Charles Soule Outlines His 2024: ‘Trials of the Jedi’, ‘Star Wars’ #50, New Projects, and More
Lucasfilm Creative Consultant Charles Soule is a busy man. Fresh off the Dark Droids crossover from Marvel and the Shadows of Starlight miniseries that set the stage for The High Republic Phase 3, Soule is not slowing down in 2024. In his January newsletter (subscribe on his website), Soule detailed several Star Wars projects in the works for 2024 and 2025. It takes some reading between the lines, but he might even allude to a new direction Marvel Comics could be taking as the year develops, perhaps giving hope to those itching for something new.
Headlining the news dump is the project overshadowing all of Soule’s Star Wars work in 2024. Coming spring 2025 is the finale of the High Republic publishing initiative, Trials of the Jedi. According to Soule, it’s coming along nicely, providing insight into the approach he’s taking:
I am ankle-deep in TRIALS OF THE JEDI, the final novel in the High Republic saga I kicked off with LIGHT OF THE JEDI back in 2021. It’s been three years since THR launched, and will have been over four by the time TRIALS lands. I’ll have been working on High Republic stuff for almost six years when it’s all said and done. Not a bad way to spend my time. TRIALS is pretty well outlined. I’ve built it to feel like a cyclone. You, as a reader, will fall into the top, get spun around, then get closer and closer to the bottom with everything getting faster and more intense (natch) and then… well, we’ll see. It’s designed to work for people who haven’t read anything since LIGHT OF THE JEDI, but also for people who have read every single THR tale we’ve put out. I’ll be working hard on this over the rest of the winter and spring. Wish me luck.
Despite saying Trials of the Jedi can, in theory, be read by people who haven’t read every entry in the initiative, Soule adds he is tossing around an idea on a “one-or-two-shot” comic that’s another “essential piece of the puzzle,” but might not fit in another medium. This would be in line with his Eye of the Storm miniseries, two issues that are chronologically the last entry of Phase 1.
Another big project on Soule’s plate is his ongoing Star Wars line. Four years and 42 issues deep, many readers have indicated that the one-year period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi feels stuffed. Soule addresses that:
I just turned in Issue 47 (which concludes THE TRIAL OF LANDO CALRISSIAN.) 48 is next up, and then a very cool surprise thing we’re doing for Issue 50. I’ll have much more to say about my time on the main title once we hit #50 (which is really like #70 of my run if you include Dark Droids and the Qi’ra Trilogy, which I very much do.) You might be thinking there can’t be too many stories left that we can legitimately tell set between Empire and Jedi… stay tuned, oh ye of little faith. We’ve got some tibanna in the tank yet.
With Soule’s update, the “Trial of Lando Calrissian,” which begins in March with issue #44, seems poised to dominate Star Wars for the spring and early summer. One could say this is the storyline Soule has been building towards ever since he first came on the Star Wars scene with his Lando miniseries. The character has been at the forefront of this Star Wars run, exploring how he could go from scoundrel and betrayer of the Rebellion to general in Return of the Jedi.
It will likely be a while before we determine what Soule means by “tibanna in the tank” regarding Star Wars #50 and beyond. The series should hit that mark in September following the standard monthly release schedule. At the earliest, we’ll have a solicitation for that issue in June, which will shine some light.
Waiting until at least September may not be what some wanted to hear if they are getting tired of this era, but Soule may have shown his hand a little bit. He teased that he is on the verge of beginning work on a new series in April. He said:
I should start an all-new Star Wars title around April-ish. This is one I’ve wanted to do for a long time, which I think you folks (at least the fans of my SW comics) have wanted me to do for a long time too. It’s all approved-ish, and I really, really want to do it, but sometimes things fall apart. Cross your fingers.
It’s pure speculation, but 50 is too nice of a number to end a long-running series on if the opening is there. Theoretically, if Soule is writing issue Star Wars #48 now, it’s plausible he’d finish issue #50 around April and then move on to what’s next. Place your bets on where he is heading next in the comments below. Soule caveats all of this by reminding us that the future is very much in motion.
One thing is certain. 2024 isn’t just going to be interesting to follow on the film and television side of a galaxy far, far away.
Nate uses his love for Star Wars and movies in general as a way to cope with the pain of being a Minnesota sports fan. When he's not at the theater, you can usually find Nate reading a comic, listening to an audiobook, or playing a Mario video game for the 1,000th time.
