Star Wars fans are among the most passionate in all of geekdom, and one group has certainly proved it with its latest endeavor. After raising nearly $5,000 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo, the group known as Give Us Legends has erected a billboard in San Francisco, politely asking Lucasfilm to continue the old Star Wars expanded universe.
The billboard looks like it was ripped straight out of the original movie's opening crawl and reads "Dear Lucasfilm, Please continue THE ORIGINAL EXPANDED UNIVERSE — The epic story that existed from 1976-2014. Thank you."
The billboard then links to the group's official website, Giveuslegends.net, where the group's message is expanded upon. It's there that heartfelt personal messages of fans writing about what the expanded universe means to them can be found.
The original Star Wars expanded universe was discontinued in 2014 by Disney in preparation for the new era of Star Wars movies, games, books and comics that would be ushered in with The Force Awakens. All of the existing expanded universe tales were then rebranded "Star Wars: Legends" to distinguish the stories as no longer official canon.
Give Us Legends isn't seeking a restoration of the old expanded universe as the true Star Wars gospel, but is rather asking Disney and Lucasfilm to simply continue the long-running expanded universe storyline alongside the new Star Wars canon. It's not a completely unreasonable argument by any means. No doubt, there are plenty of fans who are still not happy about Disney tossing out decades worth of material and would gladly continue to support the old expanded universe. Give Us Legends even points out that many fans who enjoy the new films and books can still enjoy the Legends subseries as well.
That being said, it seems unlikely that Disney will listen. Part of the company's strategy with Star Wars is to have everything (including books, comics and TV shows) form one cohesive, canon universe. For Disney to then turn around and authorize the publication of non-canon stories alongside new canon stories would muddy the waters the film company has spent the last three years attempting to clean up.
Good afternoon Lucasfilm. The fans would like a word! Please continue the #SWEU and #GiveUsLegends
Thank you! pic.twitter.com/1ekEFvfgsC— Give Us Legends (@GiveUsLegends) April 18, 2016
Still, it's admirable to see the fans of Give Us Legends organizing to have their voices heard. Perhaps their wish will come true. When it comes to Star Wars, stranger things have certainly happened.
