Star Wars‘ Project Luminous has officially been unveiled by Lucasfilm, heralding a new era of stories in a galaxy far, far away. The idea is to start moving away from tales set in the busy years between The Phantom Menace and The Rise of Skywalker and give creatives a blank slate on which to tell stories that won’t create conflicts with continuity.
As such, these new projects will take place in the High Republic, an era set roughly 200 years before the movies in which much of the galaxy remains uncharted and there’s some kind of “Jedi Knights of the Round Table.” The line will begin with novels and comics, and Lucasfilm publishing creative director Michael Siglain billed it as follows:
“Star Wars: The High Republic features the Jedi as we’ve always wanted to see them — as true guardians of peace and justice. This is a hopeful, optimistic time, when the Jedi and the Galactic Republic are at their height. But of course, into this glorious new era something wicked this way comes. This initiative will give readers young and old a new corner of the galaxy to explore through rich, meaningful stories. Plus, readers will learn what scares the Jedi.”
We’ll be introduced to it in “Phase 1” of the project, and here’s what that’ll consist of:
Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (Poe Dameron, The Rise of Kylo Ren). Release date: August 25th, 2020.
“Two hundred years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, in the era of the glorious High Republic, the noble and wise Jedi Knights must face a frightening threat to themselves, the galaxy, and the Force itself…”
Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland (Lando’s Luck, Spark of the Resistance) Release date: September 8th, 2020.
“When a transport ship is abruptly kicked out of hyperspace as part of a galaxy-wide disaster, newly-minted teen Jedi Vernestra Rwoh, a young Padawan, an audacious tech-kid, and the son of an ambassador are stranded on a jungle moon where they must work together to survive both the dangerous terrain and a hidden danger lurking in the shadows….”
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray (Bloodline, Leia: Princess of Alderaan, and Lost Stars). Release date: October 13th, 2020.
“Padawan Reath Silas is being sent from the cosmopolitan galactic capital of Coruscant to the undeveloped frontier—and he couldn’t be less happy about it. He’d rather stay at the Jedi Temple, studying the archives. But when the ship he’s traveling on is knocked out of hyperspace in a galactic-wide disaster, Reath finds himself at the center of the action. The Jedi and their traveling companions find refuge on what appears to be an abandoned space station. But then strange things start happening, leading the Jedi to investigate the truth behind the mysterious station, a truth that could end in tragedy…”
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures by Daniel Jose Older (Last Shot, From a Certain Point of View). No release date announced.
This will be a comic series by IDW aimed at a younger audience, featuring characters exploring the Jedi mythos and the new universe.
Star Wars: The High Republic by Cavan Scott (Star Wars Adventures, Tales from Vader’s Castle). No release date announced.
This is planned to be an ongoing comic series published by Marvel taking place on the Starlight Beacon, which appears to be at the center of the Old Republic’s stories.
This is all pretty intriguing, and I doubt that Disney and Lucasfilm are going to restrict Old Republic stories to just books and comics. Right now, we don’t know exactly what’s going to follow-up The Rise of Skywalker, but with a number of film projects being quietly developed, I think there’s a decent chance that these High Republic titles will lay the groundwork for larger-scale stories to come in the movies.
Tell us, though, what do you make of this new Star Wars initiative? Does it excite you? And what do you hope to see from it? Let us know your thoughts down below.
