10 Huge Changes Disney Made to Star Wars Canon (2024)

By the time Disney purchased Star Wars in 2012, the franchise had been running for 45 years. Six feature films, animated series, and countless spin-off books, comics, and video games that became known as the Expanded Universe helped fill out an entire universe.

In 2014, during the lead-up to the release of both Star Wars: Rebels and The Force Awakens, Lucasfilm announced that all additional Star Wars material that was not the six movies or the animated film and series The Clone Wars would now be reclassified as Star Wars Legends, no longer canon to the franchise. This gave Disney a clean slate to create new stories so the audience would not know what would come next.

While some fans were upset, many did embrace the new additions. In the subsequent years, Disney has filled out many corners of the franchise, from the post-Return of the Jedi period to the time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope and with The Acolyte far into the past, 100 years before The Skywalker Saga. Disney has introduced a few major retcons to the Star Wars galaxy, and these are the biggest ones.

10 Han and Leia's Kids

It is hard to argue that the original post-Return of the Jedi material before Disney bought Lucasfilm was "canon" since even George Lucas had a complex view of it, even hating the character of Mara Jade, who became Luke Skywalker's wife. That was always canon in a nebulous sense, but there were elements that Lucasfilm did pull from when making the sequel trilogy that was reworked.

The biggest being Han Solo and Leia Organa's children. In the original expanded universe, they had three children: Twins Jacen and Jaina and their youngest, Anakin Solo. The Disney films gave them one kid, Ben Solo, the main villain of the sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren.

Reimagining the Solo Children Storyline

Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is an amalgamation of two characters, Han and Leia's son, Jacen, and Luke Skywalker's son, Ben Skywalker. He takes the name Ben, but in terms of personality, he is a lot like Jacen. Both Jacen and Kylo Ren were gifted Force users who were trained by their uncle Luke Skywalker before falling to the dark side and adopting a new title; in Jacen's case, he became Darth Caedus.

He is ultimately defeated by his twin sister, Jaina, who in some ways was reimagined into the character of Rey for the films but is not Ben's sister like in the Expanded Universe. Both the Disney and Expanded Universe make Han and Leia suffer having a child fall to the Dark Side, but the Disney canon streamlines these elements.

9 Putting Thrawn Before the Original Trilogy

Grand Admiral Thrawn is arguably the most popular character introduced in the original Expanded Universe to never appear in the films. He was created by author Timothy Zahn and first appeared in 1991's Heir to the Empire, which is seen as the first true entry in the Star Wars Expanded Universe push during the 1990s.

The Thrawn trilogy was the central storyline that took place immediately after Return of the Jedi and showed Thrawn as a major threat to the New Republic. Even though Disney made The Thrawn trilogy non-canon, they realized the character would be a strong hook for fans, and in 2016, it was confirmed that Thrawn would be finally brought into the proper Star Wars canon as the main villain for Star Wars: Rebels season three.

He was the main villain for the rest of the show and has since returned to Ahsoka.

The Rise of a Fan Favorite Villain

Disney's big push for Thrawn was to make him a major villain before the events of the original trilogy, as opposed to his Legends role as the main villain for the post-original trilogy story. Timothy Zahn wrote a new Thrawn trilogy for Disney and Lucasfilm, one that explored his origins during the Clone Wars, while Star Wars: Rebels season four ended with him disappearing, explaining his absence from the original trilogy.

Now, with his appearance on Ahsoka, it looks like Disney is looking to make a loose adaptation of the Thrawn trilogy books with him as the first major antagonist to the New Republic, a threat that will unite various corners of the Star Wars franchise and lay the groundwork for The First Order in the sequel trilogy.

8 Padme's Handmaiden Has a Bigger Role

One of the biggest fun facts fans like to point out is that Padme's main handmaiden, the one who serves as her decoy and wears the Queen's outfits when Padme is in the same room, is played by Keira Knightly in one of her first major acting roles.

Given how big of a star Keira Knightley is, even if she's unlikely to return to the role in live-action, Disney has expanded her character Sabé out in the comics and books. Sabé has gone from being a character introduced in The Phantom Menace to now being a major figure following Padme's death and a part of Darth Vader's story that most casual fans will likely never know about.

A Minor Character Becomes a Major Player

One of the first major reveals about Sabé that was made is the fact that she was sent to Tatooine, where Padme met Anakin and discovered the planets still had slavery and was able to relocate a number of slaves to the planet Karlinus, but she was unable to find Shmi Skywalker as she was already part of the Lars family. It is also revealed that Sabé founded an organization called The Amidalans, a resistance group that is loyal to Padme and is investigating who killed her.

