Star Wars has been expanded to media other than the original films. This spin-off material is licensed and moderated by Lucasfilm, though during his involvement with the franchise Star Wars creator George Lucas reserved the right to both draw from and contradict it in his own works. Such derivative works have been produced concurrently with, between, and after the original, prequel, and sequel trilogies, as well as the spin-off films and television series. Commonly explored Star Wars media include books, comic books, and video games, though other forms such as audio dramas have also been produced.
With the exception of the animated The Clone Wars TV series, non-film material produced prior to April 2014 was collectively known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU). Lucasfilm, now under Disney, later rebranded the Expanded Universe as Star Wars Legends and declared it non-canonical to the franchise. Most works produced after April 25, 2014 are part of the official canon as defined by Lucasfilm, although a handful of Legends media has still been released after said date.
The first Star Wars spinoff material was Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976), the novelization of the 1977 film. Lucas later commissioned Alan Dean Foster, who ghostwrote the novelization, to write a sequel, which resulted in Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978). Lucas originally intended to use this as the basis for a potential low-budget sequel to Star Wars, but when it became one of the most successful films of all time, Lucas decided to write his own story for the film sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980). [1] While this was in production, Lucas approved the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), with which he had limited involvement.
Running from April 1977 to May 1986, [2] [3] [4] the Star Wars comic book series from Marvel Comics met with such strong sales that former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter credited it with saving Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. [5] The series became one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980. [6] An adaptation of the third theatrical film, Return of the Jedi , was released as a separate four-issue limited series (1983–1984). [7]
Two novel trilogies with original storylines were written, The Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley (1979–1980), [8] and 1983's The Adventures of Lando Calrissian by L. Neil Smith. [9] [10] Daley also wrote radio dramatizations of the original trilogy, which aired in 1981, 1983, and 1996.
The first Star Wars electronic game was released in 1979 by Kenner, [11] followed by a handful of Atari and Parker Brothers video games in the early 1980s, mainly adaptations of film scenes.
Two spin-off television films focusing on the life of the Ewoks, introduced in Return of the Jedi , aired in 1984 and 1985. The furry creatures were also the subject of an American/Canadian animated television series produced by Nelvana, which ran for two seasons between 1985 and 1986. A sister series, Droids , features the further adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO. In 1985, Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint published a bi-monthly Ewoks tie-in comic, which ran for two years, and in 1986, published an eight-issue Droids series. [12] The two series featured a crossover storyline. [13]
The Star Tours ride was opened at Disney Parks in 1987 to commemorate the saga's 10th anniversary.
Following the series' 10th anniversary, the release of Star Wars spin-off media was largely halted. In 1987, the fan newsletter Bantha Tracks was absorbed by the official Lucasfilm magazine, which focused on the company's projects outside of Star Wars. [10] Some fans feared that the franchise had come to an end, and the period between 1987 and 1991 has been called the "Dark Times." [10]
There were some bright spots in this era, however. In 1987, West End Games began publishing Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game , and the subsequent ancillary role-playing game material such as sourcebooks, gamebooks, and adventure modules. These have been called "the first publications to expand greatly beyond what was known from the vintage era of the movies," and would serve as a resource for a number of franchise novelists. [14]
The lack of new Star Wars material ended with the 1991 release of Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire . [10] Heir to the Empire, which reached #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, [15] began what would become a large collection of works set before, between, and especially after the original films. [16] StarWars.com wrote in 2014 that the novel "jumpstarted a publishing program that endures to this day and formalized the Expanded Universe". [16] It introduced, among others, the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade, and was followed by the sequels Dark Force Rising (1992) and The Last Command (1993). [16] [17] The Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing the Star Wars franchise. [16] [18] [19] In The Secret History of Star Wars, Michael Kaminski suggests this renewed interest was a factor in Lucas's decision to create the prequel trilogy. [19]
