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Did George Lucas ever express any opinions (+ or -) regarding Star Wars works, or specific events/ideas set in his Universe after Episode VI? (books or games or comics)?

I mean his opinions as individual, not "official stamp of approval of Lucas Empire".

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  • I think I posted a quote regarding Lucas's opinion of EU that may be relevant to this, but can't seem to find that answer at the moment for some reason, or the original quote. Short version, "They exist outside my sphere of interest and have no bearing on MY Star Wars" Jun 8, 2012 at 0:06
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    Also, not sure if it's in-scope, but Lucas used EU pieces in his work, at least once (Zahn came with the name Coruscant in one of his books, which Lucas took for the prequels). Jun 8, 2012 at 0:07

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There are 2 ways to answer this: EU as a class, and specific information in EU.

  • As far as the latter (specific information), Lucas approved of some of it, as indicated by the fact that he actually included some of the details of C-level canon into G-level canon.

    • One specific example was his use of the Coruscant as the capital planet of the Empire in the prequels, taken from Timothy Zahn's EU books (see here).

      Further details are listed here: Did George Lucas use any of the expanded universe material in the prequel trilogy?

    • Additional praise from Lucas for EU material is listed in this asnwer (liking Dark Empire comics).

    • And general quotes support his overall high opinion of EU:

      • "They created this whole amazing universe that goes on for millions of years!"
      • "Today it is an amazing, if unexpected, legacy of Star Wars that so many gifted writers are contributing new stories to the Saga." (src)

  • When taking EU as a class, he basically says "I gots me my toys, and I don't care much about the rest". Quotes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_canon#George_Lucas_and_Star_Wars_canon

    In July 2001, Lucas gave his opinion on the matter of what is canon in Star Wars during an interview with Cinescape magazine:
    There are two worlds here," explained Lucas. "There’s my world, which is the movies, and there’s this other world that has been created, which I say is the parallel universe—the licensing world of the books, games and comic books. They don’t intrude on my world, which is a select period of time, [but] they do intrude in between the movies. I don’t get too involved in the parallel universe. ”

    Further, in an August 2005 interview in Starlog magazine:
    STARLOG: "The Star Wars Universe is so large and diverse. Do you ever find yourself confused by the subsidiary material that's in the novels, comics, and other offshoots?"
    LUCAS: "I don't read that stuff. I haven't read any of the novels. I don't know anything about that world. That's a different world than my world. But I do try to keep it consistent. The way I do it now is they have a Star Wars Encyclopedia. So if I come up with a name or something else, I look it up and see if it has already been used. When I said [other people] could make their own Star Wars stories, we decided that, like Star Trek, we would have two universes: My universe and then this other one. They try to make their universe as consistent with mine as possible, but obviously they get enthusiastic and want to go off in other directions."

    Lucas VERY clearly sees EU as subordinate to His Royal ideas, no matter how good any of it may be on its own merits:

    ... Once Vader dies, he doesn't come back to life, the Emperor doesn't get cloned and Luke doesn't get married..."

    and

    "So how did Anakin get that scar, George?" asks John Knoll.
    "I don't know. Ask Howard," says George, referring to President of Lucas Licensing Howard Roffman. "That's one of those things that happens in the novels between the movies. I just put it there. He has to explain how it got there. I think Anakin got it slipping in the bathtub, but of course, he's not going to tell anybody that."

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