Interview with LFL Content Creators Tim Veekhoven, Sander De Lange and Kevin Beenjes (Part 2 of 2)
Today, we bring you part 2 of our exclusive interview with three content creators for StarWars.com and Lucasfilm Ltd. Check it out after the jump…
Link to Part 1 HERE.
8. As polled as one of the most beloved EU characters, do you think that we’ll ever see Mara Jade as Canon?
Sander De Lange: Rumors will always float around her character to return, but I personally doubt that, and if she returns then it is just the Emperor’s Hand part. But frankly I see her more returning in spirit, who she was as a character, a strong female that does her bidding for the Emperor in secret, and not as the fiery redhead we know. With the announcement of Sarah Michelle Geller to join the Rebels cast, and with the Inquisitor dead, this may happen in season 2.
Kevin Beentjes: I’d rather not see characters that are purely post-ROTJ Expanded Universe make an appearance. We all love those characters for the stories they were in. And as those stories are no longer canon, I would like the characters to remain the way they are. If there is a reboot of the storyline after Return of the Jedi, I’d rather see new and exciting tales and characters, than a rehash of the former EU. It would be most likely that Mara would have a completely different story and role in a new canon, do we really want that?
Tim Veekhoven: Highly dubious unless she gets resurrected as a character in the Galactic Civil War. But personally I never cared about her. I stopped reading the post-Endor EU novels after some time.
9. Spoilers in general…good or bad?
SdL: To me a bit of both. I enjoyed seeing RotS way more in cinema because I did not follow every spoiler, like I did with AotC, and which is why I do the same for TFA. TPM was when I became a fan, so that was a total surprise.
KB: Same here. I do like to see some spoilers about new vehicles or aliens that may or may not appear, but I try to stay away from anything that deals with the storyline. Even though it may be complete nonsense, I don’t want to sit in theatre at the end of this year and thinks “ah yes, I’ve read about this and now I know what will happen”.
TV: It all depends on your own point of view. In my point of view you can’t hide everything from a movie such as Star Wars. When you try to do that, things will occur as we have seen with Episode VII (the leaked art, the photos from the airbase). Fans need to be fed information from time to time.
10. Do you think the spoilers that are out are damaging TFA potentially?
SdL: Every spoiler has a way of damaging, making the expectations run too high. However the same goes for the lack of real news and updates, then you get the problem of people not caring for it.
KB: Seeing how much attention some spoilers get, it may at least get people stoked for the new movie. However, as Sander said, some official update every now and then may achieve much more than that. Just don’t forget to take every spoiler with a grain of salt.
TV: This is personal, but to me they wouldn’t ruin TFA. I already knew in 2000 that Jango Fett was to be beheaded by Mace Windu in the arena thanks to leaked storyboards. I really don’t care about reading spoilers. Normally I don’t like spoilers and I try to stay away from them as far as I can. But Star Wars is not a regular movie or series. I’ll be watching that movie many times in the future and it’ll become part of my everyday life. I can understand how spoilers can absolutely ruin a movie for somebody who will watch it one time in the cinema. But I can’t see how it can ruin a movie you’ll eventually watch again and again. I get more satisfaction from watching a Star Wars movie multiple times instead of watching it one time and be totally surprised. To be honest, I’d probably get very nervous if I didn’t know anything about it.
11. What do you think of the internet fan community that has risen over the last 10-20 years and the role that it plays in movie hype…like for TFA?
TV: Very important. Certainly with the popularity of social media, which didn’t exist (or hardly existed) when Episode III was released. Thanks to social media thoughts, artwork, photos and spoilers can be linked easily everywhere. When something official is announced, the social media is immediately filled with SW-news and reactions. Of course this has also paved the way for people who dislike everything and who wine about everything. They dislike things from Episode VII based on a one second appearance in a teaser trailer!? Come on! A hype will always influence personal expectations. If your expectations are too high, you won’t like the movie. Just don’t watch Episode VII as another opportunity to say that person x or y has ruined your childhood. At least they can’t blame George Lucas now. Star Wars is not the same anymore as it was in the 70s or the 80s. It has evolved and grown, and so have we.