Around this same time, the comics license was transferred to Dark Horse Comics, who launched a number of series set after the original film trilogy, including the popular Dark Empire sequence (1991–1995) by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. [20] The comic launched months after the first Thrawn novel and was a sequel to those novels; it notably resurrected the film characters Emperor Palpatine and Boba Fett. Zahn was critical of the concept of resurrecting Emperor Palpatine through cloned bodies, feeling it undermined and contradicted the meaning of the ending of Return of the Jedi. [21]
The Jedi Prince series of young-reader novels, released between 1992 and 1993, depicts Luke, Leia, and Han about a year after Return of the Jedi. [22] The Truce at Bakura (1993) depicts the immediate aftermath of the aforementioned film. [22] In 1993, Dark Horse published Tales of the Jedi , expanding the fictional universe to the time of the Old Republic, approximately 4,000 years before the films. Later, the series spawned the Knights of the Old Republic computer roleplaying games, which led to many new productions set during the Old Republic era, such as the Bane Trilogy and the Knights of the Old Republic comic line. [23]
In 1994, Lucas Licensing's Allan Kausch and Sue Rostoni discussed the relationship between Lucas' creations and the derivative works by other authors:
Gospel, or canon as we refer to it, includes the screenplays, the films, the radio dramas and the novelizations. These works spin out of George Lucas' original stories, the rest are written by other writers. However, between us, we've read everything, and much of it is taken into account in the overall continuity. The entire catalog of published works comprises a vast history—with many off-shoots, variations and tangents—like any other well-developed mythology. [24]
The 1996 Steve Perry novel Shadows of the Empire , set in the as-yet-unexplored time period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, was part of a multimedia campaign that also included a comic book series and video game. [25] [26] The multimedia project was largely meant to reinvigorate the franchise ahead of the prequel trilogy, along with Lucas's 1997 Special Editions of the original trilogy. [27] Lucas incorporated elements of the Expanded Universe into the Special Editions; for example, Coruscant, the New Republic capital planet created by Zahn in the Thrawn trilogy, made its film debut in the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi , [16] [28] before being featured more heavily in the prequel trilogy. An eponymous comic book series, later subtitled Republic, launched in 1998 and introduced Ki-Adi-Mundi ahead of his appearance in the films. [29]
In 1999, Star Wars book publishing moved from Bantam Spectra to Del Rey Books. A new series set between 25 and 30 years after the original films, The New Jedi Order (1999–2003), was written by multiple authors and introduced a new threat: the Yuuzhan Vong, a powerful alien race attempting to invade and conquer the entire galaxy. [30] [31] The first novel in the series, R. A. Salvatore's Vector Prime , killed off popular character Chewbacca. [32] [lower-alpha 1]
Before 1999, the bulk of Expanded Universe storytelling explored the time periods either after Return of the Jedi or long before A New Hope (e.g. the Tales of the Jedi series). The time period shortly before the original trilogy (including the rise of the Galactic Empire and the personal histories of Anakin Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine) was left open for Lucas to develop in the form of a prequel trilogy, which began with Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999).
The character Aayla Secura, introduced in 2000 in the Republic comic book series, appears in Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). [33] [34] The 2003 animated series Clone Wars and various spin-off books, comics, and video games explore the titular conflict in more detail leading up to Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). [35] [36] Ahead of the film's release, Lucas announced a 3D "continuation" of Clone Wars, [37] which was released as the animated film The Clone Wars (2008) and a television series of the same name (2008–2020). [38] These reveal that Anakin had a Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano, during this period. [39] Various characters seen only briefly in the films or in other spin-off material are featured in more depth. At this time, Lucas denied any plans to ever make a Star Wars sequel trilogy. [40] [41]
As of 2004, over 1,100 Star Wars titles had been published, including novels, comics, non-fiction, and magazines. Then-president of Lucas Licensing, Howard Roffman, estimated that there were more than 65 million Star Wars books in print. He said, "The books are a way of extending the fantasy of Star Wars. The movies have had a really profound effect on a couple of generations. Star Wars has become a cultural touchpoint, and our fans are avidly interested in exploring more stories." [31]
Originally, Lucasfilm tracked the narrative content of the Expanded Universe in story bibles, [42] alongside official reference books such as A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (1984/1994) and the Star Wars Encyclopedia (1998). In 2000, LucasArts lead tester Leland Chee was hired as Continuity Database Administrator for Lucas Licensing, and developed a database of franchise continuity based in part on 1998's encyclopedic Star Wars: Behind the MagicCD-ROM. [lower-alpha 2] The database came to be known as the Holocron, [42] [44] [45] [46] a term used within the Star Wars universe for "ancient repositories of knowledge and wisdom". [47] The Holocron consists of over 55,000 entries for franchise characters, locations, species, and vehicles. [42]