Sabé is also revealed to have been in love with Padme but knew the feelings could have been reciprocated, but this does inform her decision to try and redeem Vader following her discovery he was Anakin Skywalker as Padme's final recording revealed there was still good in him. From being a member of the criminal organization Crimson Dawn to many missions with Darth Vader, Sabé is now a big part of the franchise following Disney's purchase of Star Wars.

7 Explaining the Flaw in the Death Star

The original Star Wars is all about the Rebels needing the plans for the Death Star that R2D2 has stored in his memory banks so they can examine it and hopefully find a weakness to exploit. They discover a small exhaust port in the Death Star, which Luke Skywalker is eventually able to land two proton torpedoes in and destroy the massive might of the Empire's strength and give the galaxy a sense of hope that they can win against all odds.

The idea behind this simple flaw was to show the Empire's arrogance, not seeing such a minor detail as a threat to their massive military might. A simple design flaw meant to highlight their overconfidence, which Lucasfilm decided to retcon and make an intentional flaw made by someone on the inside.

An Inside Job

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story revealed that the exhaust port in The Death Star was secretly put there by the weapons key architect, Galen Erso. He built a vulnerability into the Death Star after the Empire forced him to work on the machine in the hopes that one day it could be destroyed.

This is a major retcon that shifts the flaw from being Imperial overconfidence to now being part of a larger rebel plan, tying into the film's main theme of bringing hope in a hopeless time. Galen Erso was forced to create a weapon of mass destruction, and to make up for his crime, he gave the rebels a chance to bring down the ultimate weapon.

6 Darth Vader Meeting Obi-Wan Again Before A New Hope

For years, fans assumed the last time Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader saw one another was in their battle on Mustufar when Obi-Wan left Anakin Skywalker to burn. This is supported by the fact that Obi-Wan tells Luke nobody has referred to him by that name since before Luke was born, and when Vader and Obi-Wan meet on the Death Star, Vader says when they last met, he was his student, but now is the master.

The implication is that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader had not crossed paths in the 19 years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope...but in 2022, the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi revealed that the two did meet nine years after their fateful battle on Mustafar.

Solving Multiple Issues at Once

Many fans were scratching their heads at the idea of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader meeting between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope when a writer for the planned feature film version of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Stuart Beattie, speculated that Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi must have encountered one another again.

Lucasfilm did resist the idea at first, saying it could not happen, but Beattie pointed out in Return of the Jedi when Vader says, "Obi-Wan once thought as you do," when Luke thinks he can be redeemed, which is not present anywhere in the duel on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith and even says Anakin was lost. Lucasfilm agreed with the theory and allowed it to be worked into the story.

This confrontation also allowed Lucasfilm to address one minor plot hole that could come up in the years following the original film. Obi-Wan Kenobi refers to Darth Vader as "Darth," even though when the movie was filmed, that was not the case. Now, Obi-Wan refers to him as "Darth," which is a symbol of how he no longer sees Anakin but an entirely new man.

5 Boba Fett Survived Return of the Jedi

Boba Fett is a character that fans of the Star Wars franchise loved despite not actually getting to do anything in the original films. He basically just stood there, looked cool, and got on a lot of merchandise, a staple that would continue on for other Star Wars characters like Darth Maul, General Grievous, and Captain Phasma.

Like those characters, most of what fans loved about Boba Fett came from the expanded universe of stories, including the reveal that he survived his death in Return of the Jedi, for which many fans for years had been upset about how poorly the character went out.

Yet Boba Fett actually survived, which would not be made proper Star Wars canon until after Dinsey purchased Lucasfilm, where The Mandalorian showed he survived, and how exactly he did was revealed in The Book of Boba Fett.

From Bounty Hunter to Leader

Lucasfilm essentially pulled directly from the original Expanded Universe stories for The Book of Boba Fett's reveal, showing him crawling out of the Sarlacc pit. Disney officially brought back Boba Fett and continued his story as now an anti-hero, working alongside The Mandalorian and then becoming a new crime boss on Tattooine.

The new Boba Fett now has a strong character arc that can be tracked across the franchise. Following his father's death in Attack of the Clones, he starts to make a name for himself as a young bounty hunter and tries to live up to his father's reputation. During the Reign of the Empire, he became ruthless, doing what he needed to survive. Following his near-death experience, he decided to turn his life around and become a man of honor like his father, Jango Fett.

4 Establishing the Stormtroopers Were NOT Clone Troopers

Speaking of Jango Fett, Attack of the Clones revealed the Republic's grand army was, in fact, a clone army, and when audiences saw the Clone Trooper armor, it was clear the intention was this would grow into the Stormtroopers of the original trilogy, further underlined by the films ending of showing a massive army of Clone Troopers boarding Star Destroyers that will one day become the Empire's signature ship.

