When Disney took over Lucasfilm and Star Wars from George Lucas in 2012, a lot of exciting times came for the Star Wars fandom with new films, as well as new books, comics, video games, and TV shows, all on the way. The other side of that, though, was the removal of the Expanded Universe from canon.

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That removal of the Expanded Universe has left a bitter taste in many fans' mouths. The debate has since raged on over what has done better, the EU or Disney. So, here are five things that the Expanded Universe did better than Disney, and five things that Disney has done better.

10 EU - THE EMPIRE, POST-RETURN OF THE JEDI

In canon, after the Emperor's death in Return Of The Jedi, Operation Cinder occurs. This is seen in Battlefront II. From there, the Rebels fight to defeat it with the war going on for about one year.

In the EU, however, the war against the Empire raged on for 15 years, and they could not be wiped out with one blow. Imperial warlords and loyalists kept it alive. Even after the Emperor's Galactic Empire, the Empire went on in one form or another for a century after Return of the Jedi. A much more exciting and action-packed end to the faction.

9 DISNEY - IT ALL CONNECTS TO THE FILMS

A lot of the EU was very disjointed. Much of it did not add anything to the established Star Wars canon, and while there was a lot that did, Disney has done a far better job of making the content feel more important.

Everything Disney makes from the books to shows to comics to video games all connect in one small way or another to the films. It feels more important to read the books and play the campaigns under the current Lucasfilm banner as it feels like it will be paid off for doing so. While not everything does pay off, it mostly still feels important in some way.

8 EU - Better Original Stories Which Were Not Used To Prop Up A Film Or Show

star-wars-thrawn-trilogy

On the flip side, though, the quality of some Disney books and comics do not reach their full potential because they feel like they only exist to build up to a film or to make it better or explain something that is not clear in said film. The EU does not have that issue.

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The EU created great stories for the sake of creating great stories that enriched the lore and expanded the universe (hence the name). The Thrawn trilogy was not created to make Return of the Jedi a better movie, it was created as a fantastic story, with a brilliant character beloved by fans.

7 DISNEY - THE RATIO OF GOOD TO BAD CONTENT

This is a point that will be argued by those with a blind hatred of the new canon and adoration for the EU. But the EU was full of really awful stuff, just as much awful stuff, in fact, as there was good stuff.

The new canon does not have this issue. Out of three video games, only one of them can be argued as bad, the movies are all extremely well-made, the comics are far more hit than miss, and the same applies to the novels. The TV shows too, Rebels and The Mandalorian are great, whereas the EU TV shows are incredibly poor — except the original Clone Wars miniseries, which was decent.

6 EU - VIDEO GAMES

KOTOR-Bastila

This may be argued as unfair since the new canon is only technically over five years old, and since Jedi: Fallen Order is one of the finest Star Wars games out there. But it does not change the fact the EU is just better at producing quality video games.

Look at any five years of Star Wars after they began releasing games, and they release three more than Disney has manage. From the first game (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back) in 1982 to 1987, there were seven games released. From 2000 to 2005, there was a ton of Star Wars games including both Battlefronts, both Knights of the Old Republic games, two entries into the Jedi Knight franchise, Republic Commando and a whole host more.

5 DISNEY - THE FIRST 5 YEARS

Din Djarin and IG-11 from The Mandalorian

The EU properly kicked off with the Thrawn trilogy in 1991. But no matter what anyone says, there is still content before that point and not much of it is memorable, if any. In the first five years after Return of the Jedi, or even just after A New Hope, there is odd bits, but nothing major.

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In the Disney canon, the first five years have seen three full-length TV shows, video games, a plethora of brilliant comics and another plethora of terrific books. Whereas the EU has 30+ years of content, the Disney canon is just beginning, and is already off to a much, much better start, and does not look to be slowing down.

4 EU - EXPANDED ON ALL ERAS

Yoda meets Darth Bane in Clone Wars

One thing the Disney canon has been criticized for is for focusing too heavily on the era of the Rebellion and Empire. Books and comics are exploring the sequels and some of the Clone War era, but not enough.

The EU, on the other hand, had an insurmountable amount of content for all eras. It had a plentitude of content regarding the era of the Rebellion and Empire, insane amounts on the prequel era, and some of its best content was the brilliance of the Old Republic era and even further back. The Disney canon will likely focus on these eras soon, but they need to get to it before the repetition gets stagnant.

3 DISNEY - LACK OF UTTERLY LAUGHABLE NONSENSE

Star Wars Mount Sorrow

The Disney canon, of course, is not all great. There are some lackluster quality things within it, some content that is too childish, some boring, and of course, everyone has their own opinions on the movies. But one thing there is none of in the Disney canon is the stuff that compares to the nonsense of the EU.

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There is no depressed mountain whose tears can cure anything. Nor is there Chewbacca being killed by a moon, or multiple Emperor clones, or Luke falling in love with the AI of a ship. The EU contains so much ridiculous, laughable nonsense that the Disney canon will never see.

2 EU - A VARIETY OF BADASS SITH LORDS

This ties into the point before about Disney being too fixated on one era. They do not have any non-movie Sith lords that are just simply fantastic. There is Maul, Vader, Palpatine, Dooku, etc, who are all great, but there needs to be more.

Sith such as Darth Revan, Darth Malgus, Darth Bane, Plagueis, Vitiate, Exar Kun, Kreia, Darth Nihilus, and a host more. Some of these Sith are canon but are done so pathetically, like Revan who was very recently made canon via a reference book. Disney needs to up their game massively if they want to come anywhere close to the EU on this front.

1 DISNEY - VADER

This could depend on personal taste but we see it as no contest as perhaps the biggest thing Disney does better than the EU, and that is the handling of Star Wars' most iconic character, Darth Vader.

In the EU, Vader is immensely powerful and forceful, yes. He performs unbelievable feats of power and it is great to see and read about. But he is overshadowed because every Sith lord in Legends is overpowered and does these things. In canon through the comics, etc, Vader is a massive badass (see Rogue One), but also the deep dive into the mental and emotional state of the character is phenomenal. His pain, his suffering, his anger, his power, it is all explored expertly in canon and will continue to be for years.

NEXT: Star Wars: 10 Facts From The Comics About Darth Vader That Have Become Canon