Is The Return Of The Jedi Novel Considered Star Wars Canon?

If you want a quick, straightforward take: the movie 'Return of the Jedi' is canon; the 1983 novelization by James Kahn is not part of the current official canon — it’s categorized under 'Legends' after the 2014 continuity reset. The Story Group declared that from April 2014 onward, new books and comics would be the official continuity, while most pre-2014 tie-ins became non-canon unless selectively reintroduced. I still enjoy the novel as a slice of Star Wars history and a source of extra scenes and internal monologue, but for anything that matters to the modern timeline, prioritize the films and post-2014 publications. If you like alternate takes and vintage prose, the novel is worth a read; if you’re tracking official lore, treat it as delightful background.

Honestly, I get a little giddy whenever this topic comes up because it’s one of those fandom rabbit holes where history and nitpicky rules collide. The short of it: the movie 'Return of the Jedi' is absolutely official Star Wars canon — it’s one of the films — but the 1983 novelization by James Kahn sits in a different category now. Back in the day, novelizations and tie-in books were part of the expanding universe that fans treated as real Star Wars lore. They filled in details, gave characters inner thoughts, and sometimes included whole scenes that didn’t make the final cut of the film.

In 2014 Lucasfilm reorganized everything: the films remained the top-level canon, and they created the Lucasfilm Story Group to control continuity going forward. Material published before that reset, including Kahn’s novel, was rebranded as 'Legends' — meaning it’s not part of the official timeline unless elements are later reintroduced in new canonical works. So if you’re asking whether the novel is official canon today, the technical answer is no, not in the unified sense; it’s a beloved Legends book that piggybacks on the movie’s events.

That said, the novel is still a fantastic read for flavor and atmosphere. I still pull it out when I want those little descriptive beats and alternate perspectives that films can’t always show. If you want strict, on-the-record Star Wars continuity, stick to the films and the material overseen by the Story Group since 2014 — but if you want cool throwaway scenes and old-school prose, Kahn’s take on 'Return of the Jedi' is pure nostalgia.

I love this kind of question because it splits the fandom into fact versus feeling. To cut through the noise: the film 'Return of the Jedi' is canonical; the 1983 James Kahn novelization is generally considered part of the old Expanded Universe, now called 'Legends.' In 2014 Lucasfilm made a big continuity reboot. Everything published before that reboot — novels, comics, roleplaying guides, etc. — was moved into the Legends label so the new Story Group could build a single, cohesive canon going forward.

That means the novelization isn’t treated as authoritative in the modern continuity unless specific bits from it have been borrowed or reintroduced by newer, official works. People still read the book for the extra color it provides: internal thoughts, extended scenes, little character moments that never showed up on screen. I usually recommend treating it as a fantastic companion: enjoy it for the texture it adds to the film, but don’t use it as a source for current-canon lore without checking whether newer materials have adopted any of its ideas.