Written by C.D. Ambion
Lucasfilm will incorporate more of the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
In 2017’s The Last Jedi, “Let the past die” was uttered.
However, it appears the past is the key to the future of the franchise itself.
With dwindling returns since the sequel trilogy ended in 2019, Star Wars has looked to its past to continue the franchise.
This path began with The Mandalorian.
The Disney Plus series is in current production for its third season.
The Mandalorian is building off the appearance of Luke Skywalker who picked up the baby Yoda, Grogu, to begin his training.
In Marvel’s current comic books, which are now all considered canon, it seems Luke Skywalker’s hand that was severed by Darth Vader in the cloud city of Bespin comes up again.
Curiously, this is a story angle not picked up by The Rise of Skywalker movie.
Nevertheless, this artifact has been the center of many stories in the EU, namely Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel Heir to the Empire.
In April 2014, Lucasfilm removed Heir to the Empire and other Star Wars books and comics from canon.
The company rebranded them as Star Wars Legends.
That was then.
Lucasfilm To Incorporate More Of Star Wars Expanded Universe
Image: Dark Horse Comics
Going forward, the Star Wars franchise uses the past to blast to the future. This will include more from the Expanded Universe.
Marvel’s current Darth Vader comic-book series is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Vader is in a conflict with his master, Emperor Palpatine.
Palpatine seriously beat Vader on Mustafar; moreover, he gave him a series of challenges such as fighting a telepathic, dark side monster.
In one scene, Vader encounters several vats with bodies in them.
He sees one vat with a floating hand.
Darth Vader No. 11 has a panel devoted to the severed hand which sort of tells us its impending importance.
Luke Skywalker lost that hand in a duel with Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.
In the Thrawn trilogy, that hand was utilized to create a clone of Luke Skywalker.
In other words, it’s from the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
The clone was named Luuke.With Luke Skywalker’s triumphant return at the finale of The Mandalorian, could the road to Mara Jade be far behind?
After all, Grand Admiral Thrawn was mentioned; he and Jade were important parts of Heir to the Empire.
In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Jade became Luke Skywalker’s wife.
Not only that, it was Jade who defeated Luuke.
The clues are slowly piling up.
Lucasfilm To Incorporate More Of Star Wars Expanded Universe
Image: Marvel Comics
While a comic book serves as no preview of an upcoming movie, they share the same continuity.
Ahsoka Tano is another Disney Plus project which further drops hints at more of the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
After all, Tano dropped the name of Grand Admiral Thrawn in The Mandalorian.
The plot of her show is still unknown but the art on the title card reflects the style of the Veil of the Force.
This was “the world between worlds” seen on Rebels season 4, Episode 13; it’s a very powerful place that could alter time and events.
Clearly executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have an end game planned for this project which could drastically alter the entire fabric of Star Wars history.
For months there has been a lot of talk of Sebastian Stan being cast as Luke Skywalker.
This happened frequently during The Falcon and Winter Soldier run on Disney Plus.
In fact, for years it has been known that Sebastian Stan and Mark Hamill have been ribbing each other as his “other son.”
Perhaps Stan could play both Luke Skywalker and Luuke? Luke Skywalker’s dramatic entrance in The Mandalorian destroyed the Internet.
From a dramatic standpoint alone, there’s too much potential there beyond a nostalgic high.
I can’t imagine them fast-forwarding Grogu’s training where fans can’t see Luke Skywalker training him.
That would be a cheat, disappointing millions of fans who’ve just returned to Star Wars.
And, let’s face it, Stan as Luke/Luuke is money at the bank.
In March, Stan told Good Morning America that:
If Mark Hamill calls me personally to tell me that he feels inclined to share this role with me then I’ll believe it.
On March 10, Geekosity scooped that Stan is eyed for Luke Skywalker.
Producers will cherry pick from non-canonical stories and add to them.
The result will be a streamlined version of Luke Skywalker’s missing years.
No negotiations haven’t begun yet; however, there have been talks of Luke Skywalker being in multiple projects for the streamer.
In addition, Karen Gillan was rumored as Jade.
Lucasfilm Wants To Mine The Expanded Universe
Image: Los Angeles Times
She looks the part and can truly sell a fight.
The red hair seals it.
It seems all of the pieces of the puzzle is coming together as we see the dramatis personae of Heir to the Empire showing up.
Then there is the mystery of Kevin Feige’s secret Star Wars movie.
Feige is a huge Star Wars buff, especially its rich past.
In the MCU, Feige mixes and matches Marvel Comics history.
Could he do the same with the Star Wars Expanded Universe?
The pieces of the puzzle seem to be coming together slowly.
The polarized reactions to the last two movies in the recent trilogy hurt the franchise.
On the other hand, the massive push by The Mandalorian triggered a resurgence. You can see where the winds are blowing.
On November 2019, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy dismissed the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
When comparing to the MCU, Kennedy felt that Star Wars didn’t have the equivalent in literary material to adapt new stories from.
She explained that:
Every one of these movies is a particularly hard nut to crack. There’s no source material. We don’t have comic books. we don’t have 800-page novels, we don’t have anything other than passionate storytellers who get together and talk about what the next iteration might be. We go through a really normal development process that everybody else does.
The fans howled.
At the time, this seemed to be the loss of hope for the Star Wars Expanded Universe being canon again.
Thrawn changed that.
In the end, the past could be what saves Star Wars.
Related: ‘The Mandalorian’ Leading to Star Wars ‘Heir to the Empire’ Story Arc
