The Future Of Star Wars May Be Hiding In Plain Sight
Say goodbye to the High Republic.
Star Wars generally puts out all sorts of material simultaneously. There are the movies and TV shows, of course, but there’s also a steady trickle of games, books, and comics. It can be hard to keep up with it all, which is why they usually don’t intermingle; you don’t need to catch up on the comics before you watch a TV show, and you don’t need to know anything about the Clone Wars era to understand what’s going on in The Mandalorian.
Because of that siloed approach, there are entire sagas Star Wars fans can miss out on because they’re relegated to the franchise’s Outer Rim. And now that one of the most ambitious and underrated Star Wars eras is ending, the door is open for an even bolder follow-up.
The High Republic was a massive and often-overlooked venture.
When The Acolyte premiered on Disney+, fans who only watch the movies and shows may have been a bit thrown off by its High Republic setting. That era, when the Jedi were at the height of their power, comes a century before the prequel movie trilogy, and was the subject of a massive multimedia project encompassing novels, comics, young reader books, and audio adventures. It began in January 2021, and now this chapter of Star Wars is closing with Trials of the Jedi, a novel by veteran writer Charles Soule that’s hitting shelves on June 17.
So what comes next? The answer may be hiding in plain sight. The Acolyte was set in the waning days of the High Republic, so it didn’t interfere with the ongoing narrative. However, the two weren’t completely separate; fan-favorite character Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) was brought to live-action, as her species, the Mirialans, live for centuries.
Rwoh proved the High Republic can work on screen.
Now, Star Wars can and should create a series or movie set during the High Republic. With the books ending, there’s plenty of material to pull from and no concerns about accidentally superseding future novels. Those who have read the books would be eager to tune in to see tie-in moments and cameos, and the era is full of fresh ideas for heroes and villains that would make a new series stand out from everything that’s come before it.
It wouldn’t be an unprecedented move: Young Jedi Adventures, a children’s animated series on Disney+, is set in the High Republic. Those characters are more invested in learning about teamwork and kindness than saving the galaxy from the forces of evil, but it still proves that the setting works. It makes sense to keep building on it.
The High Republic initiative may be over, but all that work shouldn’t be wasted. Star Wars needs a shake-up, so why not try something new in an era with all its pieces already put in place?
