[MUSIC PLAYING]
[WHOOSH]
[BLASTERS SHOOTING]
[THUNDER CRACKS]
[LIGHTNING BOLT ELECTRIC NOISE]
[THUNDER CRACKS]
[MAJESTIC MUSIC]
- We're finding ourselves at a very
exciting moment with the Skywalker saga
coming to an end.
We're at a place of, what's next for "Star Wars?"
One of the things we've always done
is be able to use our franchise platforms
to explore the creative potential
of the "Star Wars" galaxy.
And so what if publishing was more of an incubation place
and bring in great talent and just let
their imaginations run free?
We put together the really unique writers room
where we had diverse voices with very different opinions
about "Star Wars."
- We all love "Star Wars," but we're all coming at it
from very different places.
This has been a very free environment for everybody
to just throw things out there.
- We've all done lots of storytelling.
But this is unique and really special.
- The idea that this thing has been simmering for so long.
- It's the secret history of the galaxy.
- Yep, that goes way back to the beginning of "Star Wars."
- We gave them, essentially, a blank slate.
What would you like to tell?
- For over a thousand generations,
the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice.
- A line that we've been hearing since 1977
and we thought, you know, what does that look like?
- It is a golden age where there's much more
peace and calm in the galaxy.
So we're calling it the High Republic.
- The description that we've used for the Jedi of this era
is that they are the Jedi Knights of the Round Table.
- But "Star Wars" isn't just about Jedi.
And we will tell stories of new smugglers, new scoundrels,
new bounty hunters.
- The threat and the tension really comes
from the Republic's borders.
Because the Republic does not extend from one
side of the galaxy to the other.
- It's a bit of a Wild West new frontier.
We see a different kind of Jedi that patrols the frontiers
and is more of a Texas Ranger.
- We're now bringing in concept artists and illustrators
and visualists the same way that you would
when you're making a movie.
- We even had Ian McKay come down
and just do sketch after sketch for us.
When you have a guy who designed the look for Darth
Maul sketching Jedi for you, it doesn't
get any cooler than this.
- The scale of this initiative is really new for us.
We're going to have stories for adults and teens and kids.
- We're building this out simultaneously
across multiple publishers.
It gives us the ability to tell fast,
interconnected stories across multiple years.
There will be a core group of heroes
that will expand over time.
There will be villains.
- Our main villain are the group called the Nile.
We kind of like to refer to them as space vikings.
- Their motto is, "You can't take it with you.
But we can take it from you."
- Our story starts with what we're
calling the Great Disaster.
- It wouldn't be "Star Wars" without adventure.
And there's definitely a series of events
that that will spin the galaxy into a dangerous new direction.
And it'll give the opportunity for heroes to rise up.
- The cool thing about this that there's going to be a story
for every "Star Wars" fan.
- It's really fun to be able to keep readers on their toes.
This era is ripe for storytelling.
The eureka moment was the question, what scares the Jedi?
And that made us all go "oh, something
wicked this way comes."