Ever since the High Republic kicked off in 2021 with Charles Soule’s High Republic: Light of the Jedi novel, High Republic fans have been asking / pleading / demanding that we get more High Republic content in shows, games, and film.
And that’s already begun to take place.
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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor by Respawn Entertainment was hugely popular and the storyline was jam packed with High Republic lore, tie-ins, and mentions.
The children’s show, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, takes place during the High Republic as the cast sport the classic High Republic style tan, white, and gold Jedi robes.
And the upcoming live action show by show runner Leslye Headland showrunner, The Acolyte, takes place at the end of the High Republic, showing us viewers a look into the dark side and how the Sith were able to operate from the shadows. The plan at the moment is for this show to debut at some point in 2024.
When you factor in the dozens of comics, manga, and books from the initial “Project Luminous” High Republic publishing initiative… it’s clear the High Republic is well represented in Star Wars lore at the moment.
(and well received as nearly all of the adult and young adult novels have been on best seller lists almost immediately after release)
One thing we don’t know is how much High Republic source material, i.e. the books and comics, will be included in future live action or animated projects.
We know that Jedi Vernestra Rwoh took the first step from paper to screen as she’ll appear in The Acolyte played by Rebecca Henderson but what about the other characters from the books and comics? Will any stories be directly adapted to screen?
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Kathleen Kennedy teased that more stories related to the books and comics could be on the way. Here’s the question that was asked and Kennedy’s reply.
Host: “You’ve had a huge book initiative with The High Republic and all these novels coming out. So is that a space where we’re going to start to see more on screen?”
KK: “You know it could be because one of the things we talked about in publishing was how we could begin to incubate certain ideas. And in the case of The High Republic there’s been some wonderful storytelling that’s gone on there. It’s not necessarily what’s Leslye’s doing with Acolyte, but it certainly opens up the possibilities of being able to tell stories in that space.”
My thoughts:
I’ve seen a lot of people the last 24 hours or so calling this “confirmation” that the High Republic books and comics will be adapted into Star Wars shows and movies. Lucasfilm considering more High Republic content for live action or animation this isn’t surprising.
UPDATES: Pre-orders for this months comic and book catalog are live.
I don’t view this quote as “big news” because I don’t think it confirms the High Republic content will be direct adaptations. Instead it confirms what we already knew… that The High Republic publishing initiative, while big in it’s own right, was always intended to be a starting point for a new timeline era in the Star Wars universe. Not a complete story by itself.
The Acolyte proves that the era has a big future planned but this quote is the first I’ve heard Kathy reference the source material for the era as a potential incubator for show or film stories.
I would love a live action or (preferably) animated adaptation of the Phase I stories but I think it’s more likely they take the most interesting or popular characters and create new stories based on existing storyline threads laid out by the Project Luminous authors.
With the movie announcements from Celebration all being about stories in different eras I would think that trend could continue. Where you have High Republic movies or shows happening at the same time as Old Republic, New Jedi Order, etc. stories.
That being said:
If they did adapt a High Republic story to a show or movie… what would you like to see included?
Grand Admiral Babu
