TheStar WarsExpanded Universe has been a much-loved part of the space opera franchise for decades, having technically spawned before evenA New Hope, with the novelization of that story released as a book prior to the movie’s release. Over the decades, the Expanded Universe covered anything not covered by the movie timeline, and even featured stories within the Original Trilogy time period.
Star Warsfans were split down the middle in opinion when Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd led to the vast majority ofStar WarsEU material being labeled as Legends. This effectively rebooted the entire Expanded Universe with a clean slate, with only the movies,Rebels, andThe Clone Warsstanding as canon. Since then, the newStar WarsExpanded Universe has featured dozens of books, hundreds of comic issues, and even games.
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Star Wars Legends: What’s Canon?
The original Expanded Universe had swathes of books, games, and comics. It covers times ranging from the Old Republic era, which took place tens of thousands of years before the Original Trilogy and contains some of the bestStar WarsLegends books, all the way to the New Jedi Order, which went as long as over a hundred years afterA New Hope. While fan opinion was mixed on the quality of the EU when considered as a whole, no fan can deny the memories that manyStar Warslovers had with the stories and series sustained along with the old EU’s extensive history.
That all changed when Disney acquired Lucasfilm and chose to essentially start with a clean slate, with only Lucas' Saga,The Clone Wars, andRebelsstarting off as canon. Fans who want to read the stories from Legends can still do so, but those who care about canon may want to stick to the new canon, and stay away from Legends material, particularly stories that contradict the new Disney canon stories. There are also greatStar WarsLegends gamessuch as the originalBattlefrontduology andThe Force Unleashedthat are worth playing even now.
Keep in mind that lots of Legends content gets recycled into canon even if it is slightly different. The best case is that of fan-favorite Grand Admiral Thrawn being reintroduced to Star Wars canon, this time during the Imperial Era (canon) rather than in the New Jedi Order era (Legends). Wookipedia has a greatStar WarsLegends comic timelineandStar WarsLegends book timelineto help fans keep the plethora of content straight in their heads.
New Canon Comics
Disney has not exactly slowed down in any of their entertainment divisions, with hundreds of canon comics produced since the acquisition in 2013. Fans can read the main Star Wars range, which originally covered the gap betweenA New Hope andThe Empire Strikes Back.It then relaunched in 2019 to cover the gap betweenThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi.
In addition to the main range, there are also limited series comics which focus on a shorter story, usually on one character such as Darth Vader or Darth Maul. These can be easier to jump into, as they are self-contained stories that are quicker to read than the main range. A common complaint was that Darth Vader’s power was nerfed in Legends, but since the Disney acquisition, the writers have gone to great lengths to giveamazing Darth Vader momentsin the canon comics.
New Canon Books
In addition to the comics, there is an array of Star Wars canon books that fans can read to get expansion on all time periods covered by the Saga. There are somebooks everyStar Warsfan should readin canon, even if a lot of them have been criticized unfavorably compared to the Legends books.
The range of canon books include two trilogies of a canonized Thrawn, which may interest fans who have read the original trilogy by Timothy Zahn back in the 90s. There is also the very popular Aftermath trilogy, which heavily features Empire Remnant infighting; the moment the New Republic is inaugurated; and even debuted characters such as Cobb Vanth, who would go on to star inThe Mandalorianand The Book of Boba Fett.
New Canon Games
Despite the sadness ofThe Force Unleashedbeing made Legends, Star Wars has continued to regularly release new games set in the universe across multiple platforms.BattlefrontandBattlefront 2are a canonized reboot of the original popular FPS series, andBattlefront 2has an enjoyable post-Endor story with lots of great moments for the original trilogy gang.
Star Wars: Squadronspresents itself as a challenging flight simulator which can be rage-inducing when playing Multiplayer, but it brings with it a visually stunning campaign based on the naval battles between the New Republic and the Empire.Fallen Ordertakes fans on a compelling story across Zeffo, Bracca, Dathomir, and Ilum in the role of Cal Kestis, a Padawan who survived Order 66 trying to hide in the early days of the Imperial Era. There’s a lot to love with the Star Wars games, and a lot of potential for its future to be even brighter.
The High Republic
The High Republic is a multimedia project spanning books, comics, and audio plays. Covering a previously-unseen part of the timeline, it centers on the Republic some 500 years beforeThe Phantom Menace, featuring a middle-aged Yoda to boot.
The High Republic has a relatively open playground in which to craft stories in and represents how an ancient franchise such as Star Wars can continue to be fresh and tell new stories.
The Star Wars Expanded Universe
Despite the decision to almost completely reset the canon of the Expanded Universe back in 2013,Star Warshave brought out an extremely impressive amount of books, comics, audio plays, and games. In addition toStar WarsTV shows such asThe Mandalorian,The Book of Boba Fett, andKenobi, fans are spoiled for choice in finding newStar Warscontent whenever they want. There’s sure to be plenty more in the future, giving fans countless avenues to explore this vast universe.