Lucas Licensing's managing editor Sue Rostoni said in 2001, "Our goal is to present a continuous and unified history of the Star Wars galaxy, insofar as that history does not conflict with, or undermine the meaning of Mr. Lucas's Star Wars saga of films and screenplays." [48] Lucasfilm's director of fan relations Steve Sansweet clarified:
When it comes to absolute canon, the real story of Star Wars, you must turn to the films themselves—and only the films. Even novelizations are interpretations of the film, and while they are largely true to George Lucas' vision (he works quite closely with the novel authors), the method in which they are written does allow for some minor differences ... The further one branches away from the movies, the more interpretation and speculation come into play. LucasBooks works diligently to keep the continuing Star Wars expanded universe cohesive and uniform, but stylistically, there is always room for variation. [49]
In August 2005, Lucas said of the Expanded Universe:
I haven't read any of the novels. I don't know anything about that world ... But I do try to keep it consistent ... if I come up with a name or something else, I look it up and see if it has already been used. When I said [other people] could make their own Star Wars stories, we decided that ... we would have two universes: My universe and then this other one. They try to make their universe as consistent with mine as possible, but obviously they get enthusiastic and want to go off in other directions. [50]
Regarding the Holocron database in 2012, Chee said: "What sets Star Wars apart from other franchises is that we develop a singular continuity across all forms of media, whether it be the films, TV series, video games, novels and comics, and the Holocron is a key component to Lucasfilm being able to do this." [51] The Holocron was divided into five levels of canon (in order of precedence):
In October 30, 2012, the Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for US$4.06 billion (equivalent to about $5.39B in 2023). [55] [56] [44] Subsequently, Lucasfilm formed the "Lucasfilm Story Group", which was established to keep track of and define the canon and unify the films, comics, and other media. [57] [58] Among its members are Chee, Kiri Hart, and Pablo Hidalgo. [59] To prevent the planned sequel trilogy from being beholden to and restrained by the plotlines of the Expanded Universe works, the choice was made to discard that continuity. [60] [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 3]
On April 25, 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the Expanded Universe material as Star Wars Legends and declared it non-canonical to the franchise. The company's focus would be shifted towards a restructured Star Wars canon based on new material. [60] [63] [64] Chee said in a 2014 Twitter post that a "primary goal" of the story group would be to replace the previous hierarchical canon (of the Holocron) with one cohesive one. [58] However, the final season of The Clone Wars, which was released in 2020, [65] contradicted aspects of the 2016 canon novel Ahsoka . The next year, The Clone Wars spin-off series The Bad Batch contradicted canon elements of the 2015 Kanan comic book series. The Bad Batch executive producer Jennifer Corbett explained that "Everything we did was for a reason and it might not match 100% but it's sort of just wanting to honor what existed but also give another take on it in this story." [66]
In its 2014 announcement, Lucasfilm explained that the only preexisting works to be considered canonical within the franchise would be the primary episodic films and the 2008 The Clone Wars film and TV series. [67] [lower-alpha 4] The announcement called these works "the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align." [60] [63] It was also made clear that a planned Star Wars sequel trilogy, and subsequent works developed within the restructured canon, would not be based on Legends material but could possibly draw from it. [60] [63] [69] The first new canonical novel was A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller, published in September 2014, [70] acting as a prologue to the animated television series Star Wars Rebels , which was released a month later. [71] Marvel began publishing new Star Wars comic book series in January 2015, [72] [73] [74] and the Journey to Star Wars publishing initiative included books and comics tying in to the sequel trilogy films.
The first sequel trilogy film, The Force Awakens , was released in December 2015. [75] There was some minor fan backlash against the restructured canon, with one group successfully campaigning to buy a billboard pleading for Lucasfilm to continue the original non-canonical Expanded Universe separately from the canon. [76] Rebels supervising director Dave Filoni reintroduced popular Legends character Thrawn into the canon in the 2016 third season of Rebels. [33] Timothy Zahn was hired to write new canonical novels about the character. [77] [78] [79] Since co-creating The Clone Wars, Filoni has followed Lucas (who incorporated Expanded Universe elements into the Special Editions, prequels, and The Clone Wars) in incorporating multiple spin-off elements into his series. [33] [80] Some cancelled The Clone Wars episodes were adapted into books and comics in The Clone Wars Legacy multimedia project.
