The Big Picture: Continuity Wars
- Thread starter MovieBob
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Other than Chewbacca's death(and even then that's a maybe), everything you just listed can more or less be ignored.faefrost said:
Ignored != invalidated.
The Vong thing is past. So is Thrawn and even Mara Jade. Assuming that the OT cast are not going to be the primary focus of the script(and if they are, you can count on the movies sucking as much as a modern Rolling Stones concert), the EU can remain as it stands without the movies even mentioning them, and everything would be fine. The only thing that would truly screw the EU pooch would be if the new trilogy focused on the Skywalker/Solo legacy and replaced Ben and Jaina as the characters.
As things stand in the EU, both the Galactic Alliance and the Empire are in a state of change if not outright chaos. The last big galaxy spanning story arc is over and done with, leaving things open for practically any sort of story. There are 2 potential groups of Bads that could be used, but the Fate of the Jedi story left things uncertain enough that both or neither of them could be relevant in the near future.
The slate is about as blank as one could ask for, short of Disney saying "Nope. Ben is a stupid name. Make new characters." It could not be easier to retain creative freedom without giving the big finger to the EU fans.
People assume that a story is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like aaaaaaaaaaaaa..............MULITIVERSES!!! YEAH! let's go with that.
one thing happened in one universe and another universe that is almost the some something entirely different happened.
one thing happened in one universe and another universe that is almost the some something entirely different happened.
Split thoughts.
I find that the post-film EU is a messy battleground of different narratives that don't make much sense. As MovieBob mentions a lot of it feels like fanfiction, though there are some gems lying around.
The pre-film EU, however, seems to be better, on average. Perhaps because they had to deal with entirely original concepts and characters, rather than using characters from the films and established scenarious.
In this new continuity I'd like to see references to the better parts of the old one, such as Admiral Thrawn and the Solo children, and I'd certainly like the older stuff to become more cemented in canon, but I could do without the endless parade of super-weapons, the Yuuzhan Vong and the myriad godlike force creatures that pop up occasionally.
I find that the post-film EU is a messy battleground of different narratives that don't make much sense. As MovieBob mentions a lot of it feels like fanfiction, though there are some gems lying around.
The pre-film EU, however, seems to be better, on average. Perhaps because they had to deal with entirely original concepts and characters, rather than using characters from the films and established scenarious.
In this new continuity I'd like to see references to the better parts of the old one, such as Admiral Thrawn and the Solo children, and I'd certainly like the older stuff to become more cemented in canon, but I could do without the endless parade of super-weapons, the Yuuzhan Vong and the myriad godlike force creatures that pop up occasionally.
Which has a timeline that contains the sentence "The resurrection of Ganon" WAAAYYY too many times.chickenhound said:
I certainly understand why they would want to avoid the EU stuff. However, I think overwriting it is the wrong approach.
Imo, they should have just jumped a few centuries to get past the bulk of the currently established lore. That does a few of things:
1) It preserves any current canon that fans may be attached to so they don't have to feel slighted when their favorite story gets invalidated.
2) Allows you to reference characters and events people care about without all the baggage of portraying them "incorrectly". People respond much better to the occassional easter egg than they do to messing up something they already have a clear personal view of.
3) Gives you new available elements of backstory to add depth to your tale. That's one of the reasons (granted, among many) that the original trilogy worked so much better: The characters, the factions, the entire galaxy, all had a history that shaped it. And by leaving it relatively vague, we had to fill the gaps with our own imaginations and, as a result, become more invested.
4) Makes the transition to a new vision much more palatable since fans can justify the changes as part of the tech evolution over time. This holds for any CGI and special effects enhancements as well (another thing the prequels did wrong).
Yeah, we probably shouldn't hold to continuity as much as we do, but we do. And, imo, with Lucas out of the way, there is really no reason to continue to shit on the fans love of that continuity.
Imo, they should have just jumped a few centuries to get past the bulk of the currently established lore. That does a few of things:
1) It preserves any current canon that fans may be attached to so they don't have to feel slighted when their favorite story gets invalidated.
2) Allows you to reference characters and events people care about without all the baggage of portraying them "incorrectly". People respond much better to the occassional easter egg than they do to messing up something they already have a clear personal view of.
