The Star Wars universe is vast and full of endless storytelling potential, but one area that has yet to be fully explored on the big screen is the time period known as the Old Republic. This era, which takes place thousands of years before the events of the Skywalker Saga, is rich in lore and filled with fascinating characters. So, why hasn’t Lucasfilm made an Old Republic movie yet?
One possibility is that the studio has been focused on other projects, such as the Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and the Acolyte. Another could be hesitancy to work on established lore and characters for Legends seeing the backlashed received over the Sequel Trilogy and instead focusing on Disney-era creations like the upcoming High Republic era.
It’s fair to say the reasons are multifaceted and hard to pin down, but there’s no question in my mind that Lucasfilm should delve into the Old Republic with a movie or streaming series ASAP.
Despite taking place thousands of years before the events of the Skywalker Saga, the Old Republic era has strong thematic ties to the core Star Wars trilogy. The Jedi Order and the Sith, for example, are integral parts of the Star Wars universe, and their origins can be traced back to the Old Republic era.
The Old Republic is home to a wide range of interesting and complex characters, such as Revan, Bastila Shan, and Darth Malek. These characters have garnered a strong following among Star Wars fans, and it isn’t hard to imagine them carrying their own movie or streaming series.
Take Revan, for example; the former Jedi Knight turned Sith Lord whose journey from light to dark and back again. It’s such a compelling arc that could be explored in more depth. If you’ve not heard of him, his tale is a tragic one in which a strong desire for victory during the Mandalorian Wars ultimately him down the troubled path of the Dark Side.
The Mandalorians were a formidable warrior culture at the time and had begun to expand their territory and conquer planets beyond their own borders. Revan saw this as a major threat to the peace and stability of the Republic and grew increasingly frustrated with the Jedi Order’s “wait and see” policy of non-intervention.
This obsession with defeating the Mandalorians led him down a dark path that culminated in the Battle of Malachor V, when Revan, along with his padawan Malek, used a superweapon called the Mass Shadow Device; basically, Revan sacrificed his whole fleet to defeat the Mandalorian fleet. After this tragedy, through manipulation, the Sith Emperor Vitiate completed both the Jedi’s fall and embrace of the Dark Side, with both taking the mantles of Darth Revan and Darth Malek.
Speaking of Mandalorians, most fans, die-hard and casual alike, are all familiar with the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. We are seeing a tattered and scattered version of this race of warriors. The Old Republic has amazing stories that would be fantastic to see in live-action revolving around a vastly different era for the Mandalorians and the creator of the Darksaber, which is now owned by Din Djarin in The Mandalorian.
During the Old Republic Era, the Mandalorians were a warrior culture renowned for their fierce fighting style and powerful armor. Despite their reputation as ruthless fighters, many Mandalorians also held strong beliefs in honor and tradition.
Tarre Vizsla was born into this culture and was trained as a warrior from a young age. However, he also displayed a strong connection to the Force, leading him to be taken in by the Jedi Order and trained as a Jedi Knight.
As a Jedi, Tarre Vizsla was able to bring the Mandalorian culture’s ideals of honor and tradition to the Jedi Order, which had its own set of strict moral codes. This led to a greater understanding and acceptance between the Jedi and Mandalorians during the Old Republic Era and helped to ease tensions between the two groups.
Perhaps Tarre Vizsla’s most notable contribution, however, was the creation of the Darksaber. The Darksaber was a one-of-a-kind, black-bladed lightsaber, which Vizsla had built during his time as a Jedi. It is believed to be infused with Dark Side energy, and Vizsla created the weapon as a way to balance the power of the Mandalorians and the Jedi. By the time of The Mandalorian series, whoever wins the Darksaber in combat, is the true and rightful leader of the Mandalorians, The Mandalore.
Lucasfilm, unfortunately, has not given the Old Republic a harder look to develop. They seem to be leaning more into their original era creation of the High Republic, which does have its good points; however, it is all in book form right now, and very few fans have any connection to it. It could very well boil down to the studio being trigger-shy to create new content on Legends material, especially after the backlash they received after the Sequel Trilogy.
Since then, they have done a few things to ingratiate fans again, like having a CGI young Luke Skywalker in the Mandalorian. This is a great first step, especially after the awe-inspiring rescue Luke provided Mando and Grogu in the Season 2 finale, but the fans need more than cameo fan service. Ahsoka is also a great thing to see; however, a lot of her evolution occurred during the Disney era.
The Old Republic era has a dedicated and passionate fan base that has been clamoring for more content set in this time period. A movie or streaming series set in this era would be a great way to satisfy the demand of these fans and introduce new audiences to this exciting era of Star Wars history.
Regardless of the reasons, it’s clear that the Old Republic has a lot of untapped potential and would make for an exciting and compelling movie or streaming series. Here’s hoping that Lucasfilm takes the opportunity to explore this fascinating time period in the near future – anything to keep us from returning to Tatooine for the thousandth time in the series.
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