Cavan Scott says The High Republic series is like going ‘behind the scenes’ in Star Wars

Writer Cavan Scott is teasing his Star Wars: The High Republic comic.

So much new Star Wars lore is coming soon with the release of the Star Wars: The High Republic literary series that will begin in January 2021. Earlier today, an excerpt was shared from the Charles Soule novel Light of the Jedi, which will be the first novel released under the High Republic series. And in addition to that, writer Cavan Scott is also sharing more about his High Republic comic coming out from Marvel, and he’s got a lot to say!

In an interview with iO9, Scott shared the long process that went into creating what was then called “Project Luminous.” It includes himself, Soule, Claudia Gray, Daniel José Older, and Justina Ireland, and he says they all tirelessly worked together to create a cohesive new world in the Star Wars universe. This time period takes place about 200 years before the events of the prequels, and it’s seen as the golden era of the Jedi and peace in the galaxy — or at least, the final moments of peace, that is.

According to Scott, as you read on in his comic, you’ll get a better glimpse at the Jedi than ever before. Books, after all, are a great way to spend lots of time with characters and getting to know them, so it’s the perfect place to start if you want to know more about the heroes of legend. Here’s what he told iO9 about that:

"You’re seeing behind-the-scenes—you’re not seeing the propaganda, the documentaries on the holo-net about how wonderful the Jedi are. You’re seeing what the Jedi are actually like. They’re good people, who are challenged, and they get through it. Hopefully, in those first few issues, there’s just a sense that this is new, the sense that you don’t know what’s going to come because there is no role we’re fitted into. There’s no preexisting story we have to get to. We do, but that’s two-hundred years away. So there’s a lot of stories that can be told in that time—and there will be!"

What Scott also mentioned was that in this series, you get to see a variety of different Jedi at a variety of stages in their career. His character Keeve Trennis, for example, is just at the beginning of being a new Jedi. And so it will be a huge feat for her to pull off, right as the Great Disaster in the galaxy is about to happen.

In a preview for Scott’s comic, we got a glimpse at the protagonist as well as her mentor, Sskeer, and you can tell she’s eager to become a Jedi. She just has to prove it to herself that she’s worthy. In the interview, Scott mentioned he connected with his character in that way, saying he had to overcome the feeling of imposter syndrome when it came to being among the greats in the room during the inception of Project Luminous. He used that thought in the creation of his character, revealing:

"That kept coming back to me and fascinating me because we’ve had stories of Jedi who were confident. We’ve had stories of Jedi who search, who want to know more, who want to be better. I want to tell the story of a Jedi who is good, but doesn’t know how good she is—and doesn’t know why she’s been chosen for this and struggles with that question and what that would mean to her character. How would she respond to people? She has a relationship with Sskeer she’s had for years, as his apprentice. And he’s there. But now he’s not there. She’s equal to him. And perhaps he’s going off with other people, and she’s going off on her own. That was fascinating."

Arguably, this could apply to Jedi like Luke Skywalker and Rey, who were fairly oblivious to the Force and the Jedi prior to their training. But it seems like Scott is really going to dig down into a Jedi who is really unsure about her path and why she’s with the Jedi in the first place. (After all, the traditional Jedi were brought in as young children. They didn’t necessarily have the free will to choose/decline in the way Luke and Rey did.)

Overall, it looks like there’s a lot going for The High Republic era. And Cavan Scott’s Star Wars: The High Republic #1 will be out on Jan. 6, 2021.