Star Wars Fans Are Annoyed That People Don’t Know Who Revan Is

One of Disney’s objectives when buying Star Wars was to open up the franchise to a wider audience. And whatever your opinions of what they produced, they’ve successfully attracted more girls and women while also maintaining their core fanbase of young men. Indeed, both the Sequel Trilogy and The Mandalorian have introduced a new generation of fans to a galaxy far, far away, but some aren’t happy.

There’s a post going viral on Twitter at the moment bemoaning ‘casual’ viewers. The original author has been cropped out, but it reads:

“One of the worst things about Disney acquiring SW is that now people that never cared about SW are now like ‘OMG! SW is, like, the bestest evar! I’m totally a fan, I’ve been one, since, like, 2015. Reylo forever! Baby Yoda is so cute! Wait, what’s a Revan?”

So, what is a Revan? Well, the character debuted in 2003 Xbox and PC RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, where Revan was renowned as one of the most powerful Sith Lords in the galaxy, though by the time of the game’s start has mysteriously disappeared. But – spoilers follow for an 18-year-old title – it turns out that the player character was an amnesiac Revan all along.

Since that mind-blowing twist, he’s been frequently referenced in related media and was brought into the Disney canon after being mentioned in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary. Fortunately, there’s been a substantial backlash against the aforementioned gatekeeping, with many comments welcoming newcomers to Star Wars. The Haunting of Bly Manor‘s Rahul Kohli was particularly unhappy about it, saying:

https://twitter.com/RahulKohli13/status/1382388420945735681?s=20

And here’s a selection of some of the other comments:

Star Wars is for everyone 🙂 Whether you are younger and just jumped in and liked Reylo from the new movies, hopped on for baby yoda, are a prequel memer, or have been around since 1977, I'm glad we get to explore this giant galaxy together! #Revan #StarWars #SWTOR pic.twitter.com/YmFZv6nczx

— Swtorista (@swtorista) April 14, 2021

https://twitter.com/Diaffixx/status/1382403451284512773?s=20

Plus, gatekeeping over not knowing who Revan is seems pretty ironic, considering that for much of the time, *Revan* doesn't know who Revan is. https://t.co/7LVsixpTl8

— Jo Berry (@Joanna_Berry) April 14, 2021

https://twitter.com/Corey_WolfPack/status/1382393113273016327?s=20

Let's negate this gatekeepy shit.
Hey, are you a Star Wars fan but would like to know who Revan is? Yes? Dope! Revan is a character from the Knights of the Old Republic games you can get for like $10 on Steam. They're amazing games. No? Also dope, you're still a Star Wars fan. pic.twitter.com/zrsPVFjfoq

— V 🌌 (@BlackOutCos) April 14, 2021

I agree. How can you call yourself a fan of any franchise if you’re actively trying to discourage people from liking it? Communities like these are reliant on younger points of view and new perspectives and the way Star Wars has become more egalitarian over the last decade is something to celebrate.

One big positive of all this is that the increased attention on Revan has caused a burst of interest in Knights of the Old Republic. In fact, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad director James Gunn commented that:

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1382384872509952001?s=20

A full-on remake might be coming, but if it’s not, I’d love to see this classic Star Wars game at least get a remastering to give its creaky graphics a fresh coat of paint.