As the Star Wars universe grows and ushers in fresh talent to write, direct, and produce its various titles, it can be hard to keep the canon straight.
Nonetheless, some titles suffer from this more than others. In an interview with Gizmodo back in November, 2022, Andrew Stanton, who co-wrote the last two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, described the extensive Star Wars canon as both “a blessing and a curse”.
“It’s like one, you’re geeking out that you get to type ‘Vader says’ this and ‘Kenobi says’ that,” he explained. “You pause and say ‘I can’t believe I’m actually getting paid to type this. I can’t believe these words may be said.’
“But then another part of you…has to go through such a rigorous ‘Does that fit the canon?’ And I feel like it’s bittersweet. [The reason that happens is] because people care, but it also doesn’t allow, sometimes, things to venture beyond where maybe they should, to tell a better story. So it can sometimes really handicap what I think are better narrative options.”
Comparing Kenobi to Andor, for example, Stanton went on to say that he envied Andor as the show is “is in a safe spot” in terms of canonicity so it “can just do whatever the heck it wants”.
Similarly, The Bad Batch’s producer Brad Rau expressed similar sentiments, describing how Lucasfilm keeps a careful eye on how the canon is being handled while speaking with The Direct.
“We rely on the Lucasfilm Story Group a lot…specifically any time we occasionally will have a storyline, or a character, or a setting that they’ll weigh in on and let us know if there’s something else going on. We don’t ever feel like restricted but they’re definitely there to help support [us] and make sure things are connected.”
Images: Disney
