Rumor: Are these the baddies in Episode VII?

STAR WARS RUMORS: Take seriously at your own risk.Today we have a rumor that Sith Inquisitors, or “Jedi Hunters,” will figure into Episode VII as villains. The folks at Making Star Wars claim to have heard this from sources at Pinewood.

The characters are not full Sith, but they “worship the Sith and want to resurrect them” and “their mandate was to protect the Sith at all costs and insure their survival.” Supposedly they’ve been hunting Luke since the Emperor’s death – and that’s one reason why we’re not going to see anything like the New Republic in the film.

It’s said that both Adam Driver and Lupita Nyong’o will be among this group. (As well as David Oyelowo, who was rumored to be involved in both Episode VII and Rebels, but has never been confirmed in any way.) Driver’s character has connections to the Big 3 and turned… No, I still don’t think he’s a Skywalker/Solo himself, but it’s not too big a stretch to consider that he’s perhaps a former student of Luke’s. (Shades of many Expanded Universe characters there, though I doubt he’s going to end up being “Kyp Durron” or anything so obvious as that.)

UPDATE: Eric at TFN has doubts about Oyelowo – he think he’s voicing a different Rebels character. UPDATE #2 (6/17:) And now he’s saying it’s all wrong. Shrug.

Still, we do know from Rebels that the ‘Inquisitors’ are indeed making the jump to canon. I’m not going to jump right on board this, but it’s certainly possible. After all, weren’t we just talking at JadeCon about the Sith’s apparent lack of a contingency plan?

Pablo Hidalgo: The Expanded Universe will always be ‘part of the Star Wars experience’

Pablo HidalgoThe Star Wars Books Facebook page held a chat with Pablo Hidalgo today, one of Lucasfilm’s resident continuity experts and author of The Essential Reader’s Companion.

So his most popular answer, naturally, addressed the relationship between the movies and the rest…

I think the EU will always continue to be part of the Star Wars experience, in that there are stories that are best suited for books, comics, games. etc.. The relationship between cinematic content and expanded universe content will continue to be what it is today and has been in the past. What happens on screen is one thing. What happens in the books is another. How they connect and interact is something I’m really eager to see.

More answers below the cut!

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EUbits: Del Rey to preview Zahn’s Heir to the Empire annotations

Whoohoo! Beginning next Thursday, the Star Wars Books Facebook page will be posting a Heir to the Empire annotation from Timothy Zahn each week until the book’s release in June. Suddenly, I hate Facebook just a tiny, tiny bit less.

In the meantime, Del Rey is asking what Thrawn scene you’d like to see illustrated in The Essential Guide to Warfare.

The blogside. Paul S. Kemp on readers who complain there’s too much focus on Jedi and Sith in the EU. I’m so with him on this. Sure, it’s nice to have novels about other folks in the galaxy sometimes, but Jedi and Sith are pretty much integral to the DNA of Star Wars.

Pop quiz. Head on over to EUC to find out if you are smarter than a Star Wars blogger. I can neither confirm nor deny that some of the snarky quotes are mine.

C2E2. Not surprisingly, there are several Star Wars events at the Chicago con later this month, including Del Rey and Dark Horse panels. And I’m changing my mind every other day about going…

Weird facts. Pete at Lightsaber Rattling follows up his author list with a look at who’s written the most young adult novels. The ultimate result this time around, though? Not a surprise. Think if we pester him enough he’ll do one by word count?

EUbits: Visions, crafts, blogs and more

Visions. The cat is officially out of the bag on the upcoming art book, and the previews keep on coming. I’m rather taken with the classical styles of the Daniel E. Greene and Will Wilson pieces.

First look. Bonnie Burton’s craft book!

The blogside:Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica draws a parallel between Grand Admiral Thrawn, Exar Kun, and the Sith of The Old Republic; Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on making up planets.

Interviews: NJOE talks to Invasion’s Tom Taylor.

Lists. Topless Robot’s Adam Pawlus counts down his list of the ten best stories in the Expanded Universe. The vast majority of these are at best unnoteworthy to this EU fan, and I certainly can’t condone anyone who puts a Boba Fett comic above the Thrawn trology. (Zahn may not be perfect… But Boba Fett? How uncivilized.)

Namesake corner. Sideshow says Mara Jade will make “an appearance in one of our lines by 2011.”

Expanded Universe at random

It was a busy week on the VIP blogs… First, a slightly defensive Drew Karpyshyn Rule of Two update (seriously fanboys, lay off the guy already,) then John Jackson Miller pondered keeping things unexplained, and we were favored with an Abel G. Peña double-punch on Darth names and, of all things, The Crystal Star.