High Republic Launch Event Reveals New Details

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read this disclosure. Affiliate Link Disclosure

The High Republic launch event reveals new details about characters, concept art, book covers, and so much more! The highly anticipated High Republic publishing initiative kicks-off tomorrow with the release of the first books. Today Starwars.com launched a new trailer giving viewers a little more insight into what to expect. The trailer was followed by a panel of the five authors involved with the project Charles Soule, Justina Ireland, Cavan Scott, Daniel José Older, and Claudia Gray.

The livestream event was hosted by Kristin Baver and revealed never before seen covers, concept art, and announced new details from the upcoming books, comics, and other mediums.

New Characters

We already know that the High Republic Era takes place about 200 years before Episode 1 so we expect to meet a variety of new characters. Concept art for some of those characters was revealed today.

High Republic Launch Event Reveals New Details such as Leox Gyasi who was inspired by Matthew McConaughey

Claudia Gray drew inspiration from a Matthew McConaughey-type for one of her smugglers, Leox Gyasi. Daniel José Older used a colleague’s radio nickname from his days as a paramedic to help inspire a character known as “Buckets of Blood.”

Star Wars Insider

Fans are also going to want to pick up Star Wars Insider starting with issue #199 because some of the stories will unfold in the form of short stories about non-Jedi characters. The first three stories are set to be written by Charles Soule, Justina Ireland, and Cavan Scott.

Cover Art

Cover art was also revealed for several of the upcoming books. Viewers got a first look at covers for Cavan Scott’s new graphic novel The Monster of Temple Peak, Justina Ireland’s Out of the Shadows, Daniel José Older’s Race to Crashpoint Tower, and the new IDW Manga graphic novel written by Justina Ireland and Shima Shinya, The Edge of Balance.

The High Republic Show

It was also announced today that Starwars.com is planning a new bi-monthly web series called Star Wars The High Republic Show hosted by Krystina Arielle. The series will take viewers on a journey behind the scenes with creators, artists, and authors.

Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain revealed the first three titles from The High Republic Show. No details were released about what each will be about but he did reveal the names of each phase:

  • Phase I: Light of the Jedi
  • Phase II: Quest of the Jedi
  • Phase III: Trials of the Jedi

Here at Edge of the Galaxy like many other fans, we can’t wait to find out more about the new direction of Star Wars. If you haven’t already ordered Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule make sure you pick it up along with the many other titles. It was also revealed that there is no specific order to read the new publications in.

Lindsey Soucie
Lindsey is a new fan of Star Wars, but since watching all of the movies and visiting Galaxy’s Edge frequently she has become a huge fan. Her favorite character is Darth Vader, and her favorite piece of Star Wars is Rogue One.