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When the creator of the work has something to say about said work, the audience often deems their word as something that follows the canon.
Sometimes, however, it's not the case — what the creator said and what's shown in the work are different.
What could that mean?
If Word of God comes later...
- The author might have forgotten about what actually happened in the story.
- The author is aiming for a Retcon or Broad Strokes, especially if there's more than one author or if the story writer changes (in which case it's related to Running the Asylum and Armed with Canon).
If the contradicting canonical facts come later...
- There's more than one writer, or a new writer replaces the old; in either case they decide to ignore what the God said earlier. Or the holders of the rights to the work disagree with the writer's explanation and tells them to change it. The latter case brings the old debate into discussion: do the license owners determine what's canon and what's not or are the writers the one and only gods?
Examples of Writer Conflicts With Canon include:
- Robert Rodriguez claimed in a reddit thread that Spy Kids and Machete don't take place in the same universe. This goes against the established fact that all of Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's (non-adaptation) movies take place in the same universe.
- Bruce Willis in 2018 declared that Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie. The movie itself takes place during Christmas and makes several references to the season. Granted, it's not a "Christmas movie" in the sense of being a Tastes Like Diabetes Hallmark-esque "True Meaning of Christmas" movie, but no one actually said that, they just said that it's a movie where Christmas is featured, and that many like watching on Christmas..
- Apparently, Word of God said the Snap happened after "Netflix Season 3". Thing is, Netflix doesn't exist in a vacuum, as they are part of the rest of the pre-Plus shows alongside ABC and Hulu/Freeform. And the last seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D made a big deal about Thanos' impending arrival, putting the events of Avengers: Infinity War around the time of "Netflix Season 3" , so the question of wether the Snap happened in the pre-Plus shows is still valid.
- Speaking of Netflix, Word of God prior to Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home was clear about Netflix not being canon (or at least, that Netflix wouldn't have an impact on the movies or on the Plus shows).
- Isao Takahata, the director of Grave of the Fireflies, denied the anti-war message that is not only evident in the movie itself, but in several other Ghibli movies (with Miyazaki himself being fervently anti-war, regardless of Takahata's views, to the point of refusing to accept the Academy Award that Spirited Away won to protest the then-ongoing Iraq War, meaning Miyazaki meant for Grave to have an anti-war message even if Takahata didn't).
- Word of God declared that Twilight Sparkle won't outlive her friends, even though "The Last Problem" shows her with a youthful Celestia-like body while the other five visibly aged, and in canon alicorns live much, much longer than regular Ponies.
- Nicole Oliver reacted very harshly towards a fan at a convention bringing the issue of "Tyrant Celestia". The episode "A Royal Problem" introduces Daybreaker, which is pretty much a canonization of "Tyrant Celestia". Daybreaker comes back in the "Beginning of the End" two-parter, just furthering the status of "Tyrant Celestia" as canon.
- Shane Black, as well as a few comics made around the release of The Predator, still consider Predator and Alien to be the same franchise. Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, and Ridley Scott's own Word of God, all confirm that Alien is a separate franchise from Predator, and every work linking the two franchises together is Canon Discontinuity.