SdL: The fan divide is bigger, or at least more noticeable, thanks to social media. As someone who loves every aspect of SW, despite being critical at the same time, this has begin to bug me and I do fear for the release because based on many reactions I have seen, whatever Disney and LFL will end up doing, will annoy somebody who will turn vocal about it. Disney and LFL cannot win. If I may be a bit more forward, I notice it in a way already with some comments on articles that are posted on the official website, including our own, that while in my opinion an article is an insightful informative one, it still gets comments screaming for the EU to return, or when something about Rebels is posted people complain because they prefer The Clone Wars. But really in the end it is all Star Wars, and we should embrace it all even if some aspects may have our preference.
12. How cool is it to occasionally get to work with/for Lucasfilm?
TV: It’s still as amazing as the first time when I wrote something for SW.com, many years ago (in 2005 I believe). But I usually work with the people from LucasOnline and separate licensees.
SdL: It is amazing, and I wish I could be doing this the rest of my life. Many of the people we encountered throughout the years have been really nice and friendly and a pleasure to work with.
13. Was it a monumental task to suddenly have to separate content on Wookiepedia into Legends/Canon content? And were you all made aware of the necessary changes
before it was announced to the world?
KB: We run our own version of Star Wars Wikia, but in Dutch (Yodapedia), and are not really involved in these kind of processes on Wookieepedia. Occasionally we may edit or comment small things, but have our hands full as it is with writing for the Dutch version. No offense, but I personally think that this whole ordeal on Wookieepedia is rather premature. As I stated with the first question, there is a much to black-and-white view of the new canon, and we still do not know the status of a lot of sources. And it pains me to see that a starship that’s had a name and manufacturer for decades is now seen as “unknown” until the same model and make are repeated in an app for the i Phone. Again, this is no attack on Wookieepedia, who do great work and should continue doing so, but for a lot of things we don’t know the official status, and people should realize that Wookieepedia is not an authority on what is canon and what is not. “Always in motion is the future”.
TV: No problem at all since I’m not really active on Wookieepedia anymore. Kevin and I started with Yodapedia (Flemish / Dutch) and we don’t separate content at Yodapedia. We have very few articles on Yodapedia about true Expanded Universe (post RotJ) and the facts are already flowing back into the canon. I’m not planning on altering or deleting an article and getting a book next month that mentions the same info that I had deleted a month before. Things like that are happening right now! The entire discussion can get very tiresome sometimes. I have the impression that some people even prefer nothing instead of interesting content. Does it really matter that much if comic X has ‘happened’, but comic Y hasn’t? Basically none of this really happened, did it? A comic is still just a comic and it will never be anything else. Star Wars finds its roots in movies and it surely has achieved great things on television as well. Star Wars continuity has always been rewritten. We once thought that Yoda was Obi-Wan’s master, but then came Qui-Gon Jinn. And what about Obi-Wan and Owen Lars being brothers? That got changed in Episode II as well. These things will always happen as Star Wars always evolves as a universe that’s created layer by layer, not like the worlds of Tolkien or Lewis that were created many years ago and are as good as ‘complete’. I’m just curious to see when the first new canon event of fact will be rewritten. And not at all because I didn’t like the Legends decision, but because it will be inevitable in the future. And there’s nobody to blame when it happens. I had no clue when it was announced, but I somehow knew that the events from the post Endor EU wouldn’t remain in the same way as they existed.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
I am a bit saddened by the way those guys speak of Mara Jade.
Partially I am surprised since she was one of the biggest characters of EU, the world that was Star Wars until Disney cut it off. And as much as some people may try to disregard it, EU is in fact reason we have prequels, Disney interest and now SW steaming forward full speed.
I think even if I don’t like it… hell, it actually bleed my heart to see EU go, I think it should be treated with respect it deserves and have “the best” of it somehow transferred into the new cannon. Even if not for stories, characters and other rich, high quality stuff, to simply as a homage.