After The Force Awakens, multiple films were released, including the anthology films Rogue One (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), as well as the second and third sequel trilogy films, The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Dozens of novels, comics published by Marvel and IDW, and games like Battlefront II (2017) were released. [81] Additionally, the animated series Resistance , set in the sequel trilogy era, premiered in late 2018 and ran until early 2020. [82]
The Mandalorian , a post-Return of the Jedi live-action series written by Jon Favreau premiered in late 2019 on the Disney streaming service Disney+. [83] In early 2020, a final season of The Clone Wars animated series debuted on the streaming service. [65]
In February 2020, it was announced that a new line of books and comics, labeled The High Republic , would begin publishing starting in August. The line takes place 200 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace and will not overlap any films or series currently planned for production. [84]
In December 2020, multiple live-action series were announced for Disney+, including Obi-Wan Kenobi , Andor , Lando , three Mandalorian spin-offs, and The Acolyte (set during the High Republic). [85] [86] [87] On April 2, 2021, several legacy Star Wars films and series were added to Disney+. [88] The Bad Batch debuted on May 4. [89]
Multiple comics relaunched in 2020, moving to the era between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. [90] [91] [92]
The Star Wars Legends fictional universe spans multiple eras. The names, symbols, and dates of the publishing eras were first introduced in October 2000 [93] and were refined [94] up to February 2015: [95]
Star Wars is an American epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media, including television series, video games, novels, comic books, theme park attractions, and themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe. Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
LandoCalrissian is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is introduced in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as a friend of Han Solo and the administrator of Cloud City on the planet Bespin. Prior to the events of the film, Lando made a career as a gambler, con artist, playboy, mining engineer, and businessman, and was the owner of the Millennium Falcon until losing the ship to Han in a bet. In the film, when Cloud City is threatened by the Galactic Empire, Lando reluctantly betrays Han to Darth Vader, but later helps Han's friends escape from the Empire. In Return of the Jedi (1983), after becoming a general in the Rebel Alliance, Lando helps rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt and leads the attack on the second Death Star.
Count Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the prequel film trilogy, first appearing in Attack of the Clones (2002) and then returning in Revenge of the Sith (2005). He is portrayed by Christopher Lee in both films, and is voiced by Corey Burton in most of the video games and animated productions in which he appears. The animated productions include the series Clone Wars (2003–2005), The Clone Wars, and Tales of the Jedi (2022). Lee voices Dooku in the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars. Dooku also appears in novels and comics.
Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. She appears in the now non-canon Legends series as the wife of Luke Skywalker and mother of Ben Skywalker. She has been voiced by Heidi Shannon, Edie Mirman and Kath Soucie in various Star Wars video games.
Grand Admiral Thrawn is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He first appeared in what came to be known as the Thrawn trilogy of novels (1991–1993) by Timothy Zahn. An Imperial military leader and a member of the Chiss race, Thrawn leads remnants of the scattered Galactic Empire in the aftermath of its fall.
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the original 1977 Star Wars film as the commander of the Death Star, a gigantic space station built by the Galactic Empire. Tarkin is portrayed by Peter Cushing in Star Wars. Tarkin also appears in the films Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One, and in the animated series The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch. He is featured in the 2014 novel Tarkin, which details his backstory and his rise to power within the Empire. In 2006, the entertainment website IGN called Tarkin "one of the most formidable villains" in Star Wars history.
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It has been a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios since 2012 and is best known for creating and producing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as its leadership in developing special effects, sound, and computer animation for films.
Timothy Zahn is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He is known best for his prolific collection of Star Wars books, chiefly the Thrawn trilogy, and has published several other series of sci-fi and fantasy novels of his own original creation, in addition to many works of short fiction.
Coruscant is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It was first described in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. The planet made its first on-screen appearance in a scene added to Return of the Jedi for its 1997 re-release. It has gone on to become an important location in the Star Wars universe and appears frequently in Star Wars media. In-universe, Coruscant is a politically and strategically important planet, serving as the capital and seat of government for the Republic and Empire, as well as the headquarters of the Jedi Order. It is typically depicted as a bustling, yet highly stratified planet-spanning metropolis. Throughout the city's centuries-long development, new city blocks were built on top of old ones, forming levels. Coruscant has 5127 levels, with the 5127th being the wealthiest and the 1st being the poorest.
The Clone Wars is a fictional conflict in the Star Wars franchise by George Lucas. Though mentioned briefly in the first Star Wars film, the war itself was not depicted until Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). The Clone Wars are also the setting for three eponymous projects: a 2D animated series (2003–2005), a 3D film (2008), and a 3D animated series. They have featured in numerous Star Wars books and games.
