Star Wars: The High Republic Trailer Released

Monday night, executives and creators from Lucasfilm assembled to finally unveil Star Wars: The High Republic — the project the outfit has been working on for years under the working title of Project Luminous. Though the movement doesn’t include any live-action or animated movies and television shows (as of yet), the company is focusing all of its creative output on a massive in-canon publishing effort. That includes novels for both kids and adults as well as comic books from a variety of vendors like Marvel and IDW.

After the massive release was done, the company revealed a teaser trailer played at the event covering the upcoming “Phase 1,” as they’re calling it. The four minute promotional piece covers some of the upcoming stories, revealing The High Republic officially takes place a few hundred years prior to the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and the beginning of the Skywalker Saga.

As explained in the trailer, The High Republic takes place during a time when there are no active Sith. With no classic antagonists for the Jedi to go up against per se, the new novels and comics will introduce a group called the Nihil, a group that’s been compared to space pirates. Judging by the concept art that’s been released, the looks of the characters are far from anything we’ve seen such as the Empire or First Order.

“Star Wars: The High Republic features the Jedi as we’ve always wanted to see them — as true guardians of peace and justice. This is a hopeful, optimistic time, when the Jedi and the Galactic Republic are at their height. But of course, into this glorious new era something wicked this way comes,” Lucasfilm publishing creative director Michael Siglain said in a release. “This initiative will give readers young and old a new corner of the galaxy to explore through rich, meaningful stories. Plus, readers will learn what scares the Jedi.”

As of now, there’s no official indication that Lucasfilm plans to adds feature films and or shows — either live-action or animated — to the current The High Republic slate. Previous reports suggested otherwise, but executives on-hand at the event seemingly suggested these books and comics would serve as the bridge to other properties on-screen.

Star Wars: The High Republic books will start getting released in August.