Star Wars

[Bad Writer]

OK, now that rant is over we can discuss what we're all gonna hate, etc, about VII!

I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that they're altering the canon established by the Extended Universe (EU). Certainly what they're doing with the script is meant to draw in as much mainstream, casual audience members as possible, but it also alienates the hardcore, ever-loyal, years-long fans of Star Wars.

I have a small example of how the prequel altered the canon, and since I was a fan of the EU, it threw me for a loop. In one of the Star Wars "Tales" collections, the one about Bounty Hunters, a writer had established a very clearly-defined origin story for Boba Fett. Not only was it intelligently and thoughtfully written, but it was gospel to many of the people that loved the character. Soon after the release of Phantom Menace, rumors of what Episode II would involve began to surface. A vaguely Boba Fett-ish character in Mandalorian armor surfaced amongst all the hype. We soon learned that this was Jango Fett, Boba's father (read: clone). So Fett's backstory was destroyed in one, fell swoop.

To caveat off of that, the fact that the Clone Troopers were all based off Jango's genetic code was another canon-destroying plot device. In Timothy Zahn's bestselling Star Wars saga known as "The Thrawn Trilogy", Luke Skywalker actually comes in contact with the clones left over from the Clone Wars, but they are all individuals, based on many different genetic codes, very very different from how Lucas penned it years later.

So much to retcon, so little time.

The latest bit of canon fodder (tee hee) is the fact that Peter Mayhew will reprise the role of Chewbacca. Don't get me wrong; we love the big, hair lug. However, the time frame in which Episode VII is set should not allow for this. Only a few years earlier during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy (from another galaxy far, far away) Chewbacca dies in the first bout of planetary assaults. He doesn't just die with the possibility of resurrection or that he was missing in action and possibly just long lost...no. He was crushed by a moon. Yes, it took a moon with a decaying orbit to kill him off.

I don't think there's any coming back from this; this may just be the defining moment where the EU and the films go their separate ways.