A new Stars Wars animated series will focus on the distant past within the Star Wars universe. According to multiple sources, the new animated series set in the High Republic era is in the works. Disney and Lucasfilm has focused on expanding the Star Wars mythology over the past couple years with the High Republic being the focal point.
Lucasfilm Publishing is kicking off the next chapter in Star Wars with a series of novels set in the era when the Jedi Order was at its most powerful. The High Republic era existed some 200 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and around 800 years after the fall of the Old Republic. Disney is touting the High Republic as the next era of storytelling for the franchise.
Work on this new era began at Lucasfilm in 2018 as Project Luminous. The Lucasfilm team brought in authors who ranged from adult to young adult (ages 13-18) to middle grade (ages 8-12) literature. From there, the Lucasfilm team started to flesh out the characters, politics, factions, and technologies of the era.
THE NEXT STAR WARS PHASE
The first novels and comic books were targeted to launch this fall but have been pushed into 2021 due to the COVID pandemic. Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by the incredibly talented Charles Soule (Anyone) and Justina Ireland’s middle-grade novel Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage were pushed to a Jan. 5, 2021 release. The young adult novel Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark, written by Claudia Gray will now release Feb. 2, 2021.
The novels will be followed by two comic book series. Marvel will produce the Star Wars: The High Republic series, and IDW Publishing managing the Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures comic book series.
Lucasfilm is using the High Republic era to create a clean break for the Skywalker Saga timeline. This makes sense as much of the story has been told from that era in terms of Jedi and Empire (but not all based on all, obviously). The launch of the High Republic novel and comic book series will create the world building for fans so Lucasfilm can branch into other media like films and TV including this new animated series.
As a plus, Yoda will play a role across the High Republic stories. What’s 200 years for a luminous being who lives 900 years? The real questions is—what about Yaddle?
DISNEY KICKS STAR WARS INTO LIGHT SPEED
Last week’s announcement of six new life-action Star Wars series coming to Disney+ demonstrates the company’s commitment to expanding the Star Wars universe. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that reports suggest that Disney has four (or maybe five) animation series in various stages of production.
The Disney Star Wars announcement confirmed the Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Star Wars: Visions animated shows. The Bad Batch follows a specialized clone trooper veteran team introduced in the final season of The Clone Wars. Visions is a series of anime short films exploring Star Wars from different perspectives.
THE NEXT STAR WARS PHASE
The yet-to-be-titled High Republic animated series hasn’t been official confirmed by Disney, but it will be no surprise when it is. Lucasfilm is investing deep in this new direction. That means more books, comic books, merchandise, animated series, and eventually life-actions films and TV shows.
At Warp Gate News, our crew is very excited to explore the High Republic era. We’ll publish a book review of the Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule when it drops.
BTW, did you read our latest article on The Mandalorian?
