Star Wars News

The High Republic characters & an interview with an effects supervisor

1. The High Republic

In February, Lucasfilm announced the newest addition to the Star Wars universe, The High Republic. The High Republic takes place during the height of Jedi power, around 200 years before the events in the prequel movies. Last week, more details were revealed, including descriptions of some of the new characters.

Star Wars: Light of the Jedi, the first adult novel in the series, will be leased in August. And, yes, that's a Wookiee Jedi!

The five new characters include the young Jedi knight Vern Rwoh, a Mirialan, and Master Loden Greatstorm, a Twi'lek.

The new series – a "multi-platform publishing initiative" – will begin with novels for kids, young adults, and adults and two comic book titles.

More details can be found in this article and this interview with the main writers (both from StarWars.com). Below is a trailer for The High Republic that was released in February:

So far, it looks like The High Republic will be a lot more like what I imagined when I was a kid. I had no concept of the legislative politics and interplanetary trade relations that were central to the prequel trilogy – I wanted action, adventure, and cool creatures! Here's to hoping The High Republic delivers.

2. An interview with creature and special make-up effects creative supervisor Neal Scanlan

Between Star Wars, Jim Henson, my love of sci-fi/fantasy/mythology, and having an artist for a dad, I have always been drawn (pun intended!) to practical special effects and creature design. Two TV shows that I miss are the Syfy series Face Off and Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge, but The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and The Mandalorian were more than enough to salve those wounds.

Check out this cool article from Film School Rejects that I came across this week, "Neal Scanlan On Making the Monsters and Cuddly Critters of 'Star Wars'". It's a glimpse at what it's like to be a special effects artist. I especially appreciate that it talks about the difficulties of working on designs that may not even get much screentime – it's a good lesson in having a growth mindset.

Below are photos of some of the critters Neal Scanlan created for The Rise of Skywalker, oki-poki sand rats and an Aki-Aki, both from the planet Pasaana.