I know, I know... I'm being presumptuous, annoying, and possible inconsiderate!
But I've been cast as a 'know-it-all' all my life - so, I have no intention of stopping now.
My reply is giving advice to ALL of the writer's out there.
I choose to first generalize the situation of the circumstance, then apply the solution to the generalization.
This is really a case of how to handle a property that's become a 'hit'.
First as a content creator, you are responsible for any work that you have created. If you care about the work then treat it like it's your child - you should never abandon it, you can pass it to another to insure proper care if you know you can't; but to just leave it out there is to leave it to the wolves (and, no, Rome is not the usual outcome).
For a work that spawns successors there should be a 'bible' of some sort - even if it's just the corpus of the notes that the work was based on - it will give guidance to those who follow. Do not worry about inconsistencies in that bible and/or retconing the narrative - every major religion, political platform, and multi-generational content has had these things happen to it.
I'm going to use the content from DC Comics as examples - DC had its 'Golden Age' heroes that were reimagined (now-a-days we call this rebooting) into the 'Silver Age' heroes; which were, in turn, reimagined again to what we call the 'Bronze Age'. DC used the universe altering multi-title concept 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' to reboot their entire superhero line. DC, subsequently, has continued to tinker with the 'formula' by rebooting and/or retconing in large and in small. Moral of this mini-tale is that a work is a 'living' thing that does get reinvented every now and again... and that is not a bad thing.
For all of you who wish to be successors in the telling of the story - remember your telling is your interpretation of the predecessor's work and is as valid as the original. The choice is yours on how close to canon (or the 'bible') you wish to adhere to. The key is to respect the work that came before, especially if it has a following. If you are making a major reimagining, then say so; either in a forward/preface or a prologue that points to a 'logically consistent' fork in the storyline. [note: the fork can be totally arbitrary - the 'logical consistency' part is required to minimize the 'suspension of belief' so that you get some 'buy in' from loyal readers of the canon].
Look, Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' has been 'covered', revamped, rewritten, reimagined, etc. thousands (if not millions) of times but the readers don't get tired of it nor do writers get tired of trying their hand at reworking it. If a story is good enough to have its own 'fan' base then it usually has something that begs to be flattered by imitation. Talking about 'Romeo and Juliet', I want to tackle a retelling of Paul Atreides and Chani's story in a Voodoo/Loa setting - go figure!
The only way your vision will see the light of day is for you to create the content!
Now I'm going to slink back in my corner to lurk some more and try to take my own advice.
'nuff said
~Ciao