Is it true that all the expanded star wars universe is NOT canon?

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   Stevennix2001posted 10 years ago

   I just got done watching a clip from one of my favorite movie sources, "AMC movie news", and the host john campea claims that ONLY the movies are canon; while saying all the star wars expanded universe games, novels and etc (even the new TV show, "Star Wars:  The Clone Wars) are considered non canon. 
   
   He even goes onto to say that he is a true star wars fan, and even named his cat Luke Skywalker, when he was a kid.  However my question to you all is this.  Do you think that all the star wars novels, games, and etc are canon material to the star wars universe?  Or do you think that only the movies are canon, and the rest is merely fan fiction non canon stuff as John claims, who is allegedly a true star wars fan.
   
   I could care less, as i don't really know much about it other than the movies, so it won't affect me.  however, how do you guys feel?  anyways, here's a link to the vid down below if you want to watch it:
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfNUZM_6ssE

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      Subrisusposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Here is a quote pulled from the Wikipedia entry for Star Wars Canon:
      
      We have what we call Canon, which is the screenplays, novelizations, and other works that are directly tied into continuity, and then there are a lot of marginal things, like the old Marvel Comics series, that we don't really try to work into the continuity when we're planning new projects. Even the LucasArts interactive games have a premise, a backstory with player characters that we're trying to tie into the overall continuity. It is sort of a godlike undertaking. We are creating this universe as we go along, but somebody has to keep his finger on everything that came before.
      —Lucasfilm's then-continuity editor[1] Allan Kausch, The Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
      
      That would seem to disagree with John Campea (I did not review the video - I just took your word for it) in that the novels and video games are considered to be part of the canon as far as Lucasfilms (the creators of Star Wars) are concerned.

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2. 91

   LCDWriterposted 10 years ago

   The Clone Wars cartoon series and film built on story lines and plots from the original six movies so I don't see why it wouldn't be a part of the canon.

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3. 90

   JKennyposted 10 years ago

   I'm not a 100% sure, but I remember Lucas basically saying that in his mind the expanded universe isn't canon, and if he ever made more films, then he wouldn't take into account any novels, games etc. But of course, Star Wars is out of his hands now, so maybe things have changed.

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4. 82

   Alexander Markposted 10 years ago

   I believe Lucas has the final say and his view is and should be that the movies are canon. But in one of the graphic novel series about the Clone Wars, (don't ask me which one), a Jedi was specifically not killed off during the purge because at the time Lucas had plans for him - possibly in the live action series that sadly never came to fruition. I believe the character was Kitt Fisto.
   However, I would not be surprised if the next three movies rely heavily on the official novels that are written in the time period after the Return of the Jedi. I just hope to God they don't cover the Yuuzhan War. Even though I love Star Trek, the whole Yuuzhan thing was too much Trek and not enough Force. In fact, I really don't see how they're going to find villains that will be as interesting and fun as Vader and the Emperor.

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5. 83

   Katie Armstrongposted 10 years ago

   There are different levels of canon in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
   
   G-Canon is the highest level--it includes the films, and anything that comes out of George Lucas's mouth. Anything that he says or does in the films overrides all other levels. (Unfortunately, this gives us things like midi-chlorians and Jar Jar serving as a senator, but it's the way of the world.)
   
   T-Canon is the next highest level, and includes television series, such as Clone Wars, and the animated Clone Wars feature film.
   
   C-Canon comes next, and includes novels, games, comics, etc. which were produced in modern times, when dedication to the continuity became something that producers really cared about (due to the Prequel Films coming out and threatening to invalidate a lot of novels and comics). C-Canon materials try hard to keep in line with the films and TV shows. They sometimes get 'promoted' into G-Canon by being incorporated into films or by having Lucas mention them (e.g. the name of Coruscant appeared originally in novels, but was later adapted into the films).
   
   S-Canon, which stands for 'secondary canon', is really more like 'disregarded canon'. It mostly includes older novels from the 80's, the Marvel comics, and other things which no longer 'fit' the image of the GFFA that we have now.
   
   N-Canon is 'non-canon'. This includes the 'what if'-type stories which are published under the Infinities comic series, or things which were directly contradicted by later movies (e.g. any novels which had Luke and Leia not being siblings, or had Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker as separate people, etc.). This category also includes deleted scenes, rough drafts of scripts, cut plot points, etc. UNLESS they get reincorporated in some way, e.g. Lucas cut the concept of midi-chlorians in 1977, and re-introduced them in 1999; the scene of Luke going to Tosche Station and meeting up with Biggs in Episode IV was cut from the films and was only reintroduced once 'DVD Extra Features' became a thing.
   
   Everything else IS considered canon--everything from Episode IV to the Holiday Special to the awful Ewok Adventure comics which had Mt. Sorrow the crying mountain. So in short, everything counts except for the things which don't count.
   
   Disney is set to take a lightsaber to the Extended Universe, in order to make it easier to produce films and projects going forward from here. I say 'thank the Force' to that--there's WAY too much material to keep up with, even for the most obsessive fans. (Heck, there's people whose paid job is keeping track of Star Wars continuity for Lucasarts, because it's too much for writers to keep track of on their own.)

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      Alexander Markposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Oh wow, THAT was comprehensive. Thank you! I love your last paragraph, totally agree with your sentiment.

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      1. 83

         Katie Armstrongposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Yeah, I'm a big Star Wars fan, but there's WAY too much stuff. Having to have different levels of canonicity is ridiculous. With Harry Potter, I can read all the books, watch all the movies, read the stuff over on Pottermore and other tidbits which come out in interviews, and know literally everything there is to know about Harry Potter. For Star Wars, I've read books, seen all the movies (even the horrible, horrible Holiday Special and Clone Wars movie), read comics, played games, and even after all that, I literally cannot navigate the Galaxy Far Far Away without having Wookiepedia open in one tab. It's reached critical mass--there's just too many things for one person to read/watch/whatever, and even if you managed to catch up to the state of the series today, you'd still have everything that was produced in the meantime to catch up with.
         
         Better to just say 'Everything below T-Canon is rendered 'non-canon' or 'alternate universe'' and be done with it. That way, Disney still gets to sell action figures of Kyle Katarn, but aren't forced to make movies about him and then pay royalties to the people who came up with the character. It's perfect!

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6. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   Everything made with the consent of the rights holder is canon.  The fact it is not internally consistent doesn't change that. Within canon there is a hierarchy, but but only an informal one.

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