rthstewart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rthstewart) wrote2014-04-25 06:40 pm
rthstewart) wrote2014-04-25 06:40 pm
And Star Wars EU Becomes AU
The announcement we've been waiting for, dreading, eagerly anticipating came today, with Disney/Star Wars announcing, : “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.” They've also announced the release of three new, Original Trilogy and beyond-era novels.
Dunc at Club Jade has a nice wrap up starting here. The video is here and features old friends Pablo Hidalgo, Dave Filoni, and Tim Zahn, plus, sniff, Aaron Allston.
So, we've got ourselves a reboot, retcon, AU in the Star Wars EU. As I tweeted, I'd be happy with it all going but gosh, the one thing from the EU that I do so much want to stay, is Mara Jade. Sniff. Really, I can live in a world where Waru, ghost sex in the machine, and Yuuzhan Vong never happened and Chewbacca (and Mara) never died.
Admittedly, I'm feeling nostalgic as I saw Tim Zahn at Awesome Con this weekend plus an old friend, the editor of some of the anthologies and the Star Wars Adventure Journal, from West End days, Pete Schweighofer. Pete was the one who introduced me to Mr. Zahn back in 1995, so I've got really fond memories of those times. Knitress sent me The Last Command by diplomatic bag when I was on a volunteer stint in Eastern Europe on its release.in 1993. I never thought that making movies of what has already be written in the EU made any sense. But might some of it come in? Maybe?
For those of you out there who've been through this before -- the reboots and retcons in other 'verses, and where there's an enormous body of written material that gets joss'd when they start making movies, any thoughts? For Marvel and DC folks, you must be used to this by now, yes? Are you tsking at the Star Wars wailing and rending of garments?
Dunc at Club Jade has a nice wrap up starting here. The video is here and features old friends Pablo Hidalgo, Dave Filoni, and Tim Zahn, plus, sniff, Aaron Allston.
So, we've got ourselves a reboot, retcon, AU in the Star Wars EU. As I tweeted, I'd be happy with it all going but gosh, the one thing from the EU that I do so much want to stay, is Mara Jade. Sniff. Really, I can live in a world where Waru, ghost sex in the machine, and Yuuzhan Vong never happened and Chewbacca (and Mara) never died.
Admittedly, I'm feeling nostalgic as I saw Tim Zahn at Awesome Con this weekend plus an old friend, the editor of some of the anthologies and the Star Wars Adventure Journal, from West End days, Pete Schweighofer. Pete was the one who introduced me to Mr. Zahn back in 1995, so I've got really fond memories of those times. Knitress sent me The Last Command by diplomatic bag when I was on a volunteer stint in Eastern Europe on its release.in 1993. I never thought that making movies of what has already be written in the EU made any sense. But might some of it come in? Maybe?
For those of you out there who've been through this before -- the reboots and retcons in other 'verses, and where there's an enormous body of written material that gets joss'd when they start making movies, any thoughts? For Marvel and DC folks, you must be used to this by now, yes? Are you tsking at the Star Wars wailing and rending of garments?
no subject
I'm not sure I'd trust Disney with Mara, though. Even the 'official' storyline turned her into Suzie Jedi-Homemaker and then killed her off in the most pointless possible way, which I have still not forgiven. At all. In any way. My wrath will outlive the stars.
I've always wanted Mara and Leia to run away together and start a much more intelligently run Jedi school of their own, possibly with Callista on board as a teacher, leaving both Han and Luke scrambling to do all the political crap Leia does every day while taking care of the kids, but somehow I don't see Disney making that one happen.
no subject
And with the new books coming out, just, ugh. I am SO SICK of all the white dudes on covers.
I'm not sure I knew, however, that you were a Mara Jade fan. EEEEE. Awesome. She was my first big fic -- when I wrote Stuff in the 90s. Fast forward 18 years and I found I was far more interested in what Mara did, felt, thought other than Luke. She was a really formative experience for me, as was writing that fic. I just so want to see her on screen.
And, gosh, I think I'm surprised at the number of women saying the same thing. Mara was a BIG deal. She IS a big deal. It's worth thinking about -- that she's so important to us, we don't want anyone doing anything to her, ever again.
no subject
I really, really don't trust disney with that.
no subject
Well, it's understandable on Disney's part not to keep in the new movies all the stuff built up when it looked like there wouldn't be movies VII-IX. I don't blame them, I think I'd do the same. But I have absolutely no investment in the EU. Is there a strong sense of canonicity in the fandom, then? I'm used to Doctor Who, where there isn't much hard continuity in the core series, and basically none (or, whatever you want) in the Expanded/Extended/Whatever stuff.
For the record, Marvel doesn't do a lot of EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED reboots (there was that Spider-Man one), more soft retcons and floating timelines.
It's DC that treats retcons as a GENRE. And it's almost always annoying, but that's partly because of how they do it.
tl;dr - I guess I am tsking. Also shrugging, because I stopped caring about Star Wars so long ago that if I tell people how long ago it sounds insulting....
no subject
no subject
1) This announcement is meant to nip fanwhinge in the bud, whereas pretending to continue while constantly changing little things would mean years of complaining.
2) J. J. Abrams. There's no way he's going to respect any continuity from novels. This is the guy who thought Star Trek was too cerebral, and so did a divergent timeline to J. J. it up.