Why JJ Abrams did not follow the Star Wars Expanded Universe Novels aka Post Return of the Jedi?

[lucky2balive]

the same reason he did what he did in star trek reboots (the romulans went back in time, killed Kirks dad, and changed the future)...so he didn't have to follow others story lines and could reinvent and be fresh...which he did masterfully in star trek, not so much in force awakens...

I think he ripped off a new hope on purpose, sort of a shout out to the old movies, to get people back in the mindset...however, I really hope he is done with death star super weapon story lines, that is beyond old and tired

[MrsRosencranz]

Were any of these stories based on Han Leia and Luke in their 60's?

Too much material to pour through.

Waaaaaaaaay too geeky. I mean these books were geared towards fans who thought Boba Fett was the hero of the stories.

Best to start over with the original hero's journey mono-myth structure and build from there.

Look at the interesting villain they came up with. A contemporary disaffected youth, school shooter, poseur. All sorts of directions to go in.

[notnamed]

Originally Posted by lucky2balive

I think he ripped off a new hope on purpose, sort of a shout out to the old movies, to get people back in the mindset...however, I really hope he is done with death star super weapon story lines, that is beyond old and tired

Lucas had a rough script for the sequels that was supposed to take place 30 years later that he wrote 30 years ago. But that wasn't used either.

JJ's not involved with the next one. Rian Johnson is up next both writing and directing. Looper is the biggest thing under his belt.

But I think The Force Awakens was an excellent bit of fan service to the original trilogy while also beginning the handoff to the next generation who will surely be the main focus in the next two with Luke playing the old mentor bit.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

There's a better reason: Most of the novels are not very good.

That sums it up. The whole "Emperor Palpatine made a bunch of clones of himself and keeps coming back to life" thing was just plain retarded too.

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by lucky2balive

the same reason he did what he did in star trek reboots (the romulans went back in time, killed Kirks dad, and changed the future)...so he didn't have to follow others story lines and could reinvent and be fresh...which he did masterfully in star trek, not so much in force awakens...

I think he ripped off a new hope on purpose, sort of a shout out to the old movies, to get people back in the mindset...however, I really hope he is done with death star super weapon story lines, that is beyond old and tired

I agree, I enjoyed the movie, but was like "another death star", I mean seriously I'm sure these things don't appear overnight and you could easily have picked off the transport ships bring materials in the middle of space lol. Still loved the movie though.

[rickms]

Why should they have included it? The novels were side entertainment projects.