Star Wars: The High Republic is Lucasfilm's latest multimedia project , that will explore events taking place 200 years prior to the events of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace . After the much beloved Old Republic was made non-canon and relegated to the Star Wars: Legends category of stories, fans Originally beginning development under the name ‘Project Luminous’ , Star Wars: The High Republic is a new publishing initiative that chronicles stories of the Jedi Knights at the height of their power. The project will also not be tied to any film or television property.
The project was intended to launch this summer with the adult novel Star Wars: The High Republic – Light of the Jedi, which was previously set to kickstart The High Republic on August 25, 2020 . A new report from the official Star Wars website has given new release dates for a variety of the different media associated with The High Republic ...
NEWS
A new set of dates have been officially announced for a multitude of projects under The High Republic banner.
The adult novel Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi, written by Charles Soule and the middle grade novel Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage , written by Justina Ireland, will both release on January 5, 2021. The young adult novel Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark, written by Claudia Gray, has also moved its release date to February 2, 2021.
Further release dates will be announced at a later time for the Star Wars: The High Republic comic book series from Marvel and IDW Publishing’s Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures series.
This news was accompanied by a formal statement from Creative Director of Lucasfilm Publishing, Michael Siglain:
WHAT THIS MEANS
As Star Wars: The High Republic is a massive undertaking for Lucasfilm Publishing, it is understandable why compromises had to be made for its launch. Logistically, the project is likely to be incredibly difficult to coordinate under current circumstances.
The wide array of media types that The High Republic encompasses, from novels to comic books series, makes the development of this project more unique than other Lucasfilm print ventures. Secondly, Lucasfilm has stated that creatives have been given a lot of freedom with the stories that they can tell. However, it is likely that there needs to be some sort of approval process to ensure Lucasfilm is happy with the projects and that there is no contradiction between these stories. In both cases, a sense of consistency has to be established, which is difficult to achieve across so many different sub-projects whilst not under the same roof.
Neither comic book series from Marvel or IDW Publishing previously received release dates, so official word will most likely be held off on until Lucasfilm Publishing is confident on a firm release date.
Siglain's accompanying statement lists a variety of terms and phrases related to the projects, including "The Hero of Hetzal", "the twins", "the Blade of Bardotta", "the Starros and San Tekka clans" and "the Storms." Some of these terms have appeared in Star Wars canon previously, with Bardotta being a planet that appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. "Starros" could refer to the character Sana Starros, who has recently been associated with Han Solo in the novel Last Shot , and "San Tekka" likely refers to Lor San Tekka, who was briefly seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens .
Hopefully we will be able to learn more about what Star Wars: The High Republic entails before it finally launches in 2021.
