Has TFA taken interest away from the expanded universe?

I made a thread similar to this which got a good response. Go check it out. It called "EU Purist who says he will not see The Force Awakens"

 

TFA itself didn't kill the EU for me, the direction the new books and comics have gone since the reboot did though. We used to get books that depicted epic galactic events starring our heroes, now we're getting B-list stories that seem like nothing more than filler. A lot of people say that the old EU was bloated, but I thought it had finally reached a place where they were able to explore stories not directly related to movie characters and really open up new corners of the galaxy; now everything seems so limited again. I don't know, maybe it'll pick up after they release TFA and open up some of the mystery of canon post-RotJ, but for now I'm not all that interested in spending money on what they're producing.

 

I personally believe the Disney announcement 100% killed interest in the EU. Why bother going back to read a Zahn novel now when you know it's not part of the "real" storyline anymore. It has killed any interest I once had to invest my time into reading the novels and old canon. I have read the new Tarkin novel and love it. I will probably start buying the new books moving forward now.

 

I can't remember the source right now, but I read somewhere that the real reason Disney wiped out the old canon was the complicated process of paying royalties to different authors should their material be used. Something like, their contract was with Lucasfilm, and were allowed to use the properties within limitations to write new novels, but any ideas created within the games and novels could be used in the prequels. Well, Disney bought the rights from Lucas, but not the authors, so if Disney used Admiral Thrawn for example, then they would owe Zahn as he held the rights to his character beyond the novel. It was a complicated corporate contract, so to simplify Disney wiped the slate clean to avoid royalty issues, according to one source. So, the old EU will not really be used moving forward for legal reasons, I believe. Certain ideas might be hinted at, but Disney still runs the risk of copyrights.

 

there was interest in the expanded universe?

 

I have a lot of EU books and sadly yes, it did kill it for me. I even bought Han Solo Trilogy The Hutt Gambit and still haven't read it.

 

I think they want to branch TFA away from eu, to many predictable stories.

 

It's interesting to go back and read some legends literature again to see what may be used in TFA and upcoming stories!

 

Yep can't argue with there, there is a lot to read.

 

yeah I personally couldn't get past Luke has an evil clone than this chick kills him and they get married

 

I don't mean to insult the EU or anything, I've never really read anything from it, but from what I've observed, it seems like TFA is going to have original concepts never before seen in the EU. For example, the crossguard lightsaber: for all its vastness, the EU never contained a single story that displayed a sword-like lightsaber. Additionally, the concept of an Awakening—if it means that the Force itself is changing—has also never been touched upon. I feel as if the EU has covered everything on the surface but has never thought to explore the subtle ideas of the Galaxy Far Far Away. And yet, TFA has found a way to be truly original—something that much of the EU seems not to have achieved.

This is just the opinion of someone who has seldom read anything from the EU, so if this post is down voted, so be it. I understand.

 

How you read about star wars is your business, it's not classed IMO as a insult what is canon & non-canon is irrelevant, Im glad TFA is going on a new path, lightsaber evolving in design is a good move.

 

I think the hype surrounding TFA is doing wonders for the new EU material. By all accounts, the Marvel comics and Rebels cartoon are both doing extremely well. In that regard, the market for EU material is probably at one of it's highest points.

It's obviously true that the older books and comics are no longer as popular, but time alone will accomplish that. It's not as though hoards of new readers would have been clamoring for the Thrawn Trilogy at this point anyway. It's sales peak has long since passed.

And there's a strong argument to be made that eliminating the old EU, now Legends, made the new EU material much more accessible to new readers. I know for me personally, the idea of picking up a new Star Wars novel was out of the question until they reset the canon. I had been on board early on, but after slogging through a few of the lesser novels (my apologies to anyone that loved the Kevin J Anderson books) I lost interest, and after a while, I was so far behind that I completely abandoned the books. Some of the stories sounded interesting, but I didn't want to go back and read a dozen mediocre novels to catch up just so I could read the latest story.

I'm sure my experience was not unique. Over time, the sheer volume of material will cause a natural attrition in the number of readers, while simultaneously making it more difficult to attract new readers.

De-canonizing the old EU not only freed the new filmmakers to create the movies they wanted to make, it also opened the door for a lot of Star Wars fans that were reluctant to join in due to the overwhelming amount of convoluted back story that went along with the old stuff.

 

If I liked a story in the Star Wars universe, then I liked it. I've liked stories, art, ideas and concepts that were never canon, ever, so the distinction has no bearing to me. I've seen stuff that is canon and loathed it. My opinions on Episode III would shock and annoy die hard fans of the brand.

One of my favorite characters in all of Star Wars is just one I invented and role played, a male Twi'lek ex-slave now on a vengeful crusade against the Hutt slave trade of his race. He was awesome. Pure egomaniacal BS for my own amusement, I concede that, but for me, because I understood him and his history, he remains a favorite character of mine.

So canon=quality was never an equation for me. I do not like some of canonical films, I do like a lot of non-canon material. I still love Star Wars and hope to be accepted by other fans because I do.

I think the one negative aspect of lots of canon, is it was often used to distinguish what was and was not a good story, it became pedantic, burdensome and almost dutiful. That if it was canon and you didn't like it, you somehow were now disqualified from calling yourself a Star Wars fan. Canon became a weapon to distinguish who did and did not belong in the community as a whole.

I try not to get too hung up on it. This is a space opera that sells toys I loved a child and my kids grew up playing with. The theme sold the toys, not the plot. The theme was one of liberation, family, spirit and a sense of helping those less fortunate than you, the essential ingredients of all good myth.

MYTH.

A long time ago, a galaxy far, far away.

MYTH first. CANON second.

That's my take on canon, submitted as respectfully as I can to those who consider it a cornerstone of the brand's appeal.

EDIT - I just admitted I like fan fiction, which to many of you may fully discredit my opinion and you just might be right.

 

With all due respect, I am not sure this makes sound legal sense. If the entire EU wipe was to avoid paying royalties and copyright issues, it seems to me that if Disney did not obtain full rights over the material, the reset would actually result in copyright infringement, etc. Think about the recent Marvin Gay estate battle with Robin Thicke and Pharrel (sp?)... What I mean is, the EU has a TON of material out there and it would be damn near impossible to come up with a truly new character and/or plot point. I strongly doubt that Disney would want to fight with these EU authors who think something in the new canon is too close to one of their ideas. So, I would guess that when Disney acquired Star Wars, Lucasfilm, etc., it obtained the same rights that I suspect GL had before... namely that the Disney/Lucasfilm can have free license to use anything that was produced under the Star Wars brand, whether it be EU or otherwise. That was the price the authors had to pay in order to play in GL's sandbox in the first place. Someone who knows the corporate background and licensing arrangements with the old EU authors better than me can probably confirm or debunk my theory that GL, Disney, Lucasfilm had or have the rights to everything in that sandbox.

If speculation, spoilers and such are right, it doesn't sound like TFA is "truly original"... see the "Connections with Star Wars Legacy" thread on the parallels with the recent Legends stories involving junker Ania Solo and her defected Imperial friend. http://thecantina.starwars7news.com/index.php?threads/connections-with-star-wars-legacy.3052/

 

I've read that, but all I'm saying is that TFA seems to have come up with some ideas that cannot really be found in Legends. For instance, the cross guard lightsaber. Also, concept of an awakening in the Force. Of course there will be similarities and even influences, but I'm just pointing out that TFA has some particular ideas that are seeming to be original, as TPTB intended.

 

Didn't the EU get wiped because a large portion of it happened after ROTJ and now we are actually getting sequels?