I agree. Throughout the 90s, all we had was the movies and the EU. Back in the dark times when Star Wars wasn’t “cool”. The EU is what kept STar WArs alive. I do kinda feel like its being dissed. Some of it was bad and some of it was great. The same can be said of the movies. But I don’t like the EU being dissed because I spent 10 years filling Lucasfilm’s pockets, eating up everything Star Wars I could get my hands on.
I have limited knowledge of EU, mostly from stories my brother has told me. When he talks of Mara Jade he lights up. I can see the excitement of wanting someone like this to be in official canon with movies. The problem is if Disney stuck to EU it would be impossible to keep it all together and have new stories and keep with everything already in the universe. Older canon though already relates to things that exist in the universe. Even though Plagueis has a whole book, while they may not follow it to a T, he exists in the official canon due to the story Palpatine told to Anakin about the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. So while they want to have the ability to be creative, it is also nice to have a back story. Will be interesting to see how much EU is used and how it is used.
I think people forget that EU projects like the Thrawn Trilogy, Shadows of the Empire, Force Unleashed and Dark Empire were commissioned by LucasFilm. The Trawn trilogy especially played a huge roll in revitalising a franchise and bringing in a new audience like myself who grew up in the 90’s with characters like Mara Jade. I don’t mean to sound like an internet fanboy, but to say one doesn’t “care” or never paid much attention to a character that has existed in the Star Wars mythos longer than she isn’t seems like simply playing to the bosses at Disney. While I completely understand the need to separate much of the recent extraneous stories in the EU, completely disregarding all of it is just lazy story telling and an obvious grab for a dollar as Disney attempts to sell more, newer EU novels that are based in the same time period as already established, far more popular fiction. For the past two decades Mara Jade has been Luke’s wife. Plain and simple, if for no other reason than memory. Disney cant erase 20 years of audience fandom.
Dude personally I dont want all or even some of the same stories that have been out for a decade resold and rehashed to me again by Disney. We should get NEW content, I love Star Wars and will enjoy the NEW stories much more than re-watching and re-reading the same character I already know everything about. I think it’s a good call, as a fan, as someone who wants new star war content, I can’t even conceive complaining about getting new Star Wars movies and books and comics. There’s nothing bad about that if youre an actual fan! =) Enjoy it. Realize we could be getting nothing, contemplate the alternative. I love Star Wars, and new trilogies, stand alones, everything is an incredible gift! It’s not the time to complain and whine. Don’t be ignorant of that fact, sit back and take it all in, be a fan and if you truly love something, appreciate that you are getting that thing for the next foreseeable future.
I think you’ll find the vast vast majority of people that will be going to see The Force Awakens won’t have a clue who Mara Jade, Thrawn or many other popular EU characters are. Sure there’ll be a hardcore fan base that will be upset but that’s probably less than 5% of the total audience.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Star Wars but my exposure to anything outside the movies consists of the Atari Arcade Game, a 3rd of Splinter of the Minds Eye aged about 10 which I found rubbish, a ride on Star Tours on Florida holiday in the 90s and watching my kids play Lego Star Wars or Force Unleashed. Oh and we all watched Rebels.
For me the movies are the only real cannon…and I’m massively looking forward to Episode VII… The rest is just “stuff” that I am happy for others to enjoy but have no wish to get involved with and don’t want the movie writers to be shackled by.
I don’t read comics, I don’t consider myself a gamer these days (though I’d back myself to beat anyone at a game of doubles on Defender) and there’s too many great novels I’ve still to read to bother with Star Wars books.
I think you’ll find outside of these types of forums most casual Star Wars fans would have similar feelings towards the EU… If they even knew it existed.
Star Wars is an important part in my life for about 30 years. But I more and more have the Feeling that this part ended 2014.
Mara, Thrawn, Jaina, Jacen, Pallaeon and so many others were so important in this universe and I don’t know why they were not used in the new canon. I mean we have several Batman vs. Joker movies and comics and it never was a problem that there was a Joker in each canon. So why not use the beloved characters again?
Ok not all of the old books and comics were great but the universe they had created absolutely was. Another problem for me is that what I read about TFA sounds quite boring (like most of the Avengers movies are). And I didn’t like what J.J. did to Star Trek.
