Knights of the Old Republic Series on the way
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I think if and when they do anything with the Old Rebublic era, the two most logical stretches of time to base it in would either be: the schism that caused the Sith to splinter from the Jedi, or the fall of the Old Republic and the resultant chaos as the Sith ruled the galaxy, fighting each other as much as anyone else.
A straight adaptation of KOTOR wouldn't work as by design, it's too dependent on player choice and for that matter, it's narrative is very similar to the OT.
I could however see them re-imagining Revan and The Exile as figures in the Sith schism. Hell, you could even go as far as making Revan the founder of the Sith Order, only for him to loose control of his own disciples and see his (perhaps more moderate) ideology twisted and corrupted. If nothing else it'd throw a bone to those few fans still so enamoured with the idea of "Grey Jedi" while also demonstrating why it just won't work.
For the character of Revan they already borrowed quite a bit from the earlier TotJ material (he's basically Ulic Qel Droma but with amnesia and a less tragic ending) so some of that could be folded in too. Maybe combine Exar Kun and Darth Malak as one of his first disciples that took his philosophies beyond extreme, betraying him and wrenching control of the others away from him. Have the Exile as a former friend (or sister?) that remained loyal to the Jedi perhaps? There's a lot they can do without just retracing the old EU material verbatim.
Anyway, Keanu is the wrong gender to be playing Revan anyway!
A straight adaptation of KOTOR wouldn't work as by design, it's too dependent on player choice and for that matter, it's narrative is very similar to the OT.
I could however see them re-imagining Revan and The Exile as figures in the Sith schism. Hell, you could even go as far as making Revan the founder of the Sith Order, only for him to loose control of his own disciples and see his (perhaps more moderate) ideology twisted and corrupted. If nothing else it'd throw a bone to those few fans still so enamoured with the idea of "Grey Jedi" while also demonstrating why it just won't work.
For the character of Revan they already borrowed quite a bit from the earlier TotJ material (he's basically Ulic Qel Droma but with amnesia and a less tragic ending) so some of that could be folded in too. Maybe combine Exar Kun and Darth Malak as one of his first disciples that took his philosophies beyond extreme, betraying him and wrenching control of the others away from him. Have the Exile as a former friend (or sister?) that remained loyal to the Jedi perhaps? There's a lot they can do without just retracing the old EU material verbatim.
This is not news. This is someone making fan art as a "what if" based on mostly wishful thinking.
Anyway, Keanu is the wrong gender to be playing Revan anyway!
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Star Wars tech is fairly stagnant in terms of general things.
Hyperdrives are basically the foundation of the Old Republic, and its said to be 25,000 years old (roughly based on Obi-wan's "for a thousand generation" line.
The have droids, though they tend to be boxier and slightly less personably (and slightly less useful). They have energy weapons, but they are less efficient than Clone Wars era blasters.
Lightsaber technology is basically the same, depending on just how far back one goes. Five thousand years or so back, the lightsaber is basically the same, but it requires a larger power pack and a cable to the handheld unit, thus its somewhat tethered to the user.
Starships could be as deadly as anything the Emperor made during the Galactic Civil War. Maybe not as large (maybe). Probably not as powerful. But there have been times of regression and rediscovery after so many galactic scale wars between forces involving the Jedi and the Sith. Even in the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons, they stumble on ancient ruins that are technologically more advanced (in some respects) to what they have in the Galactic present. These technologies tend to be Force based or Kyber crystal based. So lost tech, or deliberately buried technology, in an effort to save the galaxy from such dangerous weapons (one line of this type of technology would lead the Galactic Empire to build the Death Star's superlaser and the First Order's Hyperlaser whatzit.)
Hyperdrives are basically the foundation of the Old Republic, and its said to be 25,000 years old (roughly based on Obi-wan's "for a thousand generation" line.
The have droids, though they tend to be boxier and slightly less personably (and slightly less useful). They have energy weapons, but they are less efficient than Clone Wars era blasters.
Lightsaber technology is basically the same, depending on just how far back one goes. Five thousand years or so back, the lightsaber is basically the same, but it requires a larger power pack and a cable to the handheld unit, thus its somewhat tethered to the user.
