Granted, Lucasfilm eventually changed their thoughts on a first Jedi story, because that is exactly what they tapped James Mangold to do for his upcoming “Star Wars” movie. The new movie is titled “Dawn of the Jedi,” and Mangold has teased it to be the “Star Wars” equivalent of a biblical epic, telling the story of the first Jedi and of the Force.
Clearly, Lucasfilm has significant interest in going back to the very beginning of the Jedi. For fans of the Old Republic, the good news is that the era is still part of the official “Star Wars” timeline, and given we’ve seen the Rakata teased in “Andor,” and the introduction of an entire new galaxy in “Ahsoka,” there’s plenty of room from which to mine lore and additional stories.
What makes the concept of “Dawn of the Jedi” intriguing is that it is separated from the rest of the “Star Wars” movies by millennia, meaning it gives Mangold a completely clean slate to tell a story unburdened by canonical characters and events. Even the Old Republic era is so familiar to fans from the comics and the games that there is a risk of having to include that stuff in some way (or change it). Plus, if this eventual movie is anything like the “Dawn of the Jedi” comic series, there’s potential for some incredible storytelling here. Benioff and Weiss’s vision may have fallen by the wayside, but at least we’ll get to see that period explored on screen — assuming Mangold’s film doesn’t get scrapped, too.