"Star Wars: The High Republic" is Disney's new Star Wars saga

A shake-up of the Force: Disney has revealed what the Star Wars Celebration announced at last year's Project Luminous is all about: A new Star Wars saga in novel and comic book form.

The saga is called "Star Wars: The High Republic" and is intended to tell a large, coherent story that takes place 200 years before "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace". It will be told through novels, comics and books for young people. Similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the saga will be divided into several phases, with the first phase debuting in August 2020 and comprising three titles.

• "Light of the Jedi", 25 August 2020, novel
• "A Test of Courage", 8 September 2020, children's novel
• "Into the Dark", 13 October 2020, young adult novel

There will also be two comic books

• "The High Republic", Marvel
• "The High Republic Adventures", IDW

Further phases will follow, promise the creators, who include authors such as Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older, Cavan Scott and Charles Soule. In addition, the time period deliberately does not overlap with films, games or series that are currently planned, so that the authors have the necessary freedom for creative development.

The High Republic: What's it all about

The High Republic is inspired by one of the most famous Star Wars quotes ever, which comes from Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi:

The story takes place over 200 years before the first Star Wars film, when the Jedi Order was considered the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic. At least that's what Charles Soule, author of the "Light of the Jedi" novel, says in the video above.

"The High Republic saga will show a new kind of Jedi Order that is currently experiencing its heyday," adds Soule. The Jedi Knights in the Inner Regions of the galaxy will literally resemble the Knights of the Round Table of Arthurian legend: they wear magnificent costumes and carry Excalibur-like lightsabers.

In the Outer Regions, on the other hand, the Jedi patrol like Texas Rangers, trying to monitor individual sectors of the galaxy. This is because the influence of the Jedi and the Galactic Republic is significantly less there, which is why the greatest dangers come from precisely those regions.

A catastrophic event that goes down in the history books of the Star Wars universe as "The Great Disaster" sets events in motion.

"A lot of Jedi are going to come together to deal with the Great Disaster," says "Light of the Jedi" author Soule in the video, without giving details. "What is it that scares the Jedi the most? How would they deal with something so galactically terrifying? That's what the whole saga is built on."

The new terror of the galaxy: The Nihil

In the wake of the Great Cataclysm, a new Star Wars villain emerges: A race, or grouping - it's not said exactly - that calls itself "the Nihil". According to Soule, the Nihil were conceived by the authors' working group as bloodthirsty space Vikings.

The working group, incidentally, wrote the entire High Republic saga in George Lucas Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California - including the ending. This is intended to avoid gaps in logic and problems with tone in "The High Republic" that have previously plagued the new "Star Wars" trilogy - a trilogy that was effectively created "on the go".

"The Nihil are able to use and manipulate hyperspace for their own purposes. That makes them dangerous," says Soule. Accordingly, the space Vikings are not uniformed soldiers who serve a higher purpose. Although they are united, they are also on their own.

In fact, the Nihil are deliberately designed to be as different as possible from the Empire's generic stormtroopers. Iain McCaig, who designed the look of Darth Maul in "The Phantom Menace", even used the term "punk rock" to describe them.

Last but not least, Soule says that while the saga will be Jedi-heavy, it will also spotlight other characters like smugglers, scoundrels and bounty hunters.

And one of the new characters is even named after me. The young woman is called Luca. Me as a man too. No joke.

This means that the future of "Star Wars" probably lies in its past. Although not as far back as Bioware's "Knights of the Old Republic", the new era should nevertheless bring a breath of fresh air to the galaxy far, far away. Fans will have to wait a while until the next cinema film anyway: 2022 should be the year.

Does "The High Republic" perhaps even lay the groundwork for the new film?