I would be satisfied for Disney to simply use the best of the EU as another source of inspiration for new Star Wars films.
For example, Mara Jade could be inspiration for a brand new character in the ST or some other era. The details of her story would most likely be ignored, and they could change her name, age, physical appearance, etc., but the essence would remain.
Keep it cool guys.
The EU was never canon. Lucas said this, and I’m glad they reaffirmed this. I personally thought it never felt like Star Wars. It always felt like other people’s interpretations of it. Either way, it’s entertainment and fun.
Since there’s so much discussion about things like Mara Jade, let us not forget that 90% of what made Mara Jade into the character we love is and will be no longer part of the Star Wars canon. Therefore, I’d rather see new and original characters in the new stories than badly recycled ones.
What is the purpose of having a character who is Mara Jade in name only? You may be sad to see her go, but how would you feel if they put her in a role that doesn’t fit the EU character we’ve learned to know?
I am sad to see the old Post-Endor EU being offed as “Legends” as well, but we do need to be realistic. (Although I still hope K’kruhk survived the reboot).
Mara Jade shouldn’t keep her name if she’s reimagined.
Wow… People actually give a shit about the EU? Then again people start wars over the bible so why not.
Wow. If you’re going to post such a hostile and offensive comment, at least spell “Wookiee” correctly! 😉 Lol
Wookiejizz – Clearly you don’t know what you’re talking about.
It would be impossible to please EU fanatics.. how close to the script do you have to go to be accurate and have freedom to tell new stories?
I didn’t get the feeling that they were dissing Mara Jade as much as they were acknowledging that the post-ROTJ EU stories are going to have to be set aside if Disney/LFL are to come up with an ongoing film series set after the events of the original trilogy.
To limit SW filmmakers to adapting existing EU novels wouldn’t have made a lick of sense from either a creative or a business standpoint. Because other than fans wondering how this character or that event from one of the novels was going to look onscreen, where would the surprises have been? I mean, we’re talking about books that are, in some cases, 25 years old.
Personally, I don’t even think that Lucas himself would have made Star Wars films that way.
So, given the fact that the post-ROTJ deck needed to be cleared to make way for a new generation of movies, it makes sense that even popular characters like Mara would be left to the old book series.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a Mara-inspired character turns up somewhere at some point, though.
“As someone who loves every aspect of SW, despite being critical at the same time, this has begin to bug me and I do fear for the release because based on many reactions I have seen, whatever Disney and LFL will end up doing, will annoy somebody who will turn vocal about it. Disney and LFL cannot win.”
So what? Do you hate free speech or something? Is your enjoyment of TFA so tied to the need for everyone else to love it and only speak good of it?
This is the attitude of TRUE intolerance.
This is the attitude of the official site in the past that would delete any dissenting comments, the attitude of TF.N during the basher/gusher debates, the attitude of Lucas and many fans. You talk about the movies evolving but the fans have changed as well and no SW movie is going to please everyone so get used to it.
It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about whether you like it or don’t and accepting that not everyone likes what you like but that everyone has a right to express their thoughts and feelings about it.
Age of Ultron world premiere tonight…..No trailer attached there for TFA?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/video-avengers-age-ultron-premiere-788490
Honestly, I cannot see any reason why they couldn’t just work Mara into the new canon. Sure, most Star Wars fans don’t know about her, but this was a golden opportunity to introduce her to the masses in a new way.
Also, it seems go me that these guys overanalyze things.
Most EU fans get that there are Star Wars fans who are unfamiliar with the EU and that they could care less whether the EU stays or goes. I’m sure there are plenty of said fans that have the same feeling about the prequel trilogy.
The point of fact that many pro-EU fans try to get across is that it was the EU content that helped keep Star Wars alive all those years after Episode VI and before Episode I.
We get it that it would be nearly impossible to posture around all the story arcs and hold true to the hundred of characters created, causing many stories to become stale… however not throwing us a single bone (i.e. Mara, Jaina, Jacen, Thrawn, etc… and I say this without knowing what is in store) would be pretty sad.
