‘The Acolyte’ Establishes Canon for Elements George Lucas Never Considered

George Lucas’s Star Wars franchise is a cornerstone of modern science fiction. What began as an ambitious space opera has evolved into one of the most popular and successful franchises in history. Over the decades, Star Wars has gained immense respect from fans across multiple generations and remains one of the most extraordinary fictional universes ever created.

Since Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the original Star Wars canon has undergone significant changes. Prior to Disney’s takeover, the Expanded Universe was widely regarded as part of the canon alongside the main series. However, it appears that Lucas himself did not view it the same way.

Disney significantly trimmed the Star Wars canon upon their acquisition, but it turns out that even George Lucas did not consider the Expanded Universe as part of the official canon. This means that recent additions from The Acolyte have introduced elements that Lucas himself did not recognize as canon.

Many fans were upset when Disney declared the Expanded Universe non-canon and rebranded it as the Legends universe. However, it appears this frustration may have been misplaced, as even George Lucas did not consider the original Expanded Universe part of the official Star Wars canon, though he did acknowledge and respect it.

“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. 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.”

Source: MeriStation

Dave Filoni, who collaborated with George Lucas on the Clone Wars animated series and is now the current creative director of Star Wars, later confirmed this. Filoni stated, “Having worked with George, I can tell you that it was always very clear—he made it very clear—that the films and TV shows were the only things he considered canon. Everything else was a world of fun ideas, exciting characters, and great possibilities. The Expanded Universe was created to explore all those things.” The video confirms this:

In light of this, it’s clear that many things have changed since Disney’s acquisition, with numerous Expanded Universe elements being canonized in later works, particularly in The Acolyte. This series also made substantial adjustments to what was previously considered canon. The takeaway is that the Star Wars universe continues to evolve, and any expansion—whether for better or worse—is always welcome!

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