When Lucasfilm first announced that it was moving forward with a new trilogy of Star Wars films after George Lucas sold the company to Disney, some fans wondered whether these new stories would draw inspiration from the Expanded Universe. While Lucas has always maintained that Star Wars Episodes I-VI were the official canon, he had no problem with others adding their own creative spin on the Star Wars universe in other forms of media. As such, a sort of “parallel timeline” occurred in which the stories of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Co. continued in offshoot novels, comics, and videogames.

As J.J. Abrams began work on Star Wars: Episode VII—a film that will feature the offspring of the original trilogy characters—some maintained that the story could follow similar events from the Expanded Universe. Producer Simon Kinberg revealed just a few days ago that Episode VII will not be using the EU, and now Lucasfilm has officially put a nail in the coffin once and for all, confirming that the stories for the new Star Wars films will not be drawing from the EU. More after the jump, including an official video from Lucasfilm.

One might say it’s common sense to think that Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy wouldn’t want to draw from any existing material for their new series of Star Wars films, but fans of the Expanded Universe still held out hope that some of those stories could make their way to the big screen. In a lengthy announcement addressing this very issue on StarWars.com, Lucasfilm put the EU issue to rest:

In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe. For example, elements of the EU are included in Star Wars Rebels. The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems are story elements in the new animated series, and all these ideas find their origins in roleplaying game material published in the 1980s.

So, while the Expanded Universe will not appear in official Star Wars films, it’s not being entirely forsaken in this new Disney-owned, Kathleen Kennedy-run iteration of Lucasfilm. The books will continue to be in print, and elements from the EU can be used in other EU-type Star Wars media, like Star Wars Rebels. For clarity’s sake, the press release confirms that official Star Wars canon is Lucas’ six Star Wars episodes and the hours of content he created for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but everything going forward will be canon. In other words, the entirety of the Expanded Universe might be fun to read, but officially it never happened.

The press release notes that for the first time ever, Lucasfilm has formed a story group that will oversee and coordinate all Star Wars creative development, which includes the production of Episodes VII, VIII, and IX as well as the various spinoff films, which are rumored to focus on Boba Fett and Han Solo. This also includes the other types of Star Wars media, which can utilize elements from the EU, so essentially this story group will not only be overseeing the movie universe, but will be definitely deciding what will and won’t be canon going forward. In order to differentiate between what did and didn’t “happen”, the older EU books will carry the “Legends” banner, meaning non-canon. With today’s announcement, it appears that Lucasfilm wants to clear up any confusion before they set out to build a cohesive Star Wars universe going forward.

Watch a video concerning the announcement below, followed by the full press release: