The Glade 4.0

It would be nice if all these spin-offs are handled in the "day in the life" style of something like the recent Dredd reboot, instead of trying to shovel in a bunch of continuity. I'd really like to just see a good standalone story with Obi Wan/Boba Fett/Han being awesome.

That would be awesome. Not much is really known about the new trilogy, but from everything I've read, it sounds like they are going to completely ignore all the books that have been written. That really hacks me off, there was a lot of good novels out there, that really added a lot to the universe, at least up until Lucas started getting involved and telling people what to write.

In a statement released to StarWars.com, Kennedy announced that the company is forming a master “story group” which will oversee and manage the larger Star Wars universe, coordinating events and storylines across all forms of media. Interestingly enough, the statement goes on to clarify that elements of the Expanded Universe will NOT be discarded, but could rather be refitted for the new universe currently being constructed. Check out some choice excerpts from the post, below.

Regarding the recently confirmed lineup of official canon:

While Lucasfilm always strived to keep the stories created for the EU consistent with our film and television content as well as internally consistent, Lucas always made it clear that he was not beholden to the EU. He set the films he created as the canon. This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align.

Regarding the new universe management story group:

Now, with an exciting future filled with new cinematic installments of Star Wars, all aspects of Star Wars storytelling moving forward will be connected. Under Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy’s direction, the company for the first time ever has formed a story group to oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development.

“We have an unprecedented slate of new Star Wars entertainment on the horizon,” said Kennedy. “We’re set to bring Star Wars back to the big screen, and continue the adventure through games, books, comics, and new formats that are just emerging. This future of interconnected storytelling will allow fans to explore this galaxy in deeper ways than ever before.”

star wars episode 7 expanded universe Star Wars Official Canon & Expanded Universe Differences Explained

Regarding the status of the Expanded Universe canon in relation to the official canon established by the films:

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. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe. For example, elements of the EU are included in Star Wars Rebels. The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems are story elements in the new animated series, and all these ideas find their origins in role-playing game material published in the 1980s.

Demand for past tales of the Expanded Universe will keep them in print, presented under the new “Legends” banner.

My guess is that at some point, they'll backpedal a bit and have a sort of "quasi-canon" that acknowledges the most popular works in the EU that don't directly conflict with their plans.

There is a lot of EU out there and Disney doesn't want a bunch of fan bois crying over if so and so was a light or dark Jedi like we did during attack of the clones. They'll get the crying out of the way now by giving fair warning they have no intention of following every jot and tilde of the EU. It's probably for the best.

Update: Marvel's primary online spokeman Agent M has seemingly responded to the news of Cumberbatch's casting with a variety of tweets, broadly hinting that people who write things on the internet are generally wrong. Perhaps Deadline jumped the gun. For our sake, I hope not — partially because I think Cumberbatch is a swell choice but mostly because I'm completely goddamned sick of the Dr. Strange casting hoopla. We'll see.

Facism is not a school of thought, it is a racial slur.

I hold Mr. Cumberbatch in the highest regard. That said, I do not, for a minute, want to see him cast as Dr. Strange. There is a Marvel role for Mr. Cumberbatch, but it is not Dr. Strange. And if you cast him as Dr. Strange, then you completely remove any hope of EVER casting the right man for Dr. Doom. Ever.

So Avengers is a trilogy the same way Harry Potter is a septology?

Didn't see that coming. I wonder if that's going to cause any problems with contracts, then. Civil War is still a terrible idea. And Black Panther.

Why is Civil War a terrible idea?