It is incontestable that the "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is a phenomenal movie among the "Star Wars" franchise and until now, it still reigns supreme among the other films. But apart from the box-office credentials that the film of J.J. Abrams got, it's name was originally based on the legendary "Star Wars" video game and novel named "Shadow of the Empire" and could even be the cause of the new breed of characters run in the just released movie.
According to The Daily Beast, Creative Director of LucasFilm Pablo Hidalgo opened up the reveal that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was actually named based on the 90s classic "Shadow of the Empire" which explores the events that happened from the "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." The reason for some notable changes was due to "Shadows of the Empire" being regarded as "Star Wars" non-canon.
"The Shadows story would fill in the details between Episodes V and VI, a chunk of the Star Wars canon Lucas had previously considered off-limits."
"When Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, however, it was decided that anything outside of the movies and Clone Wars TV series would now be considered Legends, meaning non-canon. Shadows was lumped into this category, despite its specific place in the Star Wars canon timeline," as detailed from the outlet.
The "Shadows of the Empire" featured many classic characters which include Luke, Chewie, Lando and Boba Fett and according to The Daily Beast, it also explains some details that happened just like Princess Leia's disguise at the Jabba place and also introduced some new characters like Dash Rendar.
Meanwhile, i09 details just some details from "The Force Awakens" that have stayed connected to the classic "Star Wars."
"Here are just a few of what has stayed the same: the Republic is named, Luke tried to restart the Jedi order, Han and Leia got married and had a child who then turned to the Dark Side, and the Empire continued to persist in fragmented remnants."
The future of the next installment of "Star Wars" is yet a mystery to unfold hence, it is clear that the audience has not bothered with the changes for the movie and showed a big support on "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."