If we examine Lucas’s comments on the EU, we can derive two key questions. One, does Star Wars have a parallel universe? Two, should we be so critical of the Disney era if we accept the idea of a separate EU-Legends universe that is now being drawn into canon? It may not be apparent, but the answer to the first question leads us to the second one.
Lucas on the Star Wars Universe
A recent assessment of Lucas’s thoughts on the EU reveals that Lucas thought it was a parallel universe. Although Lucas had initially tried to “keep a singular continuity”, he eventually came to view outside works as “non-canon to his universe.”
One example, from several in this forum, is how at Cinescape 2002, Lucas stated, “There are two worlds here. There’s my world…and there’s this other world that has been created.” Coincidingly, three years later, he expressed, “I don’t read that stuff…I don’t know anything about that world.”
Based on such remarks, it seems like fans are looking at a bifurcated world between the “real” Star Wars and this alternate universe. We may agree, especially given the current canon. non-canon split and the updated “Legends” category.
Yet, is it truly accurate to so neatly divide between canon and non-canon, or from Lucas’s perspective, his universe and a parallel one?
Does Star Wars Have a Parallel Universe?
In response to a parallel topic about whether canon and Legends are part of the same universe, a fan plainly stated, “Legends is a separate continuity, not an alternate universe.” Yet, right below this remark, another post disagrees and indicates, “I do not consider them alternate timelines, I see them as separate universes entirely.”
Just in this sampling of views, we get a sense of a divided fandom, although not completely separated. Those who see one universe point to the fact that from the start, “the story of Star Wars was never limited to the films,” and “these stories enrich and fill the universe of Star Wars,” well before and after the events of the first movies.
Those inclined toward more of a parallel universe viewpoint tend to accept the divisions and subdivisions of the EU to Legends framework. For instance, how “the post-2014 EU has been given its own name, the Modern Era.” Fans express support for how the EU has “brilliantly” developed “the beloved original trilogy” and offered “a rich tapestry of stories,” but acknowledge separate worlds.
We could leave it at that, with some fans embracing a parallel universe and others not so much. If only it were that simple…because the EU has gotten tapped into for recent Disney era shows.
This article, for example, highlights the use of the Mythosaur in Season 3 of The Mandalorian. “Prior to this brief cameo,” the Mythosaur was relegated to “the saga’s ‘Expanded Universe’ of books, video games, cartoons, and comics.” That would have been in a separate, parallel universe.
This type of “re-integration” into canon was more prominent with Thrawn’s return in Rebels and then in Ahsoka. In between these shows, Timothy Zahn returned to write “an alternate trilogy” that would be considered canon. Likewise, The Book of Boba Fett drew on the non-canon-EU-Legends comic “A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett” for Boba’s survival after he fell into the Sarlacc pit.
And we could go on, as the use of EU goes on, but we get the idea that it’s a slippery slope between the canon and non-canon these days, along with pinpointing a “true” universe and a parallel one. We could conclude that we might have had separate universes, but now they are rapidly converging.
Is It Fair to Blast the Disney Era?
Another point raised in the opening forum concerns whether we should criticize the Disney era so much, given that the EU was not canon to begin with. That is, if we follow Lucas’s logic, the EU is a parallel universe, but it may be drawn at times into the main universe (if we accept that division, that is).
In terms of the shows and movies that have been produced, we may be inclined to put them in context. That is, while there have been “some pretty big misses like the Rise of Skywalker,” much success has also come with The Mandalorian, “clone wars, rebels, the bad batch, tales and more.” Hence, the upside outweighs the downside, and those hits have drawn on the EU.
However, other fans see the Disney era as “mediocre at best” and tend to take negative views of such movies as The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. We are familiar with these criticisms, such as the lack of a firm plan for the sequels or the underdevelopment of characters.
But the point that the original post is making is that these films and shows were not meant to align with Lucas’s vision. He wouldn’t see them as part of his universe, and so perhaps we could conceive of them as a parallel universe, or at least an expanded, evolving one that doesn’t warrant quite so much vitriol.
Lucas, the EU, and Parallel Universes
The debates and various viewpoints on Star Wars will continue to expand, along with the continuing release of new movies, shows, books, and comics. We may decide to rest comfortably in parallel universes, or we may be more inclined to accept one larger expanding universe.
Either way, we can voice thoughts, concerns, criticisms, and hopes that intersect with the canon to non-canon, the EU to Lucas galaxy. We are left with making our own decisions as to what is Star Wars and what is not.