I disagree with their opinion of Mara jade. I feel like the whole point of a reboot is to see the characters we love in new situations and stories. It dosnt have to be a rehash of old stories. You have templates for great characters with a built in audience. No disadvantage to people who haven’t heard of them, and a nice homage to the people who have. Seems like a win-win.
I agree wholeheartedly. Pity the people at Disney can’t see that.
You’ve got all these characters people already love, so why not breathe new life into them?
I agree, but there’s on hiccup to this dream-scenario: the fans in question.
Any other franchise, sure. But Star Wars fans pick up some pretty picky [and loud] people in their ranks.
I’m sure JJ is concerned for his personal safety.
I think they’re gonna be taking it one step at a time before adapting a well-loved and highly documented character.
There is quite a lot of risk. But yeah, provided JJ walks thew tight-rope and doesn’t get pitch-forked by someone, then yeah, win-win.
To say the EU was never cannon is I think a fallacy. Look at how EU characters became incorporated into the films. The Outrider was digitally added to episode 4 in the special edition, Quinlin Vos became a recurring character in the clone Wards and was mentioned in episode 3. Hell, the name of the capital city coruscant, was introduced by Zahn. Lucas is a business man first and foremost. The EU was cannon for him when it suited him and he needed resurgence of popularity in his product in the 90’s but when he sees opportunity to make more than royalties like through film revenue, he will axe it. I think we should not lose sight of the axing of the EU was not creative, in fact it was the lack of it. Characters like Jade have been appearing in games, radio dramas, and more for years. further, depending on the source, Zahn and other authors will state that Lucas has involvement in the story developments for the first EU novels (Thrawn trilogy) through extensive conversations with the authors. It was Lucas’ idea to bring back the emperor in Dark Empire. While I agree that the casual fans wont know Jade or EU characters, Star Wars I believe has carried on as log as it has because of the hardcore fans that buy the comics and books and keep the wheels greased for the bigger projects like films. axing them seems like a mistake. To get into the writing of it, You have a series airing now, Rebels, which would be a perfect introduction to a character like Jade as an emperors hand, and a comment or flashback to her in the film would be really easy. Boom done. everyones happy. wouldn’t even need to include her, just a reference to her, as a nod to the hardcore fan that carried the flag for so long.
This is directed at the 3 being interviewed regarding Mara…
@Kevin: Yes, that is exactly what I want. Just like I want countless more Batman movies and Marvel movies that tell new stories with old characters. Why? Simply put it’s great fun watching characters I love being reimagined and in new situations. I don’t hate Captain America The Winter Soldier since it did it’s own thing vs the comic it was based on, in fact I love both the comic and the movie.
@Sander: like where you’re going… but still a red head. It would look great in imperial inquisitor outfits and a red lightsaber. Sarah Michelle Geller’s blonde wouldn’t look as good imho.
@Tim: I too think it’s more likely we’ll see her in her Galactic Civil War time period first. Sorry you didn’t like the post Endor EU, different strokes and all. I did (mostly), agree to disagree
So it’s just a matter of time until the new canon gets rewritten as well? Makes sense to me. They’ve already redone Star Trek, Spiderman, Batman and Superman. Maybe in the next canon, we can bring Mara Jade and the Solo kids back.
Prospective writers, get your pens ready! I know I am.
@Ryus: I liked her character in the Zahn trilogy, but after the Corellian trilogy my interest in the post Endor EU just vanished completely (except for the Legacy and Invasion comics). Luckily we can all still decide what to like and what not to like 🙂
Maybe so, but even though we can decide to still like Legends characters and themes like Mara, Thrawn and so on, the fact they will never be given true credit and always be seen as second fiddle compared to the ‘canon’ stuff nonetheless feels like a slap to the face of sorts.
Seriously, making them the heroes of a new sequence of events, just like in Star Trek, could have worked out just fine – a merging of the old and the new.
Must this be said again….who cares. New star wars…enough said. The rest is pointless to argue about. What happens will happen. And let’s face the facts…if the next trilogy was straight up EU stuff..we would have to endure months of complaining about that as well. This social media age really can be a bummer 🙁