5 Things From The Extended Universe That Need to Be in The New STAR WARS Movies
When Disney announced that they would be producing more Star Wars movies, like many fans I responded with a mix of insane exuberance and a healthy dose of skepticism. Then, with the announcement that the Expanded Universe would be null and void, I was livid. How could they do this?! All that material — decades of books, and video games, stories that we have loved for years — gone with the single stroke of a pen. But wait, a small glimmer of hope! They may use some of the stories, and elements from the former Extended Universe!
Every Star Wars fan who has enjoyed EU content had the things they loved, and the things they thought DESERVED to be brought into the new canon. There is so much content, it’s impossible for all of it to fit, or to think that all of it would make even remote sense in their new stories. But some things could easily work, and these are five of those things.
1. Grand Admiral Thrawn
Thrawn was probably the most common element tossed around about what should definitely be brought into the new Star Wars universe Disney is creating, because he just makes sense. We don’t necessarily even need a ton of backstory on him, or the Chiss Ascendency, but we could definitely see Thrawn step up in the wake of the death's of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader to assume command of the fracturing empire and hold it together. It’s a simple way to reintroduce a fan favorite character and to explain how the Empire has survived for 30 years.
2. Han Solo’s backstory
In the former EU, Han had a pretty rich backstory. He started as a young Imperial officer with a heart of gold, which led him to save Chewbacca, leading to a lifelong friendship. This would be a really fun story to tell. You can include a young Lando, and Han winning the Millennium Falcon from him. There are plenty of fun and interesting stories revolving around Han as a young man. They could even include Han meeting Boba Fett and their first interactions. With the recent announcement of a Han Solo standalone film, maybe we will get to see some of these stories told on screen, although personally, I think it would make a better Netflix miniseries.
3. Various Lightsabers
This probably sounds like a pretty dumb idea to most people, but the EU was loaded with different lightsaber designs aside from just your standard saber (i.e. Luke and Obi-Wan's). We got to see some of that with Darth Maul, and even Count Dooku and Asaaj Ventress, but there are still loads of designs that would be fun to see on screen. Light whip, anybody?
4. Boba Fett Survives the Sarlaac
Okay, I'm a little partial here, but I love Boba Fett, and as far as I’m concerned, he survived the Sarlaac pit. He’s just too damn awesome to have died in such an absurd way. Not to mention that the stories told after that, particularly the Legacy stories (which take place about the same time the new movies do) have a TON of information about Mandalorians and where Fett comes from. It’s time we got a good look at the culture he grew up in, and there are some amazing characters in those stories, the majority of which were written by Karen Travis. Boba Fett has a gay best friend in the series, and Star Wars could always use more LGBT characters. Boba Fett makes a great angry old man, and he even teaches Han and Leia’s daughter how to hunt and kill Force-users, which would make for an amazing character interaction.
5. More Alien Characters
I know how that must sound, but I’m not talking about diversity hires. In the novels, there are plenty of main characters who aren’t human, but they are still deep and interesting people. It’s high time we see some of these amazing characters onscreen. The list of great candidates is endless, and they bring with them new cultures, languages, and all the other things that make non-human characters interesting. It’s high time they share the spotlight.
Disney has a great opportunity here to really make an impact in the hearts of Star Wars fans, many of whom are still a little jaded from the prequel mistakes. There are countless small things they can add, little nods to the former EU, that would seal the love of diehard and casual fans for decades to come.