20 Years Later, An Underrated Star Wars Story Could Save the Franchise
The future of Disney+ may lie in the ancient past.
Creative projects fall through all the time, and the Star Wars franchise is no exception. Just look at the slate of upcoming movies and TV shows Lucasfilm announced at Investor Day in December 2020: Rogue Squadron, A Droid Story, and Rangers of the New Republic never saw the light of day. Lucasfilm’s non-Star-Wars projects suffered too, as Children of Blood and Bone was never released, and Willow was wiped from Disney+ after just six months.
Video games aren’t immune to this. It’s looking like the remake of Knights of the Old Republic, the 2003 RPG that set a new bar for Star Wars storytelling, is in trouble. After being “indefinitely delayed” and moved to a different developer, industry insider Jeff Grubb now claims it’s “not being worked on in any way, at any studio.” But could the end of a prestige video game remake be an opportunity for a prestige TV adaptation?
Lost Legends is an Inverse series about the forgotten lore of our favorite stories.
The Knights of the Old Republic remake was given a teaser, but that’s been scrubbed from the internet.
Knights of the Old Republic, set thousands of years before the Star Wars movies, follows a customizable player character as they investigate the threat of Darth Malak and their own lost past. Eventually, they discover a shocking, life-changing secret: the player character, to spoil a 20-year-old twist, is the lost Sith master Darth Revan, whose memories were erased by the Jedi. The player can then choose to continue their Light Side journey, or turn back to the Dark Side.
The now non-canonical story is a fascinating one that incorporates morally ambiguous Grey Jedi, snarky assassin droids, and a slew of classic Star Wars planets. In fact, if it weren’t for the millennia of removal from the current canon, it would make for a great Mando-verse show. The tale of Revan discovering his true identity is the kind of stunning third-act twist fans would go wild for.
As an RPG, Knights has lots of combat that would be suited for television.
Big-budget video game adaptations are having their moment. KOTOR could be Star Wars’ The Last of Us, a prestige show designed to be a mainstream hit. Andor proved Disney+ shows don’t need to be connected to broader storylines to be successful, The Acolyte is set further back in the canon than any other TV show, and comics and books are delving into the High Republic. The misty past of the Old Republic is the natural next step.
The last thing Star Wars needs right now is more TV shows in development, but KOTOR comes with a large built-in fanbase already excited about the video game remake. A show would remove the big decisions players got to make for themselves, but television has its own advantages too. Lucasfilm is exploring the New Republic in exhausting depth; why not mix things up and travel back to a time when the Sith were still truly terrifying?
