The past of the Star Wars galaxy is coming into focus. On Monday night, Disney and Lucasfilm unveiled the details of an ambitious publishing event that will unfold over multiple years via comics and novels.
Star Wars: The High Republic will take place 200 years before the events of 1999’s Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and will show the height of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order. Taking a page from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lucasfilm will roll out High Republic in phases, with Phase I dubbed “Light of the Jedi.”
“We are so excited to be opening up such a rich, fertile era for our authors to explore,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “We’ll get to see the Jedi in their prime.”
The initiative comes as Lucasfilm is at a crossroads on the big screen following last year’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While a number of films are in development, including from Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, Sleight filmmaker J.D. Dillard and The Last Jedi‘s Rian Johnson, Lucasfilm says none of the projects in the works for the big screen or for its Disney+ shows take place in the time frame High Republic will explore.
The announced projects include Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray; Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland; Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures by Daniel José Older; Star Wars: The High Republic by Cavan Scott; and Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule.
Lucasfilm as been teasing this event since April 2019 under the mysterious name Project Luminous. The first batch of comics and novels will debut at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim in August.
