One of the most controversial decisions made by Disney following its acquisition of Lucasfilm and, with it, the erasing the Expanded Universe, which had been telling stories beyond the cinematic saga for years. Diehard fans had invested hundreds of hours in stories about Luke, Leia, and Han’s adventures after Return of the Jedi and, in one fell swoop, the Mouse House branded them all “legends.”
J.J. Abrams was brought in to come up with a new post-Return of the Jedi canon and what delivered was another rebellion, another empire, another Death Star, another desert scavenger, another hotshot pilot — well, you get the picture. Still, despite leaning heavily on the original trilogy, the sequels don’t ignore the EU’s groundwork completely.
Differed From The EU: The Resistance And The First Order
J.J. Abrams gave the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire fancy new names in the sequel trilogy — the Resistance and the First Order, respectively — in the hopes that a rebrand would convince audiences that they were original ideas.
In the Expanded Universe, the Rebels formed the New Republic and when the Empire returned, it was still called the Empire.
Stayed The Same: Han And Leia’s Son Turns To The Dark Side
In the EU, Han and Leia’s son Jacen trains as a Jedi under the tutelage of his uncle Luke Skywalker for a while before eventually being seduced to the dark side of the Force. Sound familiar?
Instead of becoming Kylo Ren, apprentice to Supreme Leader Snoke, Jacen Solo became Darth Caedus, apprentice to Lumiya, known as the “Dark Lady of the Sith.”
Differed From The EU: Han And Leia Only Have One Kid
In the Disney-mounted sequel trilogy, Ben Solo is Han and Leia’s only child, but in the Expanded Universe, they actually had three children: twins Jacen and Jaina and a younger son named Anakin.
Another difference is that Han and Leia broke up off-screen before the beginning of the sequel trilogy, whereas they remained together throughout the EU’s stories.
Stayed The Same: Leia’s Jedi Training
Leia Organa’s Force sensitivity and Jedi training were major plot points in the Expanded Universe's version of post-Return of the Jedi events.
While the sequel trilogy initially painted Leia as a rebel leader for nostalgic purposes, The Last Jedi gave her a weird Force flight through space and The Rise of Skywalker revealed in a CGI-laden flashback that she trained as a Jedi under Luke but gave it up to protect her son.
Differed From The EU: No Mara Jade Or Ben Skywalker
In the Expanded Universe, Luke Skywalker got married and raised a family after the events of the original trilogy. He married a woman named Mara Jade and they had a son named Ben Skywalker.
However, after J.J. Abrams’ “mystery box” tease at the end of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi reintroduced audiences to a bitter, cynical, lonely Luke Skywalker who had self-exiled on an island. Even Mark Hamill was unhappy with Luke’s characterization; he jokingly calls the character he played in The Last Jedi “Jake Skywalker.”
Stayed The Same: The Name Ben
Luke didn’t have a family in the sequel trilogy, but the name of his son Ben was used as the name of Han and Leia’s son, who was the main antagonist of the sequel trilogy.
It made sense for Luke to name his son after the wise old mentor who watched over him as a kid, trained him in the Force, and ultimately gave his life to save him. It makes a lot less sense for Han and Leia, who barely knew Obi-Wan, to name their son Ben.
Differed From The EU: Focusing On A Non-Skywalker
The Expanded Universe always centered around continuing the adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han after the conclusion of the original trilogy. If the stories weren’t about the legacy characters, they were about their kids.
In the sequel trilogy, the legacy characters were sidelined to make room for original characters. The focus of the story, Rey, isn’t a Skywalker (even though she claims to be).
Stayed The Same: Luke’s Jedi Academy
In the EU, Luke began training Jedi during the rise of the New Republic. He started his own Jedi academy, like the one attended by Ben Solo in the backstory of the sequel trilogy, and even trained his nephew there (albeit a nephew who’s no longer canonical).
Luke’s Jedi academy in the EU was a lot more successful than his Jedi academy in the sequel trilogy, whose students were all slaughtered by a deranged classmate with Skywalker blood.
Differed From The EU: Luke Turns His Back On The Jedi
Luke never turned his back on the Jedi Order in the Expanded Universe. Following on from his choice to stick with the light side of the Force in the face of the Emperor’s temptations in Return of the Jedi, Luke brought the religion back and raised a new generation of Jedi.
In the sequel trilogy — particularly in The Last Jedi — Luke has become indifferent toward the Jedi Order and wants to burn the whole thing to the ground and start fresh.
Stayed The Same: Somehow, Palpatine Returned
In the Expanded Universe, Emperor Palpatine was brought back to life following his death at the end of Return of the Jedi. In the Dark Empire comics, Palpatine is resurrected using clone bodies.
In the sequel trilogy, Palpatine also comes back from the dead. But the explanation for it is a little different. Instead of actually explaining it, Poe Dameron just says, “Somehow, Palpatine returned.”
