How JFK's 1960's America Influenced Story Of 'Star Wars: The High Republic'

Star Wars: The High Republic is a publishing initiative that just launched this past weeks. It was originally supposed to launch last August, but it finally came, and there is something that just feels right about having this launch at the start of a new year. Within this past week, we saw the release of a couple of novels and the first issue of a comic series. One of the novels, Light of the Jedi, has been getting some positive reception, which is not very surprising given its author Charles Soule's track record with Star Wars. While he has primarily worked on the comics, getting readers excited to read more about Poe Dameron and Darth Vader each month over the years, he has once again made his mark with his new novel, which is set 200 years before the events of the films.

Of course, with each Star Wars story, there tends to be inspiration from elsewhere. In a launch video for The High Republic, Charles Soule talked about inspirations for the era:

"The analogues that I know that I used as touchstones and I think we all, sort of, drew from in different ways were the ideas of Camelot -- two Camelots. One is Arthurian Camelot, which, you know, King Arthur and the Knights and going on quests. And sort of this time of pomp and chivalry and codes and all of that, but with an eye towards, sort of, great drama and optimism."

The King Arthur aspect is a natural fit for Star Wars. The Jedi themselves can be compared to Knights of the Round Table, and some characters like Luke Skywalker and Rey have felt the need to prove whether they are worthy of the swords that they have been given. Even The Mandalorian includes the Darksaber as a Sword in the Stone analog of sorts, as the blade is said to belong only to those who are worthy of it.

Soule went on the describe the other Camelot that influenced the era:

"And then the other is the early 1960s America, also called Camelot, the other Camelot. When the Kennedys were in the White House and it was, generally speaking, not for everybody, obviously, but for many people it was seen as a time of optimism and expansion for America. The Moon program began, Apollo began, you know by the end of the decade we'll be on the Moon, various things like that. It was a time when many, many things seemed possible and there was a reason to be optimistic and a reason to push forward."

Politics and Star Wars are not necessarily a new pairing, so this comparison also makes sense. Soule goes on:

"And The High Republic in many ways is similar. Chancellor Soh has a program of great works, which are huge galactic programs that are designed to, kind of, bring things forward and do cool things. And its just, kind of, a tonal shift from anything we've seen before in Star Wars. There's no Galactic Civil War, there's no shadow of the Sith all over everything. Like everybody's like 'Okay, let's do some cool stuff.' And they do. And that's the stories that we're telling."

The High Republic is certainly nothing to miss, as it is the next big thing in the franchise. Sometime down the line, we will even have a TV series set at the end of the era titled The Acolyte. If you missed the launch video and want to hear the creatives talk about the publishing project, you can check it out below.

Written By Steven Shinder

Syndicated From Culture Slate

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