After Disney acquired Star Wars they revealed that they intended to clean up the continuity of the saga that over the years has had many inconsistencies, but how have I changed the franchise?
After the aforementioned acquisition, Disney declared that the entire Expanded Universe published until then (including books, comics, video games, series and more) would not be taken into account for the new trilogy and thus be able to work with a clean slate. By the way, that Expanded Universe was named "Legends" and is considered an alternative timeline.
But nevertheless, in the last eight years things remain not entirely clear as inconsistencies continue.
Since Disney had the goal of reaching new audiences and revitalizing the Star Wars franchise, the most logical thing was to eliminate the canon that most fans were not familiar with and that also caused confusion because it conflicted. The rule was that only selected properties would be canon, including the six live-action films and The Clone Wars, and from that point on all Disney projects would be considered canon, allowing the company to maintain control over continuity.
But the problem is that throughout the films there were inconsistencies, presenting inconsistencies in the original trilogy and getting worse with the prequel. Instead of ignoring those problems and moving on, Disney did very little to clarify them and moved forward with its projects that made those inconsistencies grow.
And there are Disney productions that have come into conflict, such as the Galaxy of Adventures series that showed Darth Vader launching giant doors at the Rebel base with the Force even though he does nothing of that in the film, and also He reveals in a duel with Luke that he is fast-paced and athletic in a very different way than what we had seen.
In this way, fans have the conflict of knowing which story has priority, and with the Expanded Universe they knew that there were several "levels" of canon, but with the Disney system everything seems on equal terms.
The reactions of fans to the most recent trilogy and especially to The Rise of Skywalker demonstrate the concern they have about these continuity problems, so we will have to see how Disney decides to address this issue and how they continue to guide the future of the franchise.
