Star Wars: The High Republic release date and trailer

This week marks the first in a long line of releases for a new era in Star Wars. Star Wars: The High Republic has a launch date of January 5, 2021, appearing with a set of books that'll open the floodgates. Today we've got a launch trailer as well as an hour-long panel presentation with some of the main names in the first wave of publishing for Star Wars: The High Republic.

The Launch Trailer

Star Wars: The High Republic is a publishing mega-event. It's a story that spans comic books, novels, and... magazines? According to Lucasfilm Publishing, there'll be at least some miniature elements of the overarching story in magazines, comic books, and novels. Take a peek at the teaser here:

In the trailer you should witness the bit that makes very CLEAR that this set of stories takes place well in advance of the original Star Wars movies – and the prequels. It's not so far back that they'd not allow Yoda to drop in – he'll be sneaking in for sure – but we are traveling back further than we've ever been before – at least here in the modern era of Disney Star Wars canon.

The first titles

Authors included in the first mix of releases include Charles Soule, Justina Ireland, Cavan Scott, Daniel José Older, and Claudia Gray. The following presentation is a panel with StarWars.com's Kristin Baver with Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain.

• "Starlight Stories" (magazine short stories in the magazine Star Wars Insider) by Charles Soule and Justina Ireland

• The Monster of Temple Peak (graphic novel) by Cavan Scott and Rachael Stott

• Out of the Shadows (young adult novel) by Justina Ireland

• Race to Crashpoint Tower (second middle grade novel) by Daniel Jose Older

• The Edge of Balance (manga) by Shima Shinya, Justina Ireland, Mixuki Sakakibara

The panel above should explain a whole lot about what this mega-event is all about. It'll include stories for all ages – young to old, new readers to adult Star Wars fans that've been reading Star Wars comics and novels since the universe first started to expand beyond the movies.

The first "Starlight Stories" entry was released in Star Wars Insider issue #199 – everything else starts on January 5, 2021. We'll see more comic books, novels, and entries in series aplenty through the next few months – and possibly years!