David Bridges
Lately Marvel introduced that it was bringing to an finish its present period of Star Wars comics—bringing an finish to the more and more unhinged quantity of issues it’d managed to stuff within the single 12 months of the Star Wars timeline between Empire Strikes Again and Return of the Jedi. Now, the writer is starting to tease what’s subsequent. And what is subsequent? Effectively, it actually appears to be like like a cell sport from 2015.
Right this moment the official Star Wars web site revealed the most recent in a trickling set of teasers for Marvel’s plans for its Star Wars comics after it wraps up the present volumes of Star Wars and Darth Vader later this 12 months. All indicators have been already pointing to the writer going into the fast aftermath of Return of the Jedi—first with a brand new Ewoks miniseries set shortly after the Battle of Endor, and now with Star Wars: Battle of Jakku – Insurgency Rising, a four-part miniseries from author Alex Segura, and artists Leonard Kirk and Stefano Raffaele. Insurgency Rising will see the newly shaped New Republic face its first main disaster when a “mysterious” new Imperial goes on the offensive… and all roads will ultimately see the Imperial Remnant and the nascent Republic go to battle over the planet of Jakku, lengthy earlier than it turns into Rey’s dwelling.
The factor is, the brand new Imperials will not be fairly so “mysterious” when you get a look at Phil Noto’s covers for the sequence. Anybody who was round for Lucasfilm’s first massive canonical advertising push for brand spanking new storytelling again in 2015’s “Journey to The Pressure Awakens” transmedia initiative most likely acknowledges a minimum of, Governor Adelhard and Purge Trooper Commander Bragh, the villains of the quick lived cell phone sport Star Wars: Rebellion. One of many first video games to be canonized as a part of the rebooted Star Wars continuity, Rebellion informed the story of Adelhard’s Iron Blockade, an entire shutdown of the Anoat Sector—a serious commerce sector of significance resulting from Tibanna gasoline mining on Bespin—within the wake of the Empire’s defeat at Endor, forcing native insurgents to band collectively to try to resist in opposition to the Imperial blockade, unaware that the Empire has start to fall round them.
It was an fascinating concept, and of import on condition that it was one in every of Star Wars‘ first outstanding sources for post-Return of the Jedi-era tales within the wake of the continuity reboot. But it surely was additionally one Star Wars didn’t actually capitalize on, and confronted a form of drawback it hardly ever needed to cope with within the age of the Expanded Universe: Rebellion was not a very profitable cell sport, and shut down simply over a 12 months after it launched in November 2016. Abruptly, entry to this narrative—quote unquote “necessary” to official Star Wars continuity—was unimaginable exterior of third occasion sources to play offline variations.
Now after all, within the days of the EU, sure sources bought more durable and more durable to get over time—books and comics may get reprinted, video games may nonetheless be discovered on the aftermarket or ported to different platforms. Hardly ever did one thing simply solely come out of existence and stay inaccessible so quickly after it first launched—even for those who take a look at the closest analogue, the tumultuous story of the Star Wars MMORPG Galaxies, that sport a minimum of ran for eight years. There are most likely extra individuals enjoying it now by means of personal servers than there are Star Wars: Rebellion! Points like these confronted by the likes of Star Wars Rebellion simply weren’t actually a factor within the EU’s heyday, however they all of a sudden mattered in a revised continuity the place each single official launch was deemed to be canonical.
Simply how a lot Insurgency Rising straight takes from the story of Rebellion stays to be seen, exterior of key figures like Adelhard and Bragh. However a minimum of some components of that story shall be extra accessible once more—whether or not you discover the sequence on cabinets or digitally, when it begins October 2.
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Ethan Carter
Daniel Mercer
