Published Apr 21, 2026, 2:50 PM EDT
Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor.
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Star Wars fans need to heed a hard truth about canon from author Jonathan Hickman, best known for revolutionizing the X-Men and other Marvel superhero franchises: it's never going to 100% fit together. Part of the joy of the Star Wars franchise is that all the pieces matter, but fans don't like it when pieces clash. According to Hickman, though, canon is about accepting "contradictions."
As Jonathan Hickman once put it, the history of the Marvel Universe is really "60 years of contradictions." We can call the sum total of these contradictions "lore." But "canon" is different. Canon, Hickman said, "is what people remember, and what sticks."
This perspective has allowed him to do radically different things with familiar Marvel characters, and it's something the Star Wars franchise, and its fans, could learn from.
Star Wars Canon Is Full Of Contradictions; Fans Have To Learn To Accept That
A Lesson From Marvel Author Jonathan Hickman
For a certain subset of Star Wars purists, Darth Maul died on Naboo. Maybe he was resurrected by some Dark Side warlocks shortly before the Battle of Yavin, and killed again by Darth Vader, or maybe not. Maybe he has robotic legs, or maybe he doesn't. It might be that you prefer the old Expanded Universe, now branded "Legends," over the Disney-era continuity. Or the other way around.
Point being, as Star Wars nears its 50th anniversary, it is as messy as the Marvel Universe, no matter which version of canon you look at. And that bugs a lot of Star Wars fans. It shouldn't. Especially not since the franchise was rebooted more than a decade ago. Instead, fans should keep in mind Jonathan Hickman's galaxy-brain point about continuity: that it is "what sticks" out of a mess of clashing ideas.
Star Wars fans are used to taking the latest movie, or show, or book, or game, and retrofitting it into the existing tapestry of Star Wars sources. This generally operates on a hierarchy: film canon could supplant book canon, which could supplant game canon. Disney's reboot was supposed to erase these distinctions, but spoilers, it didn't. And as such, being a Star Wars fan continues to be an ongoing "Game of Retcons."
Redefining Canon Can Help You Enjoy Star Wars More
Canon Is What You Can't Shake
Star Wars turns 50 next year. Like Marvel Comics, it is a decades-long ongoing creative project. A pristine, flawlessly coherent story just isn't logistically possible. If spending your time reconciling the differences is pleasurable for you, then you should be thankful for the contradictions in Star Wars lore. But if it's painful, you need to consider why. And reconsider how you approach canon.
After all, at the end of the day, all each of us really has to hold onto is our own personal head-canon. All Star Wars media is really just a feeder system for that. Discard or ignore anything that doesn't fit your vision of the franchise, but don't begrudge its existence. Because whether it's called "Legends" or "canon," every new Star Wars story is just another permutation of the same mythology.
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This POV has allowed Jonathan Hickman to reinvent the X-Men franchise, the Ultimate Marvel Universe, and Marvel's cosmic characters, just to name a few of his ambitious projects over the last decade. And it's because he's not beholden to continuity, but liberated by the fact that it all comes down to "what sticks" with you.
Tell us your thoughts, Star Wars fans. What defines "canon" for you? What do you think of Jonathan Hickman's definition?
Created by George Lucas
First Film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Cast Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
TV Show(s) The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
Movie(s) Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
Character(s) Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
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