Now that The Rise of Skywalker has come and gone and the Skywalker Saga has officially come to a close, the future of Star Wars in Disney’s hands has never been more uncertain. Sure, fans know that a second season of The Mandalorian is coming, and the long-rumored Kenobi series will hit Disney+ screens at some point, but many are clamoring for stories set outside the boundaries of the house that Lucas built.
Finally, those prayers have been answered, as Disney and Lucasfilm have released the first wave of information regarding The High Republic, their new publishing initiative. Much has been revealed about the future of Star Wars, yet there are still many questions left unanswered.
10 LEARNED: Set 200 Years Before The Phantom Menace
Finally, we get a sense of where the next age of Star Wars stories is going to take place. Instead of going further beyond the Age of Resistance, Disney and Lucasfilm are going back a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. The Project Luminous stories are set about 200 years before The Phantom Menace, during the height of the Republic and the Jedi Order. It’s a time of peace and prosperity, a Golden Age for the Republic and the Jedi, but a disturbing threat is emerging from the tranquility.
9 QUESTION: WHO’S THIS WOOKIE WITH A LIGHTSABER?
We have questions. While yes, The Clone Wars dabbled in showing us a Wookie youngling wielding a lightsaber, this is the first adult Wookie Jedi seen in the new canon. Who is this Wookie? What sort of Jedi are they? How does this Wookie utilize the force? Is it the same for Wookies as it is for other species? So. Many. Questions.
8 LEARNED: Creative Brain Trust
Lucasfilm has assembled a group of creators with an established Star Wars pedigree to usher in this new era for the franchise. There will be two prose novels released, written by comics superstar Charles Soule and Star Wars: Bloodline author Claudia Gray.
A new ongoing series called The High Republic will be released by Marvel by longtime IDW Star Wars writer Cavan Scott. Other creatives on the project include writers Justina Ireland and Daniel Jose Older, as well as Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain. Lucasfilm brought out the big guns to forge a new path forward for the Star Wars franchise.
7 QUESTION: Where are the Sith?
One major piece of Star Wars lore was left out of The High Republic reveal: the Sith. There are new villains confirmed for The High Republic stories, yet the Jedi’s classic foes are nowhere to be seen. What’s going on with the Sith during this period in galactic history? If a viewer pauses the Project Luminous reveal video at the right moment, they can see the words “Sith Empire” written on the whiteboard in the Project Luminous writers’ room under a heading called “Star Wars Wishes.” MakingStarWars.net reported that the Sith’s “Rule of Two” has been established by Darth Bane at this point in history, but none of the officially released material has mentioned the Sith at all. Something wicked this way comes, perhaps…
6 LEARNED: Stories for all readers
When you look at the sheer amount of different publishers that will be producing content for Project Luminous (see later in this article), it becomes clear that this initiative is tackling all age brackets. Disney and Lucasfilm are approaching this new wave of stories from every angle, attempting to provide new Star Wars content for every type of reader: adults, teens, and children.
It's an additional reminder of Disney's aim to be more inclusive with the brand, as Star Wars was always meant for everyone, and Project Luminous isn't breaking away from that message.
5 QUESTION: Who Are The Nihil?
Check out these crazy looking figures! These are the newest villains in Star Wars: The Nihil. In the video dropped by Lucasfilm announcing The High Republic initiative, creators described the Nihil as “space Vikings.” That’s definitely a sentence that gets the blood pumping, but we don’t know much about them. What we do know is that The High Republic’s story will begin with an event called “The Great Disaster,” and one can only expect that these Nihil cause it.
4 LEARNED: Publishing Initiative Across All Mediums
One of the big logistical takeaways from the Project Luminous reveal is that the initiative is spread out across a vast lineup of publishers and mediums. In the reveal video, a lineup of ten different publishers will be releasing Project Luminous related material in the coming months and years.
These include Disney/Lucasfilm Press, Marvel Comics, IDW Comics, Titan Comics, Del Rey, Becker & Mayer, Abrams, DK, Viz Media, and Inside Edition. These publishers encompass everything from comic books to prose novels to magazines to manga to encyclopedias, photo and art books, and model kits. With an already massive team behind it, Project Luminous seems ready to invade every form of media possible.
3 QUESTION: Who Are The New Jedi?
Here’s what we do know about the new Jedi: they come from a Golden Age of the Republic, an era of peace, and many spend their time on the fringes of Republic space acting as lone-Texas Ranger types. These are the “Jedi Knights of the Round Table.” The Project Luminous team brought in veteran Star Wars concept artist Iain McCaig, responsible for the designs of Darth Maul and Padme Amidala, and comic book artist Phil Noto to design the new Jedi.
However, even with all this information, fans are in the dark about exactly who these new Jedi are or what sorts of characters they’re going to be. No names were dropped, no indication of who our core group of characters is going to be, and nothing that truly differentiates these Jedi from the ones fans know already. So the question remains: just who are these new Jedi?
2 LEARNED: “What Scares The Jedi?”
In the reveal video, it’s mentioned that the creative team behind The High Republic settled on one question to drive the new era forward: “What scares the Jedi?” It’s an intriguing question, as the Jedi Council members we see in the prequels don’t seem to be afraid of anything. This ultimately led to their downfall, as they underestimated their hidden enemies at every turn. To see the Jedi actively afraid of and unprepared for some lingering threat will be a fascinating change of pace for the series. They’ve been fighting the Sith for countless generations, a seeming embodiment of evil, and faced them without hesitation. What kind of enemy could give the Jedi pause?
1 QUESTION: Will The Next Movies Be Set During The High Republic?
Now, this is the big lingering question that every fan is asking themselves right now. With Disney set to continue making Star Wars content seemingly until the end of time, and the Skywalker Saga finally at a close, there are innumerable paths the series could take going forward. This direction, far enough away from the Skywalker Saga but close enough to directly impact it, could be the perfect balance of old and new that Disney has yet to master. Finally, after five years of stories, Disney and Lucasfilm are no longer bound by the shackles of the Skywalker Saga, and this High Republic era could be their way into the franchise’s future. All signs point to The High Republic as the setting for all future major Star Wars stories, but we won't know for certain until Disney confirms or denies this.