Star Wars has made the coolest Star Destroyer, the Errant Venture, canon once again. Star Wars is one of the most well-established transmedia franchises, and its first official tie-in novel, Alan Dean Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye, was published back in 1978 - meaning it predates even The Empire Strikes Back. Still, it wasn't until the 1990s that the Expanded Universe really became a success, with the publication of a range of New York Times bestselling novels. These aren't considered canon anymore, but they left an indelible mark on the franchise nonetheless.
Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston's X-Wing books were some of the most popular of all the Expanded Universe stories. They moved the franchise away from the Jedi and focused on a team of skilled pilots fighting on the front lines. Naturally, it wasn't long before the Force wove its way into the stories, with one of the X-Wing pilots - Corran Horn, a former Corellian police officer who'd turned against the Empire - discovering he had inherited the powers of a Jedi. Corran eventually became the central character, even starring in a tie-in called I, Jedi, and he wound up marrying into the family of a smuggler and gambler named Booster Terrik. Booster captured an Imperial Star Destroyer and converted it into a mobile gambling den called the Errant Venture. Hilariously, he spray-painted it bright red to differentiate it from other ISDs.
Surprisingly, Lucasfilm's latest book - Adam Christopher's Shadow of the Sith - has unexpectedly made the Errant Venture canon. One scene in the book sees Lando Calrissian visit a gambling den on Boxer Point Station in the Janx System, and he reflects that his performance there isn't as good as he'd expect from "a dedicated casino like Ferona Viavros, or the Errant Venture (now, there was a good gambling hall)."
Many of the most popular Expanded Universe characters and concepts are becoming canon. The timing of this Errant Venture reference is fascinating, however, because it comes just weeks after Corran Horn himself was referenced in the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ TV series - swiftly followed with an Easter egg to his Jedi father, Valin Halcyon, who survived Order 66. It feels as though the X-Wing novels by Michael A. Stackpole and the late Aaron Allston are getting a lot of attention from Lucasfilm at the moment.
That may not be a coincidence. Lucasfilm has signed off on a Rogue Squadron movie by director Patty Jenkins, currently penciled in for December 22nd, 2023 release - although it's unlikely to make that release date. Whether the Rogue Squadron film releases in 2023 or not, though, these references may well indicate Lucasfilm is preparing the way for a conceptually faithful adaptation of Stackpole and Allston's books. That idea will certainly delight lovers of the Star Wars Expanded Universe.