3) Gives you new available elements of backstory to add depth to your tale. That's one of the reasons (granted, among many) that the original trilogy worked so much better: The characters, the factions, the entire galaxy, all had a history that shaped it. And by leaving it relatively vague, we had to fill the gaps with our own imaginations and, as a result, become more invested.
4) Makes the transition to a new vision much more palatable since fans can justify the changes as part of the tech evolution over time. This holds for any CGI and special effects enhancements as well (another thing the prequels did wrong).
Yeah, we probably shouldn't hold to continuity as much as we do, but we do. And, imo, with Lucas out of the way, there is really no reason to continue to shit on the fans love of that continuity.
There has to be a Universe out there somewhere, in which Mario cosplays as Moviebob, not the other way round...
Is Mario continuity a thing?
Why have I never heard the arguments for it? Against it? Why does no one debate it? Can we start doing that? Zelda timeline arguments are fun enough, in that pedantic way that cataloging every minute detail of a large series can be, but the Mario games have enough breadth that we should be having a field day with this.
And ooh, Star Wars extended universe, I'm so enthralled and eager and hey, how about we talk about all this Mario Cannon?
Why have I never heard the arguments for it? Against it? Why does no one debate it? Can we start doing that? Zelda timeline arguments are fun enough, in that pedantic way that cataloging every minute detail of a large series can be, but the Mario games have enough breadth that we should be having a field day with this.
And ooh, Star Wars extended universe, I'm so enthralled and eager and hey, how about we talk about all this Mario Cannon?
Hey Bob? I seem to remember you suggesting an early game overthinker video about Mario continuity. Perhaps now is the time, and now is the series.
Alright, this is how you solve the continuity problem. You remember the last twilght movie right? The one with the big fight scene in the end where important characters died and it was nearly the end of the world, blah, blah... the one that the psychic vampire had a vision of?
That's Luke in the new movie. Now he's either seen the future (the entire EU book line) or experienced it through some sort of extreme force meditation and he sets out to keep that future from happening. It may be a turd of an idea, but it's the best looking turd in this septic system that I can find.
That's Luke in the new movie. Now he's either seen the future (the entire EU book line) or experienced it through some sort of extreme force meditation and he sets out to keep that future from happening. It may be a turd of an idea, but it's the best looking turd in this septic system that I can find.
At the risk of committing heresy, I believe Star Trek has the answer to Star Wars continuity:
Bam, there you go. Simply regard the EU material as an alternate reality, where different decisions led to different circumstances and outcomes than the films.
Bam, there you go. Simply regard the EU material as an alternate reality, where different decisions led to different circumstances and outcomes than the films.
Do an episode on the Mario time line please. that was more interesting than the star wars things you said. but than again I am bigger fan of mario than of star wars
I, in fact, tend to do this with all KINDS of different fandoms.Neverhoodian said:
It let me enjoy the new Star Trek movie as refreshing while not eventually pooping on them. Many people seem to think this over-writes the old canon, but it's simply telling you where it lies. This is a new reality, but the old one didn't happen, it happened in an alternate timeline that Spock never died in, he simply vanished into the Aether.(Which is soooo cool.
)It lets me enjoy things like M2 that Marvel ran with a while back. I loved Spider Girl, but she will never be canon.
I think you really have to pay attention to continuity when they ask us to, otherwise it's kind of an unneeded hassle.
Of course I'm also one of those weird guys who liked all the old dmc games and also really enjoyed the new one too.
Continuity can be fun when it's something like surprise Beast Wars ties into Transformers G1 continuity or when Batman Beyond would bring up something from Batman the Animated series.
But I'm just not a fan of being a slave to continuity. Personally I'd rather just forget the Star Wars prequel films ever happened. It's also nice to say the Transformers movies happen in some weird alternate reality so Decepticons can be cool in other realities. And occasionally it's fun to just bust continuity all to hell like when Battlestar Galactica said hey lets mess with expectations and make Starbuck a woman.
But I'm just not a fan of being a slave to continuity. Personally I'd rather just forget the Star Wars prequel films ever happened. It's also nice to say the Transformers movies happen in some weird alternate reality so Decepticons can be cool in other realities. And occasionally it's fun to just bust continuity all to hell like when Battlestar Galactica said hey lets mess with expectations and make Starbuck a woman.