Yavin is a fictional planet in the Star Wars galaxy. It first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars and is depicted as a large red gas giant with an extensive satellite system of moons. The hidden military base of the Rebel Alliance is located on its fourth moon, Yavin 4.
Star Wars: Clone Wars is an American animated television miniseries developed and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network Studios for Cartoon Network. Set in the Star Wars universe, specifically between the Star Wars prequel trilogy films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, it is amongst the first of many works to explore the Clone Wars. The show follows the actions of various prequel trilogy characters, notably Jedi and clone troopers, in their war against the droid armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Sith.
Dark Empire is a Star Wars comic book metaseries produced by Dark Horse Comics. It consists of a six-issue limited series written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy, followed by a second six-issue limited series by Veitch and Kennedy, followed in turn by a two-issue limited series written by Veitch and drawn by Jim Baikie. The initial series is notable for being one of the first Star Wars comics to be produced by Dark Horse, which retained the comic rights to the franchise for over two decades.
The Thrawn trilogy, also known as the Heir to the Empire trilogy, is a trilogy of novels set in the Star Wars universe, written by Timothy Zahn between 1991 and 1993. The first book marked the end of a notable drought of new Star Wars material over a four-year period, between the 10th anniversary of the original 1977 film's release and the release of Heir to the Empire (1991).
The term expanded universe, sometimes called an extended universe, is generally used to denote the "extension" of a media franchise with other media, generally comics and original novels. This typically involves new stories for existing characters already developed within the franchise, but in some cases entirely new characters and complex mythology are developed. This is not necessarily the same as an adaptation, which is a retelling of the same story that may or may not adhere to the accepted canon. It is contrasted with a sequel that merely continues the previous narrative in a linear sequence. Nearly every media franchise with a committed fan base has some form of expanded universe.
Star Wars comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film Star Wars. Marvel Comics launched its original series in 1977, beginning with a six-issue comic adaptation of the film and running for 107 issues, including an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel also released an adaptation of Return of the Jedi and spin-offs based on Droids and Ewoks. A self-titled comic strip ran in American newspapers between 1979 and 1984. Blackthorne Publishing released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988.
Darth Maul, later known simply as Maul, is a character in the Star Wars franchise. He first appeared in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace as a powerful Sith Lord and Darth Sidious' first apprentice. Though seemingly killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of the film, Darth Maul returned in the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Star Wars creator George Lucas had intended for the resurrected Maul to serve as the main antagonist of the sequel film trilogy, but these plans were abandoned when Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. The character nonetheless reappeared in the 2014 animated series Star Wars Rebels and the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story, voiced again by Witwer; Park physically reprised the role in Solo. Since his initial defeat in The Phantom Menace, Maul has become an independent criminal mastermind and endured as Obi-Wan's archenemy.
Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the prequel trilogy as a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi High Council during the final years of the Galactic Republic. He is portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in all three prequel films. Windu also appears in the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars, the television series of the same name, and in novels, comics, and video games.
Padmé Amidala is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. She first appeared in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace as the teenage queen of the fictional planet Naboo. In the following two films of the prequel trilogy, Padmé becomes a member of the Galactic Senate and secretly marries Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight. Anakin's fear of losing Padmé drives him toward the dark side of the Force, which results in his transformation into Darth Vader. Padmé eventually dies after giving birth to the twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Natalie Portman portrays Padmé in all three prequel films. In addition to films, Padmé appears in animated series, novels, comics and video games.
Star Wars: Thrawn is a Star Wars novel by Timothy Zahn, published on April 11, 2017, by Del Rey Books. It chronicles the origins of Grand Admiral Thrawn, a popular character originating from the Star Wars Legends line of works, which were declared non-canon to the franchise after Disney redefined Star Wars continuity in April 2014. The novel was announced in July 2016 alongside news that the character Thrawn would be reintroduced into the Star Wars franchise on the 3D CGI animated television series Star Wars Rebels.
Citations
In the most conservative terms, it is inarguable that the success of the Star Wars comics was a significant factor in Marvel's survival through a couple of very difficult years, 1977 and 1978. In my mind, the truth is stated in the title of this piece.
The industry's top seller? We don't have complete information from our Circulation Scavenger Hunt for the years 1979 and 1980, but a very strong case is building for Star Wars as the industry's top-selling comic book in 1979 and its second-place seller (behind Amazing Spider-Man) in 1980.