When I first learned that Disney planned to obliterate the Star Wars Expanded Universe in a way not so different from how the first Death Star annihilated Alderaan, I don't remember being upset. There was no disturbance in the Force: in fact, the opposite was closer to the truth.
You see, I never enjoyed all that much of the Expanded Universe, which mostly existed in book form but was also comprised of various video games and comics. For every cool addition it introduced to Star Wars canon, it seemed to have a knack for introducing far more negatives. There were exceptions, of course. I loved the X-Wing series. Knights of the Old Republic I and II are among some of my favorite games of all time. Here and there, I found aspects of the EU to love.
However, for every Knights of the Old Republic, there was a Masters of Tera Kasi. For every Heir to the Empire, there was a Darth Maul with robot legs (which is, bizarrely, still canon). It still baffles the mind that the character of Luuke is actually a real thing. Over the course of the EU's more than 20-year life-span, the bad stuff started to pile up.
So, when Disney announced that the EU would be rebranded "Legends" to distinguish it from new certified "canon" stories told outside of the films, I was actually relieved. No more EU stories would be published, though the old books would still remain in print under the Legends brand. Everything would make sense once again, and it would all be under one Star Wars banner. This is what Star Wars needed, I thought. A blank slate. A fresh starting point. A new hope.
Now, two years after the EU as fans knew it died, I realize I was wrong. Though the books, games and comics that made up the EU were far from perfect (believe me, some weird, weird stuff happens), for many years, they were the only new Star Wars stories being told. In the early 1990s, fans didn't know if a new Star Wars movie would ever be made. More than a few fans latched onto these new tales with a passion never before seen as a result. To many, the EU is Star Wars.
That was made clear recently when a group of passionate fans raised close to $5,000 in order to purchase a billboard in San Francisco, solely for the purpose of asking Disney and Lucasfilm to let the EU live on. These fans are as hardcore as they come. Not only are they willing to write personal messages about what the EU means to them on their group's website, but they have also put their money where their mouths are. These fans are willing to pay for new EU stories, if only Disney will allow them.
So, why not? Is there a real downside to having the old EU, or Legends, as it's now called, exist alongside the new canon material?
I would argue no, not really. If there is demand for more stories in that universe, why not supply it? All it means is more money for Disney. In all fairness, it's hard to gauge exactly how much demand there is for a continuation of the Legends storyline. While there is no doubt a substantial group of outspoken fans, one group is not enough to have a book (or series of books) made. However, it wouldn't be too difficult for Disney to test the waters, whether it be with surveys or simply by releasing one new piece of material to test interest in the idea.
If Disney and Lucasfilm have one argument for why the Legends line must remain untouched, it's likely to stem from simplicity. As it is now, with all prior EU books being rebranded Legends and all new material being official canon, it's relatively clear what is what. New readers diving into this new EU know exactly what's going on and don't have to worry about reading a decade's worth of prior material. It's easier for new fans to jump on board, and they don't have to worry about buying a new Star Wars book that "doesn't count" as part of canon.
There's some truth there. Publishing Star Wars material under two different labels, one a "what-if" timeline and the other official, could be confusing. However, it's not like major pop culture powerhouses haven't done it before. The DC and Marvel comic universes have long had multiple universes that readers have managed (for the most part) to keep straight. Longtime Marvel fans knew the Ultimate universe wasn't "the real" Marvel universe, but could still enjoy the stories being told there. Fans of DC's Injustice game and comics, where Superman becomes Emperor of Earth and murders the Joker, knows it's not the real Superman. It hasn't stopped Injustice from being one of DC's most popular comic books in recent memory.
Star Wars itself has a history of this as well. Almost since the EU began, there have been stories that haven't been official canon. Does the Star Wars Holiday Special ring a bell? Numerous games have long featured aspects that aren't official canon, such as alternate storylines that are determined by players in games like Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Heck, the ongoing MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic is still receiving story-driven expansions, all of them non-canon. Certain comics aren't considered official canon. There are plenty of examples to list.
Non-canon and canon stories have existed side by side since Star Wars began. Now, with the old EU clearly defined as the non-canon Legends, there is no reason it can't continue as long as the results would be profitable for Disney. After all, Disney is a business. It exists to make money, and the acquisition of Star Wars and Lucasfilm was done solely with that goal in mind. If the old EU can still bring in cash, the company could care less that it sits on store shelves alongside official stories.
Just having new Legend stories published doesn't mean fans can't also enjoy the new films and canon stories as well. The two aren't mutually exclusive. They can exist side by side, and the audience would no doubt overlap.
Only one argument for why Disney might not want to breathe new life into the EU remains: quality. As stated above, there were many aspects of the EU that weren't that great. Some of it was downright awful. Any fan will tell you that. Is it reason enough for it to die completely, for the story to end? Not when the new canon material is hardly any better. Disney's new canon expanded material began in the lead-up to The Force Awakens with Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: Aftermath. It was hardly groundbreaking, and in many ways, was just as bad, if not worse, than many of the lackluster EU stories that came before it. The book currently sits at a customer review rating of 2.6 out of 5 on Amazon.
Hardly a ringing endorsement, and not exactly a great excuse for why the old EU needed to end. Though Marvel's Star Wars comics have largely been exciting reads, they mostly focus on the era of the original trilogy. There are few stories being told during the prequels. No new stories are being told during the era of the Old Republic. Disney is playing it safe, which is something, regardless of the final product, the EU could never be accused of doing.
Even if Disney decides to shy away from printing new Legends stories set after Return of the Jedi to avoid conflict with its new canon stories, using Legends as a means to continue the tales of ancient Sith and the Old Republic would be welcome. Legends could be an avenue to explore a part of the Star Wars universe that Disney thus far seems content to ignore.
From now on, the EU will always stand outside of the Star Wars universe proper. That much is clear. It will never again be "real" Star Wars. However, any child can tell you that legends aren't real. They are stories, reminders of times long gone. That legends aren't real isn't the point. When the time comes, each generation adds to those legends, adding new twists and turns, new heroes and new villains.
The legends of Star Wars are no different, and deserve to live on in new stories. Legends, as they say, never die, and neither should the legends of the Star Wars universe that was.
