Star Wars 7: 10 Things From The Force Awakens That Were Inspired By The Expanded Universe

Disney’s The Force Awakens is a lovesong to Star Wars movies of yesteryear, and in many ways the new film plays out as a tribute movie, bringing back all of the best bits from the original trilogy. Many elements of the movie’s plot, visual design style and character arcs are directly inspired by the adventures from the first Star Wars movie from 1977 and its direct sequels, giving fans a big dose of sci-fi nostalgia.

Outside of the original movies, though, the creators behind The Force Awakens were also able to draw on a wealth of Star Wars stories from other media, including books, comics and videogames that were created to tell further tales in the Star Wars “Expanded Universe.” While these supplementary tales are not canonically linked to the new movie, there are plenty of similarities between classic stories and Disney’s latest blockbuster. Some of these appear to be deliberate references, while others are examples of great minds thinking alike.

It’s interesting to see where The Force Awakens drew its inspiration, and what similarities exist between other stories. These links also give fans of the new movie a few excellent places to see more of the same within the Star Wars universe. With that in mind, here are 10 Elements of The Force Awakens That Were Taken from the Expanded Universe – but be warned if you’re worried about spoilers for the new movie and various other Star Wars stories, as there are plenty of heavy spoilers throughout this list: