Disney Abandons the Old ‘Star Wars’ Expanded Universe, Will Connect All Creative Developments Going Forward

The Star Wars franchise quickly branched out from the original films to other forms of media like comics, books, and even television series. Something called the Star Wars Expanded Universe, or EU, has traditionally encompassed all licensed material outside of the six feature films created by George Lucas. Film canon always trumped EU canon, but the two coexisted peacefully with aspects translating between them. With the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney and subsequent announcement of new film developments, fans have been wondering whether the EU would be incorporated into this new vision.

Disney has today revealed that any new creative developments going forward, including the new films, will be overseen by a single story group for the sake of consistency and coherence. Previous EU content will remain in print according to demand under a new Star Wars Legends banner. There may be content pulled from old EU for use by the new Lucasfilm Story Group, but this is effectively the end of what it was previously.

Now, with Lucasfilm’s Story Group, the EU will be unified like never before. Across the new films, TV animation, comics, novels, and games, the Star Wars narrative will be entirely consistent and cohesive. “I think the idea of aligning the content,” says Kiri Hart, head of development, “is actually a really fantastic and exciting opportunity that no other fictional universe could really even support.”

via Bill Mudron