The Obligatory Star Wars: Episode VII Pontification

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Ok, now that's out of the way, let's get down to business. There's been a lot of Rampant Speculation going out there about what JJ Abrams "is doing, "needs to do", "should do", "must do", "much ado", etc., etc. This is not going to be one of those rants, at least I hope it's not. What I hope to express in my meandering post is how I feel about the Expanded Universe, especially when it comes to Episode VII (I love how we all type it out as VII, instead of just 7, because we're all "authentic" about that. And yes, he's Lord Vader, Lord Darth Vader! The man deserves respect!) Also, understand that this is being written between phone calls at work, so this may end up a little... disjointed.

Personally, I believe it's an all or nothing approach when it comes to the EU (Expanded Universe for those not as geeky as the rest of us). There's really no other way to approach this sanely.

Going All In!

There's a lot of fans out there that would L-O-V-E this approach. Grab it all, make it "canon", and hug it, and squeeze it, and call it George. There are some advantages to going this way.

First and foremost, the writers get to be Laaazy. There's no need to come up with something new. It's all written, illustrated; characters have been created and fleshed out. Just grab the Thrawn Trilogy and go.  There's material from 30 minutes after the Death Star blowing up to almost a century later! Timeline is all laid out and the continuity is pretty much set in stone. Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher would be in work until they died.

The second advantage is a built in fan base. I mentioned the Thrawn Trilogy because I love the Thrawn Trilogy. I love Thrawn, Pellan, the Noghri, and especially Mara Jade. I would pay to see a Mara Jade stand-alone film. (I would pay to see Mara Jade.) I know the Wife would do the same. There are a lot of people out there that have their personal favorites, and a lot out there that would be guaranteed people in the seats (all dressed up, nice and purdy in their Jedi robes, or slave girl outfits... or Jedi slave girl outfits).

So what do you have? Gobs of money for very little effort? Maybe, but I doubt it. After Episodes I through III, most Star Wars fans have started to become a little more... discriminating.

I'm sure that someone else would find another thousand advantages, but I'm a working boy, and don't have that much time on my hands.

Leave'em Where They Lay!

This is actually my preference. As such, this portion will probably be longer. Yes, I love the EU. Yes, I would love to see the EU made into movies... well some of the EU, and that's where things get messy.

Honestly, the EU sometimes makes as much sense as a drunken role-playing game session ran by someone who just got done watching an '80s cartoon marathon ("Standing across from you is He-Joe, last of the SilverCats!"). The heroes win to have every time, only to have a newer, nastier threat (that Palpatine actually knew about and would have been prepared for) than the last pop up. It's more contrived than the final seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess. Some of the story decisions, when they were made from "On High (at Skywalker Ranch)" made the EU even worse, in my opinion. (They killed Anakin Solo off because George Lucas thought the fans couldn't keep the Vader and the grandson straight.)

Remember those fans that would show up in the costumes with the fake lightsabers? Yeah, they're (we're) as much a possible threat as a help. One little change to the story and the Nerd Rage would look like the Incredible Hulk Family at a mosh pit. There are those out there that would all but burn down the theater if you didn't include simple side character or change that line that Mara Jade said to Luke that one time. Once something outside of "continuity" happened, the interwebs would be alive with trolls and flame wars berating and belittling the director, the writer, the actors, and their little dogs, too.

The smartest thing to do is just lay down the EU gently, and walk away. Don't try to "give it homage". Don't try to pick and choose what is "canon" and what isn't. Don't give it any "true" credibility. Just leave it alone. I pray they just say "Hey, those were some interesting ideas! Too bad that's not going to be in the movie" and move on with their own original ideas.

If I had my druthers, I would druther see the Thrawn Trilogy and some of the other already written EU done as animated movies, with a clear disclaimer that the events are "not canon". This would give the fans the chance to see their favorite books in moving-pictures form, without forcing the "real" movie to pigeon hole itself into the mess of a nest that is the current EU.

Of course, we could always go with what Patton Oswalt's idea. That's always option...