Instead, the sequel trilogy went a completely different direction, introducing new characters and a completely new storyline, though some concepts were clearly influenced by stories in the Expanded Universe. The announcement that a sequel trilogy of films was going into development had many fans hoping Lucasfilm would be adapting some of the post- Return of the Jedi stories that were already a part of the Expanded Universe. That’s why Disney’s decision to relegate the Expanded Universe stories to Legends or non-canon status in 2014 was met with plenty of fan criticism. The Expanded Universe, which included stories such as Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy and The New Jedi Order series of books, may have been considered a part of a parallel universe by George Lucas, but to fans, they were considered canon. Before Disney purchased Lucasfilm, there was a tiered system to classify all of the Star Wars films, animated series, books, comics, and video games, with the films making up the highest tier. Star Wars canon has probably always been a controversial topic among fans.
