Another big question on Star Wars fans’ minds since Episode VII was announced was how much, if any, so-called non-canon or expanded universe material might be included. Disney recently created the Lucasfilm Story Group, which is charged with making sure all new Star Wars material is part of a cohesive canon. It nevertheless remains hard to say what parts of the many novels, comics and video games might make the cut and remain part of the official chronology going forward. When asked if expanded universe characters such as Admiral Thrawn might appear in the series, Kinberg says the show’s creators rely heavily on Pablo Hidalgo, who, along with Leland Chee, oversees the Story Group. “He will say there’s a cool cantina in this comic book from 1994, or a cool creature that not all of us know. He will bring that stuff to us. Or we’ll task him we’re trying to create a muscle for this villain with a cool backstory. Sometimes it will be a character or a planet we don’t know about.”
What’s significant about that last quote is it appears to be the first confirmation that at least some expanded universe material will make the leap into the new Disneyfied Star Wars canon. Everyone get ready for Skippy the Droid!You can read the entire interview at EW.com, where Kinberg notes that the tone of Rebels will most closely match that of the original trilogy, especially Episode IV: A New Hope. My favorite part is Kinberg’s description of the premise of the series: “If I told the story of the American Revolution, I wouldn’t want to start with the most famous battle[.] I’d want to start when it was just four guys in a room, the earliest spark of that seems dramatic and cool. That’s a big part of the fun of it, the little back-room dealings, the first time you see it’s possible to stand up to the Empire.” Would you like to know more? Follow @adamdileo on Twitter or adam_dileo on IGN. Service guarantees citizenship.