Episode 7 News is back with some clarification on their previous Mara Jade rumor. Their source now has a name – JediDigger – and they say his info comes from “discussions between people inside Lucasfilm and it’s licenses.”
The gist of his clarification is that they’re using the existing Expanded Universe characters as a template. The actual characters we get will be based on folks like Mara/Shira Brie, Jaina, Ben and such, but with different names – like the oh-so-convenient Korriban/Moriband confusion.
“This can not be made clearer, the post ROTJ EU launched in 91 is dead,” he says. “No story from Outbound Flight forward counts.” This all comes “the request of Disney, Kathleen Kennedy and Howard Roffman.”
But “the love of Luke Skywalker’s life” is a “character George Lucas has had since the end of Return of the Jedi,” which seems like it could conflict with the idea of basing her on Mara… Or does it? It’s not like we haven’t seen a similar character from Lucas before.
They’re also claiming that Michael Arndt has “moved on to Episode 8″ and that Abrams has met with Timothy Zahn. UPDATE: Zahn himself says this part isn’t true, which casts even more doubt on the rest.
So that’s a big rumor dump – but again, not a particularly trustworthy one: Taking the EU characters as templates is significantly less dramatic a change than I would expect. I continue to be skeptical.
Original comments:
1 jawajames // Jan 30, 2014 at 1:02 pm
my head was hurting. now it hurts more.
2 Lane // Jan 30, 2014 at 1:15 pm
There are not enough grains of salt in the universe for this one.
3 Han Jones // Jan 30, 2014 at 1:18 pm
I’m not buying it. I’d more expect using EU names with different histories. That is what they’ve done in the past.
4 Ryan Malin // Jan 30, 2014 at 1:37 pm
Well this sounds more acceptable and practical, at this point in the rampant rumor mill Lucasfilm just needs to come out and clarify stuff like this pronto.
5 Dunc // Jan 30, 2014 at 1:43 pm
They’re not going to say anything; That’s not how it works. Hell, if LFL publicity spent all their times addressing rumors like this, I doubt they’d have time for much else.
We’ll learn the truth in due time, but that’s why it pays to be skeptical.
6 Timothy Zahn // Jan 30, 2014 at 1:48 pm
I usually don’t get involved with this stuff, but since my name came up I thought it might be useful for me to state for the record that Abrams and I have *not* met. For whatever that’s worth.
7 Emily // Jan 30, 2014 at 2:31 pm
They certainly can’t address all of the rumors. I agree with Dunc: that would be ridiculous. But it might be time to clarify a few things, just because the rumor mill itself has become…ridiculous.
8 Zannah Jade // Jan 30, 2014 at 2:43 pm
I can see them getting rid of a lot of stuff. A LOT of stuff. In fact, I wouldn’t mind getting Anakin back, and keeping Jaina’s character as awesome as it was. Not to mention getting to see Mara alive. (Although, it is better, in my opinion for her to die a tragic hero’s death than to grow old and useless.)
But I honestly can’t see them getting rid of Mara’s backstory. For one thing, I can’t see anyone being as perfect for Luke as she is.
9 Josh // Jan 30, 2014 at 3:23 pm
Personally Zannah, I see them getting rid of pretty much everything set after Return of the Jedi. If Mara, Jacen, Jaina, anyone in the extended SkySolo family appears I’ll be amazed.
Also, the real Timothy Zahn? Cool.
10 Ryan Malin // Jan 30, 2014 at 5:21 pm
I meant more that I hope they address the canon we’ll be getting sooner rather than later. Not the rumors, I wouldn’t wish the job of addressing all of those on even my worst enemy :)
And with Mr. Zahn popping up to help shoot this down, I’m not worried about this idea so much.
11 Episode 7-9 und das EU – Seite 67 – Projekt Star Wars // Jan 30, 2014 at 7:10 pm
[…] hier auch schon ein Dementi von Zahn: Rumor: Episode VII characters to be based on the Expanded Universe […]
12 Zannah Jade // Feb 1, 2014 at 3:12 pm
The real Tim Zahn? Pretty epic.