Star Wars: Episode VIII THEORY - Is Benicio Del Toro Playing Grand Admiral Thrawn?

5. But Wait, How Thrawn Can Appear In The New Timeline?

The biggest barrier to Thrawn's appearance in Episode VIII would ostensibly be the fact that the Expanded Universe (pretty much every non-movie piece of the Star Wars narrative pre-Disney) has now been officially termed non-canon and thrown under the rather unforgiving Legends banner. While it was certainly sad to see thirty-plus years of fiction rendered worthless, it's hard to argue with Lucasfilm's decision - not only were vast swathes of the EU average at best, but it was so complex and contradictory that it would be damn near impossible to make new, exciting movies around. The real downside is that many fan favourite characters - Mara Jade (Luke's wife), Jaina and Jacen Solo (Han and Leia's incredibly troubled twins) and Kyle Katarn (protagonist of the best Star Wars game ever) - no longer exist. Or at least that's how many people have taken it. In reality, the whole point of keeping the EU under the Legends banner, rather than just getting rid altogether (aside from pissing off the many writers over at Wookiepedia), is so the new creators of the Star Wars timeline can dip into it. Yeah, it's unlikely Luke will shack up with the Emperor's Hand and The Force Awakens pretty much removes any chance of Jaina/Jacen existing, but that's not to say popular elements won't be canonised. The Clone Wars did just that, bringing Darth Bane officially into the movie-canon fold, while Star Wars: Aftermath, the first novel set in the new, post-Return Of The Jedi timeline includes an allusion to Boba Fett's survival from the Sarlaac (a long-accepted EU event). So while Thrawn's exact adventures - for example, using cloned Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth to wreak havoc on a thirty-something Luke - won't appear in the new continuity (because that clearly doesn't fit), there's nothing stopping a new version of the character, sharing all his traits and personality, appearing in some form.