Rogue One is a tonal u-turn for Star Wars, a return to the look and feel of the old Expanded Universe if not its specific plot beats. How could a Disney-led reboot be any different? The prequels represented the triumph of LucasFilm's merchandising arm over its story group.
The EU was allowed to inform small aspects of this new Star Wars, but throughout the noughties its influence sharply waned. When Disney axed the Expanded Universe back in 2014, it felt like the final spasm in a prolonged death that had begun with The Phantom Menace fifteen years prior.
This is a strange time to be a Star Wars fan, particularly if you were a devotee of the books, games and comics that sustained the series in the mid-1990s.