Starships could be as deadly as anything the Emperor made during the Galactic Civil War. Maybe not as large (maybe). Probably not as powerful. But there have been times of regression and rediscovery after so many galactic scale wars between forces involving the Jedi and the Sith. Even in the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons, they stumble on ancient ruins that are technologically more advanced (in some respects) to what they have in the Galactic present. These technologies tend to be Force based or Kyber crystal based. So lost tech, or deliberately buried technology, in an effort to save the galaxy from such dangerous weapons (one line of this type of technology would lead the Galactic Empire to build the Death Star's superlaser and the First Order's Hyperlaser whatzit.)
If they do go for an Old Republic era story, I can't really see them doing that a direct adaptation of KOTOR or any of the stuff surrounding it. They'd probably build it around the bits and pieces we've gotten in TCW and Rebels. I could see them incorporating a few bit and pieces from the Legends stuff, like they have been since the beginning, but that would probably be it.
Same way Lucas did between the OT & PT: design aesthetics. In the OT the ships were all either simple, colourless, geometric shapes (the Empire), or old and beat up but more organic looking designs (everyone else.), with the costume design following similar themes. In the PT there was a clear Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon influence on the ships with artisan-like flowing curves, fins, bright colours and shiny surfaces. Making way for more WWII inspired design aesthetic as the Clone Wars progressed and the Republic became the Empire. And again, the costumes followed suit.
For and Old Republic series they can drawn on design aesthetics that evoke the sense of a more ancient world. Perhaps drawing on Greek, Roman, Viking, Aztec, Babylonian, Egyptian of South Asian sensibilities. I think the old TotJ comics had a pretty interesting approach by making everything asymmetrical and covered in ornate detailing, with the ships seemingly built on a much more massive scale.
Yeah. The design style will change, but I don't expect the technology level do devolve much. Technological stagnation is a core pretense to the fantasy elements of the franchise. But I do expect to see more design elements akin to Jon Favreau's darksword.
Now whether or not we actually see anything Old Republic, well I think it's inevitable. However, I wouldn't expect much of the Bioverse, if there's even anything at all. I expect it to be more of a pastiche, borrowing trace elements much like the NT has. I also think the concept will be greatly simplified to the point of not much more than "A longer time ago, the Jedi fought the Mandos."
As far as Revan himself, I think it's a possibility. Disney has been pretty clear on its handling of the EU, completely ignoring about 98% of it. However, I think it's safe to say Revan has lapped both Mara and Thrawn is terms of popularity amongst EU characters, and of course Thrawn has already "made the jump." And, at this point, Revan is probably only second it Ahsoka in terms of non-film characters. And then there's the fact that is pretty hard to look at Kylo and not say "hmmm..." And as far as I know, Disney's response to Karpyshyn's treatment was positive.
However, I think it ultimately comes down to licensing. And we still have no idea what's going to happen between Disney and EA. Disney's release a few weeks back was very diplomatic and non-committal in a "Heh. Heh. We're all friends here. Heh. Heh." sort of way. And they've been focusing their efforts towards the Fox deal for the past year, so the 'videogame stuff' probably wasn't a high priority internally. But I expect that to change now.
I see one of two things happening:
Another Disney buyout. This is nothing new, as a Disney/EA merger has been 'rumored' for twenty years now. And EA has been flailing its fiscal arms for a couple of years now. So Disney is undoubtedly keeping a shark's eye on the situation. However, I think is pretty unlikely after the Fox deal. For it to matter (with regards to Star Wars) it would probably have to happen before the 2023 deadline. And I just can't see them making two massive acquisitions in such a short period of time. It may happen further down, but that doesn't matter for the sake of this exercise. Also, there's the real possibility that Disney sees EA's brand as just too tainted at this point. Despite all their media blitzing over the past few months, they seemed to have sunk so deep that even FIFA and BF can't keep them afloat.
I think the more likely scenario is Disney just makes a clean break by letting their contract expire. But here's where things get interesting. I can actually see them trying to make a deal that allows them to take Bioware and all its IP assets with them. And I don't even think because of the Old Republic stuff but for ME - there's just too much potential in the IP for Disney to pass it up. And I think there's 'Disney potential' in Dragon Age as well, to the point I can actually see them starting a huge multi-media/platform campaign for both.
