Did Star Wars lose its way with Disney’s buyout of Lucasfilm?
The Dark Side of the Force received its ultimate revenge with the release of the final prequel installment, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, on May 19, 2005. At that point, the future of the Star Wars universe seemed all but dead and gone, with no new content on the horizon. Then, in steps Disney.
However; the Force struck back and George Lucas released the highly acclaimed animated series, The Clone Wars, on October 3, 2008. Taking place in-between Episodes 2-3 (within the Star Wars timeline), that series effectively added depth to some of your favorite heroes; as well as introducing fans to some new ones.
With Disney and its purchase of Lucasfilm in October of 2012 from George Lucas for an estimated cool 4 billion dollars, the Dark Side had seemingly consumed us Star Wars fans once again. The Clone Wars series was canceled prematurely, leaving fans spirits crushed to ashes like the planet Alderaan. It was thought by many, like myself, that Disney would just use Star Wars as only a cash grab. I could not have been more wrong!
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The canon was established by the Lucasfilm Story Group shortly after Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm. The establishing of a canon was another swift blow to some lifelong Star Wars fans.
With the exception of Episodes 1-6 and The Clone Wars content (the movie, show, and one comic); all of the previously released novels, comics, and other content were designated with a “Legends” branding.
What all that means is that anything designated “canon” is part of the actual storyline. Anything “Legends” is not part of the actual timeline.
The purpose of creating the canon was to keep all of its stories cohesive and all of the authors on the same page. Since the merger with Disney, Star Wars has released a plethora of movies, comics, animated series, and much more.
Someone like myself, who has been a fan since “a long, long time ago”, the “new” canon is the best thing that could have happened to the franchise. It gives characters a purpose within the story-line. It’s driven away from the chaos and confusion of what happened and what did not.
The writers in charge of the Star Wars storyline are fans also. The Lucasfilm Story Group takes great care of what is implemented in this beautiful galaxy. They listen to fans. Take Dave Filoni (Supervising Director of The Clone Wars animated series and Rebels animated series). In an interview with Andi Gutierrez from the Star Wars Show, Filoni puts on full display his fandom for the very Universe he contributes to!
Additional Clone Wars material was released that was thought to have ended. Fan favorite legends characters have been implemented into the actual storyline. More movies, comics, and novels are set to release into the near future and beyond. Star Wars has overcome the darkness, with nothing but light shining the way from here on out!
The beauty of Star Wars is that it continues to resound and appeal to the casual fan, who may only see each movie once. It appeases the “hard-core unbearable nerd” (words of my wife about me) who can’t get enough of all the content.
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