With the Imperial March playing, the idea was that audiences were seeing the formation of the Empire's grand army and how they would be able to conquer the galaxy. This idea is even supported by George Lucas's addition of Jango Fett bumping his head on his ship, making it an in-universe retcon for the Stormtrooper who bumped his head in the first Star Wars. Yet now audiences know Clone Troopers and Stormtroopers are two different classes.

Stormtroopers Are Cheaper

Part of the reason behind making Stormtroopers, not Clone Troopers, was that kids had grown up loving the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which did a lot to humanize and give the clones personality. It made the show and the movies darker, learning that all of them would become evil.

Star Wars: Rebels established that people enlisted to become Stormtroopers, but it was The Bad Batch that showed audiences how and why the Empire phased out the clone army for an enlisted army. The Empire needed to cut costs to fund projects like the Death Star, and it was easier and cheaper to pay soldiers than to pay for the creation of clones.

Disney and Lucasfilm's decision also solves a problem the initial Clone retcon made, as it explains why the Stormtroopers all look and sound different across the original trilogy.

3 Reexamining the Rules of the Jedi in The High Republic

The High Republic initiative of books and comics launched in 2021 was a big step for Star Wars, establishing a new history for the franchise that had not been touched since the Old Republic was made non-canon in 2014. It allowed the creators to explore not only a new era of the Star Wars franchise but also really give fans the version of the Jedi they always imagined instead of the compromised figures in the prequel trilogy.

One of the biggest changes was the revelation that the Jedi could have sex, something many fans assumed was not possible due to Anakin needing to keep his marriage to Padme a secret.

A Jedi Shall Know Love

Sex and marriage are not always linked, but with the Jedi being so closed off from marriage or personal attachment, it was just assumed Jedi could not partake in other pleasures. George Lucas himself confirmed that the Jedi are not supposed to be celibate; they are just not allowed to form attachments.

This didn't exist in any of the canon films, but since then, The High Republic era of Star Wars stories has canonized that Jedi can have sex. This now recontextualizes the prequels and what exactly made Anakin's romance and children so forbidden in the Jedi Order.

2 The Number of Jedi that Survived Order 66

In Revenge of the Sith, Order 66 saw the Clone Troopers turn on the Jedi and nearly wipe out the entire Jedi Order. Audiences knew Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda survived, and there was likely a chance others did since Obi-Wan Kenobi did send out a warning, but the original trilogy seemed to imply that the Jedi were all but extinct and that Luke Skywalker and his sister Leia Organa truly were the last hope for the galaxy.

Yes, the video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed all centered around Darth Vader having a secret apprentice sent to hunt down surviving Jedi, but in recent years, fans have seen that a number of Jedi did survive Order 66.

A New (Many) Hopes

Since Disney purchased Lucasfilm, audiences have learned that Padawan Kanus Jarrus survived and took on his own apprentice, Ezra Bridger, in Star Wars: Rebels. Ahsoka Tano's fate was finally confirmed to have survived Order 66 in the series finale of The Clone Wars and lived even past the fall of the Empire. Cal Kesitis, the protagonist of the games Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor, survived.

Characters like Kelleran Beq and Grogu, wookie Jedi Gungi, and various Jedi who later became Sith Inquisitors all survived Order 66. Given how big the Jedi Order was, it makes sense that a number of people survived, although this is likely only a fraction. However, it does somewhat change Luke's role in the original trilogy.

1 Somehow Palpatine Returned

Easily the biggest retcon Disney made to Star Wars, and the one that has angered most fans, is the return of Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Not only does Palpatine survive Vader's sacrifice in Return of the Jedi, but it also then retcons Disney's own Star Wars film.

They reveal that Palpatine was actually behind the creation of the First Order and Supreme Leader Snoke, despite the fact that neither The Force Awakens nor The Last Jedi even hint at that. It also retconned Rey from being a nobody, having to make her own destiny, to instead being a Palpatine and part of a special bloodline. This is the ultimate retcon that managed to anger every subset of the Star Wars fandom.

Biggest Retcon That Caused The Most Damage

How Palpatine survived is the retcon that keeps on retconning. Not only did it change elements of Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, and Rey's stories, but it also has now made Lucasfilm need to go back and use other Star Wars stories to explain exactly how Palpatine returned and why all the smoke and mirrors behind Snoke. T

he Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, and Ahsoka have all dedicated parts of their story to explaining how Palpatine returned from beyond the dead. This one simple retcon for The Rise of Skywalker still has ripple effects on the franchise to this day.