Star Wars: The High Republic has been announced on StarWars.com and since then fans have been discussing online whether this is a great step forward for Star Wars publishing, or a missed opportunity for Star Wars movies. In today's blog I will break down why I belive this is the perfect step and the perfect time for this step, and what to expect from it!
The Setting
While many fans love to see stories about smugglers and bounty hunters, the core of Star Wars lore has always been the force and its users. The mysterios force, controlled and used by the just as mysterious Jedi Knights, has gotten fans intrigued ever since the original Star Wars in 1977. The classic tale of good and evil found its new form in the light side and the dark side, in Jedi and Sith. Both the prequels and the Expanded Universe did a great job in explaining the Jedi ways and deepening their mythology, but especially with all the Old Republic content being considered Legends now, there really isn't a lot we know about the Jedi and most importantly how their ways changed over time. This publishing series will introduce us to the Jedi at the height of their power, but with that also very different kinds of Jedi than we know from the Skywalker Saga era. On the one hand side, the Jedi of The High Republic have been described as Jedi Knights of the Roundtable. But with the Republic not reaching the ends of the galaxy, there are also border patroling Jedi, described as Texas Rangers - this will bring an entirely new side to the Jedi order.
I personally love stories about the Jedi, the Sith and their history. Especially the Dawn Of The Jedi series in the Expanded Universe was one of my personal favorites. This new take on the Jedi in a new time period and the diversity of Jedi we are going to see gets me very excited.
An Interconnected Universe
The High Republic has been described as one big story, told through various forms of publishing. It will consist of interconnected novels and comics for all ages, But not only the stories themselves will be connected: There will also be (small) connections to the stories we already know. First of all Charles Soule himself confirmed on Twitter, that the Jedi on the cover of Light Of The Jedi is Avar Kriss, who we've already seen as a holocron in Soule's The Rise Of Kylo Ren. Judging by the trailer, we will see the Jedi Temple on Coruscant as well, which will most likely already be the center of the Republic in this time. Se we might see some familiar names in politics, as in Legends there were families who had influenced the Republic's politics for generations. But we might also see some familiar characters - especially Yoda should be around the Jedi Temple training youngling (as always), or maybe we will see him in a completely different position within the order. Don't get me wrong, I am 100% sure this series will not focus on Yoda, but it would be weird if we didn't at least hear his name once or twice. But also characters like Maz Kanata or Chewbacca could show up due to their age.
The Perfect Timing
The Rise Of Skywalker has ended the Skywalker Saga, the "story of a generation", the core of Star Wars. While there is a new movie release date announced for December 2022, we don't know what this movie is going to be, or whether we'll actually get a movie that year at all - I guess we will know more about this project after Star Wars Celebration this year. If they do not make the 2022 release date, I am at least sure, that the 2024 release date will actually see a new Star Wars movie being released. But until 2022 or even later, we will not get fundamentally new Star Wars stories. Yes, we'll get The Mandalorian season two, and possibly even more. Yes, we'll get the Cassian Andor show. Yes, we'll get the Kenobi show. Yes, we'll probably get a new Dave Filoni animated show (my bet is on a Rebels follow-up). And yes, we'll probably get even more than what we know so far. But all of these projects are under the direct influence of the Skywalker Saga. None of these stories will break completely new ground and give us stories, places & characters we've never seen before to the extent of The High Republic. So while there are no fundamentally new Star Wars stories on the big screen, we will get exactly these in printed form. Since Star Wars fans are always hungry for new stories in their beloved galaxy far, far away, now is the perfect timing to release this publishing series.
The Future Of Movies & Television
Yes, it has been made clear, that this time era will - for now - cross over with neither movies nor Disney+ series. But once there is a solid groundwork (and if fans actually love this era), do you really believe LucasFilm would not capitalize on this by making movies or series in the era? This setting now has the chance to get the fans excited, and possibly even generate new fans. If the fan group of The High Republic will only be a small core group, then LucasFilm will likely focus its resources on other projects that more fans will enjoy. But if it really takes off and gets everybody talking, then the novels will just be the (well written and worked out) foundation of new live action Star Wars projects.
I believe this slow start of "only" novels & comics might be the best thing that could happen to the new era. Established authors like Claudia Gray or Charles Soule get a chance to freely create their part of the Star Wars galaxy without J.J. Abrams screwing everything over 2 years later. This planned and thought through take on Star Wars is what really excites me most about this project
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