Star Wars is taking some big steps forward with The High Republic. The new setting, 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, gives writers a blank slate on which to work. As shown in the teaser trailer, the idea is to create a pioneer spirit in which the Jedi will face off against the Nihil, described as “space vikings.” But another thing we can expect from The High Republic is dinosaurs. Yes, you read that right. Dinosaurs.
During the reveal trailer, we got a look at a whiteboard showing the team’s plans and goals for the project. Most of it makes sense, too. They want a universe that feels “authentically lived in,” with relatable characters, an epic scope and (in what seems like a bit of a dig at The Rise of Skywalker) an “actual ending.”
But it’s their “Star Wars wishes” column that’s really interesting. This seems to be the result of some brainstorming of what writers would like to see in the franchise and contains interesting ideas like drawing inspiration from Arthurian legends, which has resulted in their Jedi Knights of the Round Table concept. We also see that they want to include some kind of intergalactic university and rival houses, each of which feel like they’re taking cues from Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.
But at number four on the wish list is “Dinosaurs!” Presumably, they don’t mean actual dinosaurs, but more large dinosaur-like creatures. Of course, there’ve been dinosaur-ish creatures already in Star Wars, including the Dewback, the Krayt dragon and a full-on sentient dinosaur race known as the Tiss’shar (who are currently non-canon, but have been around in Star Wars since 1979).
I’m certainly not going to complain if The High Republic features more dinosaur monsters, though. After all, everything’s better with dinosaurs. Even Star Wars.
