Do we really want Legends characters in Star Wars Canon?

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

There is also a demographic of fans who want Legends to stay Legends, and for the new canon to be used to create new characters for us to enjoy. That’s a reasonable philosophy, because again if you take one Legends character and make him canon, what’s to stop you from doing the same for any others?

And if you have to pull from Legends to make truly great and long-lasting characters, what is the point of having a canon and a non-canon Star Wars timeline? There’s also a desire for more original content and if you bring in an old character, you run into the possibility of retelling an old tale, just with a new setting and a few new characters.

“There’s always a bit of truth in legends” – Ahsoka Tano

On the other hand, bringing a Legends character into the canon fold could be seen as a tribute to the fans who loved and still love the Expanded Universe. It’s also making use of a successful formula, if you take a character who was already beloved and who would work in the setting you want and make him canon, instead of creating a new character who is basically a copy of the old one.

And Thrawn is certainly beloved. He’s my personal favorite Legends character, and I cannot tell you how much I would geek out if I saw him on Star Wars Rebels. I’m excited about the prospect because I love the character but I’m not attached to his original story. As long as he’s still a somewhat evil and Sherlockian mastermind with a fetish for art, I am all for him becoming canon.

I think fans also underestimate the awareness of the Story Group. Every single person in the Lucasfilm Story Group is a longtime Star Wars fan, and any decision they make is thought out carefully and with the fans in mind. Taking a Legends character, or a Legends anything and making it canon is a risky business, but if they decided to do it with Thrawn, rest assured they have a plan in mind that will make his reintroduction to canon a success. Update… And it was…