I dont understand - why are they doing so many things that will lose them money? Yeah, I know, inevitably theyll make a huge bundle, but they could be making more if they kept the Expanded Universe going and canon, wouldnt they? Lets take a look: 1) The Star Wars fanbase is largely made up of Expanded Universe fans, in fact Id say the majority is. So, by basically shoving 30+ years of storytelling and countless new characters, ships, enemies and timeless stories into the trash compactor, it pissed off the majority of the fanbase off and thus wont buy any of the new stuff because why should we bother with their new stuff if they wont bother with the original stuff. 2) Basing the sequel trilogy off whatever series of books they choose would make them more money. Why? Not necessarily because the EU fans want to see their favourite stories as movies, but rather, the casual fans will watch it and say hmm, I should read those books now. Not only will they go see the movie because its new to them, but theyll buy the multiple books/comics/video games to go along with them. Now Ive heard that tired argument that the casual fans keep trying to argue: Well, we want something new! Now remember, those are what the CASUAL fans are saying. And the frankly obvious rebuttal I say is: If you havent read the stories in the first place, how would the movies based on them not be new to you? Ive also heard the argument that it wouldnt be as successful if it was based off books. Really? How much money has Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films made? Return of the King is one of the highest grossing films of all time! What about The Hunger Games? Or hell, the Marvel COMIC BOOK movies everyone seems to love based off of COMIC BOOKS? So, why did Disney throw away the Expanded Universe in favour of their own? Because it would limit their creativity? Uhm, no. Just… no. Heres why: 1) Thats like saying every new author is limited with every new story they told in the Expanded Universe. For instance, James Lucenos Darth Plagueis came out mid-2013. Remember, 30+ years of Expanded Universe. Was he limited? No and he managed to fit in an awesome story and some new elements to Star Wars. 2) You have Leland Chee who overlooks story continuity and has done a great job after all this time, so obviously youd have someone from the continuity department. 3) (this one ties into #2) Disneys new Expanded Universe is already borrowing so much from the original EU anyway, so why discredit it? Its like cheating on a test. The villain of the Rebels show and even the villains of Episode VII as weve learned are Sith Inquisitors. Are Inquisitors new to Star Wars? No, theyve been around since the mid-1990s, and theyre exactly what they were back then - dark side users, not Sith Lords, employed by the Empire to hunt down Jedi and assigned and loyal to Darth Vader. Not to mention, theyve said things from the EU are going to, as they put it, creep into their new stories. I also find it funny that Disney needs a new close-knit story group to oversee continuity. Didnt we already have that with Leland Chee? I thought he did a damn fine job of keeping everything together. Do I still love the Original Trilogy? Yes, I do. But I also love the expansion of them. Even before I got into the Expanded Universe when I was younger, I still heard about it and appreciated it and was glad that when I got older, a new universe of stories was waiting for me in different forms. Thats what its like for many fans, in fact many fans got into Star Wars because of it. Star Wars does not belong to the corporation, even if a piece of paper and some money signs say otherwise. It belongs to us, the fans. It binds this galaxy together, like the Force. It IS our Force, in a way. So, may the Force be with us all as our rebellion goes forward.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 05:52:59 +0000