Clearing up the "Star Wars" Timeline
Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, here I am talking about Star Wars again, but to be honest, there's a lot to discuss with the universe of Star Wars. This is a franchise that has spanned over forty years of entertainment, with several books, comics, video games, and TV shows to fill out the universe outside of just the movies. Heck, there's still a lot of supplemental material being produced even to this day. This is a franchise that I have loved ever since I was a kid and they announced the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy, of which I only saw two of them in the theater (Sadly, I missed out on Return of the Jedi). However, what elements are part of the story and which ones aren't? Well today, I decided to break down the official timeline of Star Wars to help clear out some of the confusion.
It should be noted that for years, George Lucas had two separate forms of canon in mind with Star Wars. One of which was what he referred to a "G-canon," which only encompassed the (at the time) six movies, as well as The Clone Wars cartoon. All other material, including comics, novels, and video games were part of the official canon, but they weren't what George considered as "G-canon." Now this seems a bit too confusing, I admit, which is why in 2013, after Disney had acquired Lucasfilm the previous year, Disney announced that they were cleaning up the Star Wars canon.
Starting with the announcement, Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed that the six movies and The Clone Wars cartoon would be the only previously released Star Wars material that would be considered as official canon. All other previously released material, from comics to novels to video games, were all part of what would be referred to as "Legends" continuity. From a marketing standpoint, this move made sense, as it freed up any filmmakers working on the Sequel Trilogy from being forced to directly adapt any post-Return of the Jedi novels to the big screen. It was also confirmed that all future releases, including the then-upcoming films and any then-upcoming TV series, comic book, video game, and novel, would be part of the official canon as well. So, for those who have played the recent Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game, the story and characters from the game are officially canon with characters from the movies. It should also be noted that Disney did state that any characters, vehicles, and other elements from "Legends" could be made canon if anyone working on a Star Wars project was interested in featuring such elements. That's how we were able to get things like Grand Admiral Thrawn as a villain on the Star Wars Rebels animated series, or Darth Bane, the Sith Lord who created the "Rule of Two," to appear on the animated series The Clone Wars.
So, to clear things up now, the officially canon Star Wars timeline includes the following: all nine Episode films, both of the Anthology films, The Clone Wars animated movie and TV series, the Rebels TV series, the Resistance TV series, the Disney+ show The Mandalorian, both of EA's Battlefront games, the Jedi: Fallen Order game, the elements feature at the "Galaxy's Edge" attraction at Disney's theme parks, all novels released after Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney, and all of the comics published by Marvel after Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney. In addition, all future material released down the road, whether it's movies, comics, novels, video games, or TV/Disney+ shows, will all be considered canon as well.
Hopefully that clears thing up a bit. But, if you want to avoid a lot of this confusion, that I suggest just sticking with the nine Episode films and both Anthology films. Anyway, I really wanted to talks about this, because Star Wars really means a lot to me. That and I just finished playing through the Jedi: Fallen Order video game, and the game is just awesome. Well, until next time this is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time, and may the Force be with you. Always.
It should be noted that for years, George Lucas had two separate forms of canon in mind with Star Wars. One of which was what he referred to a "G-canon," which only encompassed the (at the time) six movies, as well as The Clone Wars cartoon. All other material, including comics, novels, and video games were part of the official canon, but they weren't what George considered as "G-canon." Now this seems a bit too confusing, I admit, which is why in 2013, after Disney had acquired Lucasfilm the previous year, Disney announced that they were cleaning up the Star Wars canon.
Starting with the announcement, Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed that the six movies and The Clone Wars cartoon would be the only previously released Star Wars material that would be considered as official canon. All other previously released material, from comics to novels to video games, were all part of what would be referred to as "Legends" continuity. From a marketing standpoint, this move made sense, as it freed up any filmmakers working on the Sequel Trilogy from being forced to directly adapt any post-Return of the Jedi novels to the big screen. It was also confirmed that all future releases, including the then-upcoming films and any then-upcoming TV series, comic book, video game, and novel, would be part of the official canon as well. So, for those who have played the recent Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order video game, the story and characters from the game are officially canon with characters from the movies. It should also be noted that Disney did state that any characters, vehicles, and other elements from "Legends" could be made canon if anyone working on a Star Wars project was interested in featuring such elements. That's how we were able to get things like Grand Admiral Thrawn as a villain on the Star Wars Rebels animated series, or Darth Bane, the Sith Lord who created the "Rule of Two," to appear on the animated series The Clone Wars.
So, to clear things up now, the officially canon Star Wars timeline includes the following: all nine Episode films, both of the Anthology films, The Clone Wars animated movie and TV series, the Rebels TV series, the Resistance TV series, the Disney+ show The Mandalorian, both of EA's Battlefront games, the Jedi: Fallen Order game, the elements feature at the "Galaxy's Edge" attraction at Disney's theme parks, all novels released after Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney, and all of the comics published by Marvel after Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney. In addition, all future material released down the road, whether it's movies, comics, novels, video games, or TV/Disney+ shows, will all be considered canon as well.
Hopefully that clears thing up a bit. But, if you want to avoid a lot of this confusion, that I suggest just sticking with the nine Episode films and both Anthology films. Anyway, I really wanted to talks about this, because Star Wars really means a lot to me. That and I just finished playing through the Jedi: Fallen Order video game, and the game is just awesome. Well, until next time this is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time, and may the Force be with you. Always.
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