“Which isn’t at all what I would have done with it”: George Lucas Has Always Despised One Thing about Star Wars Disney De-Canonized 10 years Ago

The Star Wars universe is one of the biggest ever with a rich tapestry of characters, planets, and stories. Just like the MCU or DC universe, Star Wars too has expanded to include several new stories, comic books, novels, and more. While fans of the franchise have pretty much considered everything canon of their own accord, George Lucas has had other ideas.

Way back, the Star Wars creator himself stated none of the expanded universes is part of the official Star Wars saga, a deed that Disney did when it purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012.

George Lucas Does Not Consider Star Wars Expanded Universe Canon

The Expanded Universe of the space opera saga is actually all the additional stories that were created outside of the original Star Wars movies. Including everything from books, comics, video games, and every other media that included the original and new characters and events from the movies.

Over the years, these stories and media have gained traction since they allowed fans of the franchise to explore the fictional world of Star Wars more. The stories and everything in the extended universe were believed to be part of the official canon until Disney came along and dismissed it all to allow them greater creative freedom.

While fans really despised Disney for the deed, George Lucas has for long stated that never really considered the extended universe part of his Star Wars saga.

I never thought of anything! And now there have been novels about the events after Episode IV, which isn’t at all what I would have done with it. The Star Wars story is really the tragedy of Darth Vader. That is the story. Once Vader dies, he doesn’t come back to life, the Emperor doesn’t get cloned and Luke doesn’t get married …

Stated the Flannelled one in an interview with Total Film in 2008 (via Cinema Blend), thus uncanonizing every little detail of the expanded universe way before Disney could officially do the honors.

George Lucas’s Star Wars Universe is a Separate Entity

Believing that continuity is for wimps (via NY Times) and that merchandising is just a way to make future movies financially possible (via Leonard Maltin), George Lucas does not believe that any part of the extended universe is part of his Star Wars saga but considers it a separate entity at best.

In an old interview, while talking about the expanded universe, Lucas remarked how he had never read any of the novels and considered them a different world altogether (see Medium and Tumblr).

I don’t read that stuff. I haven’t read any of the novels. I don’t know anything about that world. That’s a different world than my world.… When I said [other people] could make their own Star Wars stories, we decided that, like Star Trek, we would have two universes: My universe and then this other one.

Also stating that he had limited other writers to not touch certain parts of his saga, George Lucas also advised fans to not take those things seriously. And so while fans love the expanded universe, Lucas agrees with Disney despite hating them for destroying his universe (via THR) and does not consider any part of the extended saga as official canon.

The Star Wars franchise can be streamed on Disney+.