Star Wars: The High Republic

Screenshot: LucasfilmStar Wars’ next live-action project is one of its most ambitious yet—a series that will bring a previously unexplored era to the small screen, and with it darkness. The Acolyte, a story that will foretell the downfall of the Jedi Order from its highest highs and examine the rise of the Dark Side, is nearly here, and we finally have a look at its sinister heart.Lucasfilm and Disney have released the very first trailer for Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte, the first live-action adaptation of Star Wars’…

Screenshot: LucasfilmThe Jedi are talking to Mother Aniseya, played by Jodie Turner-Smith, described as the leader of an independent “coven of witches” that places high value on the preservation of their practices and beliefs. While she’s an entirely new character, all her face markings, her gesturing, and her “Mother” title may have some High Republic fans’ minds afire: it certainly sounds a lot like the Path of the Open Hand.Introduced as a major faction in the second phase of High Republic stories—themselves set a…

When The Acolyte hits Disney+ in June, it’ll be the first time many Star Wars fans discover the High Republic, an era of the franchise set hundreds of years before the movies. Others though have been reading about it for years and they’ll surely be anxious to see if any of their favorite characters pop up.James Mangold on his Future Star Wars Film | io9 InterviewTurns out the answer is... only one will. In an interview with Collider, Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland confirmed that only one previously known High Republic…

It’s official. The next live-action Star Wars that’ll hit your eyeballs is The Acolyte, and it’s coming sooner than you may think. Disney just revealed a teaser poster for the show with an intriguing tagline, lightsaber, and the release date of June 4. Oh, and the trailer is coming Tuesday.‘I Started a Yoda Fan Club’Here’s the image.Image: Lucasfilm“In an age of light, a darkness rises.” Ominous stuff. What we know for sure though is that the “age of light” mentioned here is the High Republic, a time centuries before any…

When Star Wars first arrived in the world—back when it was just the original trilogy, mountains of toys, and one peculiar holiday special—fans knew where things stood. The Jedi were the good guys; Darth Vader and his pals were the baddies. But in the decades since, things have gotten a lot murkier across both sides of the Force.James Mangold on his Future Star Wars Film | io9 InterviewSpeaking to C Magazine, Amandla Stenberg—soon to star in Star Wars series The Acolyte, created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland for…

Star Wars: The High Republic may have began as a golden age for its titular government and the Jedi Order that stood beside it—but later this year things are taking a turn towards darkness, as Lucasfilm’s prequel publishing initiative kicks off its third and final phase. But as dark as things will be, the future got a little clearer at San Diego Comic-Con.‘I Started a Yoda Fan Club’At today’s Lucasfilm Publishing panel, creatives behind the High Republic novels and comics gathered to peel back even more layers around what…

You feel like for something to be “Star Wars,” there are only two prerequisites. One, set it in the stars. Two, there should be wars. But the upcoming Disney+ show The Acolyte is only embracing one of those staples. It’s very much set in a galaxy far, far, away but, for the first time, it’ll be set in a time of star peace.The show, which is expected to hit Disney+ in 2024, was created by Leslye Headland and is set near the end of the High Republic era in Star Wars. So, well before the prequels. But even at the start of…

When we say that Star Wars has a complicated relationship with death, it’s usually about how the franchise is unwilling to let go of its own past, or how a desire to cheat the final end has driven much of the series’ theological explorations recently. Sometimes, it just means you have to be persistent as hell to survive being dragged away by giant monsters into the bowels of an exploding space station.‘I Started a Yoda Fan Club’That was the case for young Wookiee Jedi Burryaga Agaburry, a breakout highlight of the first…

After Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, it will be impossible for Star Wars fans to ignore The High Republic era. Once limited to books, Disney is starting to make the fictional time period matter a lot more to the overarching narrative of Star Wars. If upcoming shows like The Acolyte weren’t already an indication of that to you, then The High Republic’s presence and relevance in Survivor will be. Although the game isn’t set during The High Republic — it takes place in the Reign of the Empire time period between Revenge of…

Image: Disney Lucasfilm PublishingIt’s surprising to look back and recall that in the time since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down large public gatherings and now, as events slowly but surely continue to re-enter social life, that a whole new era of Star Wars has come into being. The High Republic may have had to weather a storm as it arrived over the last few years, but now, at their first in-person panel together since “Project Luminous” was first announced, its architects can look back at what they have made together.…