And then something similar with the Old Republic. Either in film or toon or even LA streaming show alongside a series of games in an attempt to "reimagine" the era and align it with the current canon.
Now whether or not we actually see anything Old Republic, well I think it's inevitable. However, I wouldn't expect much of the Bioverse, if there's even anything at all. I expect it to be more of a pastiche, borrowing trace elements much like the NT has. I also think the concept will be greatly simplified to the point of not much more than "A longer time ago, the Jedi fought the Mandos."
As far as Revan himself, I think it's a possibility. Disney has been pretty clear on its handling of the EU, completely ignoring about 98% of it. However, I think it's safe to say Revan has lapped both Mara and Thrawn is terms of popularity amongst EU characters, and of course Thrawn has already "made the jump." And, at this point, Revan is probably only second it Ahsoka in terms of non-film characters. And then there's the fact that is pretty hard to look at Kylo and not say "hmmm..." And as far as I know, Disney's response to Karpyshyn's treatment was positive.
However, I think it ultimately comes down to licensing. And we still have no idea what's going to happen between Disney and EA. Disney's release a few weeks back was very diplomatic and non-committal in a "Heh. Heh. We're all friends here. Heh. Heh." sort of way. And they've been focusing their efforts towards the Fox deal for the past year, so the 'videogame stuff' probably wasn't a high priority internally. But I expect that to change now.
I see one of two things happening:
Another Disney buyout. This is nothing new, as a Disney/EA merger has been 'rumored' for twenty years now. And EA has been flailing its fiscal arms for a couple of years now. So Disney is undoubtedly keeping a shark's eye on the situation. However, I think is pretty unlikely after the Fox deal. For it to matter (with regards to Star Wars) it would probably have to happen before the 2023 deadline. And I just can't see them making two massive acquisitions in such a short period of time. It may happen further down, but that doesn't matter for the sake of this exercise. Also, there's the real possibility that Disney sees EA's brand as just too tainted at this point. Despite all their media blitzing over the past few months, they seemed to have sunk so deep that even FIFA and BF can't keep them afloat.
I think the more likely scenario is Disney just makes a clean break by letting their contract expire. But here's where things get interesting. I can actually see them trying to make a deal that allows them to take Bioware and all its IP assets with them. And I don't even think because of the Old Republic stuff but for ME - there's just too much potential in the IP for Disney to pass it up. And I think there's 'Disney potential' in Dragon Age as well, to the point I can actually see them starting a huge multi-media/platform campaign for both.
And then something similar with the Old Republic. Either in film or toon or even LA streaming show alongside a series of games in an attempt to "reimagine" the era and align it with the current canon.
Revan is a he and the Exile is a she. That's the official 'canon'.
How did the Revan novel handle all of this? I'm assuming it must have given them at least a canon sex, and general appearance.
EDIT: Never mind, I realized that was the old EU, so whatever it established isn't necessarily what the Disney canon could go with if they decide to use the character.
The EU isn't canon. Never was. The licencing people just picked those two options for the sake of simplicity, just as they picked the light side ending for the Dark forces/Jedi Knight games. All of which is moot now anyway.
Which is why I used quotes.
Bullshit. The franchise owner determines what is or is not canon -- and that's not you. The EU was canon before it wasn't. That was the whole point of decanonizing it. Disney's equivalent of the EU is canon under the current system.
Yes, it had Revan as male and Exile as female. I don't recall specific details but it felt like Revan was mullet man in the book.
Rev is 100% correct. The EU was never considered canon. This was stated by Lucasfilm back in the early 90s.
According to random people on the internet. Lucasfilm employees said otherwise.
You may be thinking of Star Trek? For clarification purposes, Star Wars is the one with the laser swords, not the one with Dr. Spock.
No, they didn't. Lucasfilm's official public stance, which was made clear after the release of the Zahn, Dark Empire, and other early novels, was the Trilogy was canon, while the EU was supplemental material they were not beholden too. Lucasfilm simply giving stories the "ok" was not saying it was canon like the EU lovers like to believe. It simply didn't contradict any stories Lucas envisioned at the time... which is completely obvious by how he completely shit on the EU ideas (cloning and Fett for instance) in the Prequel Trilogy later on.