Originally posted by CaedusRules
[B]So with Disneys purchase of the SW universe, and the announcement of Episode 7, 8, and 9 I'm asking myself how this is going to effect the EU. I have read that the new film will be an Original Story, which to me meant it will not continue the characters stories of the first 6 movies. However, earlier today on den of geek I read that the next trilogy will be the final part of the original saga. In fact Lucas had lunch with Hamel and Fisher and told them about the next trilogy. DOG goes on to speculate that the series will involve Luke Skywalker, but maybe not Hamel.
First: "7" as roman number is "VII" and not "XII" which would be "12".
Second: The guy is still called Hamill, not "Hamel", the latter being a river in Germany.
That aside: Lucas is writing some post-RotJ stuff, as it seems, but considering, that apparently, he thinks about some of the original characters reappearing, we can determine the timeline of Ep. 7 to be roughly 30 years post RotJ, which is a blind spot in EU between the Yuuzhan Vong war (NJO) and the Swarm War (Dark Nest Trilogy) at the moment. That aside: Even with popular characters returning, Lucas can fill an entire Galaxy with new characters, which might serve as protagonists for his new movies. So he just has to look after events on a galactic scale (destruction through Yuuzhan Vong, probably Swarm War) and not much else. He can also just use the characters already present in the EU and tell new stories featuring them.
Personally, I think, what we are going to see is a story featuring entirely new protagonist with well established characters appearing as well, to help the "old" fans accept the "new" stuff.
Ok. So after setting the above plot, I have to ask how this is going to affect the EU? Is Disney and Lucas going to deficate on everything written over the last almost 30 years? Are they going to somehow work these movies into the EU? For example, making sure Leia and Han get married, and have 3 kids still, but the story of which will be covered in the movies instead of the novel "the courtship fo princess leia".
I don't see any reason for the post-RotJ EU being affected much by new Star Wars movies. Lucas has an entire Galaxy to fill with new heroes and villains and I don't see any former major characters appearing as protagonists of the new trilogy. He can even make up an entirely new story, that can fit well into the established canon, if you think about the possibilites a Galaxy as background offers to a narrator.
That aside: Changing too much of the established canon will piss of the fans quite a lot. In terms of the SW universe, the EU was always very important in comparison to other movies / shows (e.g. Star Trek). Lucas has even adopted a lot of things from the EU into his original work.
Or will Disney now work with Marvel, and thier book publisher to develop an all new EU. Starting over from scratch. A pro for this is we will have another 20-30 years to read about Luke and the group where as Delrey is wrapping up thier story. Con is everything over the last 30 years is.... well... pointless.
I'm rather sure this won't happen. It doesn't make sense from a market economy perspective: Disney bought a well working product with well established characters, histories, storylines. Why change anything of that, if you can just add new perspectives to the franchise? I remember, that when Lucas talked about a Star Wars TV show first, he was thinking of featuring minor characters - and then he brought us Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The point being: Why shouldn't he / or Disney for that matter, go on with already established characters that can be easily adopted for new media. Keep the old fans and add new ones. That makes far more sense than destroying the previously established canon.
Or maybe there can be a way to start a new EU while keeping the one we fell in love with valid. Like after the sword of the Jedi trilogy, we can have a final trilogy that somehow travels back in time to just after ROTJ and changes something that creates an alternate existance and that could lead us into ep 7, and the new timeline. Maybe have Anakin sit on the throne of balance after being redeemed by Luke, thus resolving the conflict of the next 30 years in our current EU.
You really think that the guy who thinks, that fans of the series can't tell two people apart, because the have the same first name (Anakin Skywalker / Anakin Solo), will attempt to sell those same fans a story featuring alternate timelines?