It already happened a long time ago, of course. But we’re going to have to wait a while longer to see what’s next for the galaxy far, far away.
StarWars.com has officially confirmed that its upcoming storytelling and publishing initiative The High Republic—a series of interconnected novels and comics following the Jedi Order in a period approximately 200 years before the events of the Star Wars movies—has, due to “general marketplace delays” and, like so many things right now, “these unprecedented times,” been pushed back to a January 2021 launch.
The initiative was originally set to kick off August 25 with the release of Charles Soule’s novel Light of the Jedi, but now that novel, alongside Justina Ireland’s middle-grade novel A Test of Courage, will release January 5, 2021. They’ll be joined a month later by the Claudia Gray YA novel Into the Dark, now launching February 2, 2021, with further announcements to come “at a later time” for new rollouts for both Marvel Comics and IDW’s planned tie-in High Republic comic series.
“I know that waiting isn’t easy. And I know fans have been excited for this since it was first announced,” Lucasfilm Publishing Creative Director Michael Siglain said in a statement. “And while I still can’t say much about it, I can tell you that our story architects—Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland, Daniel José Older, Cavan Scott, and Charles Soule—are continuing to work away on this new era of stories.” You can see Siglain’s full letter below.
Although no announcement has currently been made for its delay—unlike many conventions and gatherings over the now-depleted summer convention season—that High Republic is no longer kicking off this August, this is perhaps an indicatior that Star Wars’ regular fan event, Celebration, will perhaps announce its own delay soon. The event is currently still set to take place at the Anaheim Convention Center August 27-30, but with one major push for Star Wars no longer coinciding with it—although Siglain’s statement notes that we will hear more about The High Republic “this summer”—could it itself face a temporary setback soon? We’ll have to wait and see.
Star Wars: The High Republic is now set to launch in January 2021.
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