Star Wars has once again ventured into the period of time between the end of the prequel trilogy era and the beginning of George Lucas’s original trilogy. In doing so, the franchise again rewrites its most tragic event–Emperor Palpatine’s execution of Order 66–and confirms that its potential new Jedi Order was ultimately quashed.
The Star Wars Story Never Ends
In Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith (2005), the Chancellor turned Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) uttered three words that transformed the galaxy forever: “Execute Order 66.” The order, given to the swaths of clone troopers during the Clone War era, saw the future stormtroopers turn on their Jedi generals, leaving the galaxy without its leaders of the light.
Of course, as the original trilogy already confirmed over two decades previously, some of those Jedi survived, notably Jedi Master Yoda, who Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) encounters on Dagobah in Star Wars: Episode V–The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
Over the years, with the addition of new media to the ever-expanding franchise, more survivors of Order 66 have come to the surface. Anakin Skywalker’s (Matt Lanter in animation; Hayden Christensen in live-action) former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein in animation; Rosario Dawson in live-action) survived, going on to become Fulcrum during the rise of the Rebellion, as did Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).
McGregor and Christensen returned to the franchise in 2022 for Deborah Chow’s Disney+ limited series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. There, Kenobi’s life as Ben Kenobi was explored as he watched over a young Luke Skywalker on Tatooine before the Inquisitors–Darth Vader’s Force-sensitive Jedi hunters–tracked him down.
The Inquisitors were originally introduced in Dave Filoni’s Star Wars Rebels–the animated follow-up to Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the continuation of the Rebels’ plight against the sinister Galactic Empire. And it seems that Disney and Lucasfilm cannot stay away from this part of the galaxy.
At the beginning of July 2024, Marvel Comics began releasing a new four-part miniseries called “Star Wars: Inquisitors.” The first issue saw Darth Vader and his lethal compatriots hunt down a new character, the Jedi Knight Tensu Run.
Tensu Run, created by Rodney Barnes for the 2024 comic book series, looks to rebuild the Jedi Order in the Imperial Era. All issues of the four-issue run arrived in 2024.
“A new miniseries kicking off July 3 from writer Rodney Barnes and artist Ramon Rosanas, Inquisitors follows the Empire’s Jedi hunters as they narrow in on a new target: Tensu Run, a survivor of Order 66 looking to spread hope and rebuild the Jedi Order,” StarWars.com wrote in April, ahead of the first issue’s release. “He has won the attention of Darth Vader, who is determined to have Tensu killed at any cost.”
The new figure in Star Wars lore continues Disney’s Star Wars trend of embellishing pre-existing parts of the timeline. The addition of Tensu Run and his direct correlation with Darth Vader during such a critical time for the Galactic Empire retcons everything fans thought they knew about Vader and what they knew about Order 66.
“It’s such an honor to be writing the very first Inquisitors solo story!” Barnes told StarWars.com in 2024. “I love this time period of Star Wars lore because it’s the one I grew up on — when Darth Vader and the Empire were imposing their will on the entire galaxy. Plus, I got to create an all-new legendary Jedi with Tensu Run! Truly the best of times!”
If Tensu Run’s urge to rebuild the Jedi Order–an intention that obviously did not come to fruition, as fans know, judging by the lack of an Order during the original trilogy–was so loud that it attracted the attention of the iconic Sith Lord, then Run must have posed a serious threat to Vader and Emperor Palpatine’s imperial plans.
Not only that, but for completionist fans, this new chapter of Vader’s earlier years alters the impression audiences have of the character when revisiting the older material.
As alluded to earlier, this part of the Star Wars timeline is by no means new territory for the science fiction franchise. Shows like Star Wars Rebels and Obi-Wan Kenobi have tackled the pre-A New Hope era, but the series that has perhaps explored it like no other is Dave Filoni’s The Bad Batch.
Taking place concurrently with the execution of Order 66, The Bad Batch‘s first season delved into the executive order’s mechanics and answered questions as to how a clone trooper can bypass the command, for example.
Over three years, The Bad Batch demonstrated that there is still a plethora of stories to tell from the Imperial Era of Star Wars, and even the most tragic event in galactic history can continue to be expanded.
Related: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader Return for New Crossover ‘Star Wars’
Not only did The Bad Batch address the clone troopers affected by Order 66, but it also contextualized many of the decisions Disney made with its live-action sequel trilogy, which ran from 2015 through 2019.
Most notably, The Bad Batch confirmed that the Emperor had always planned to create Force-sensitive clones using individuals, like Omega (Michelle Ang), with high M-counts. This was called Project Necromancer.
Related: Disney Officially Reboots ‘Star Wars’ After String of Disasters, Removes Sequels From Canon
While Filoni’s The Bad Batch may be over now, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy does have many plans to continue this Disney era of Star Wars, some of which potentially have links to the things set up in shows like The Bad Batch.
When it comes to the Jedi, though, one project was seemingly front and center until the last 12 months proved it was very much on the back burner for the studio. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s “New Jedi Order” movie, which stars Daisy Ridley as Rey Skywalker, was revealed at Star Wars Celebration 2023 but has received few serious updates almost three years on.
The project, announced last Spring at Star Wars Celebration Europe, was expected to take place years after the events of 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker and follow Ridley’s Rey as she aims to rebuild the Order as Luke Skywalker once tried to. Luke’s attempt collapsed after an almost fatal altercation with his nephew Ben Solo, the future Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
However, since its announcement, Lucasfilm has confirmed several changes. First up, a film not even announced at the convention–The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)–is taking first billing at the studio. The continuation of the New Republic era will mark Star Wars‘ big-screen return in about 7 years, and following that will be another previously unannounced project: Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter (2027), a standalone feature starring Ryan Gosling.
And it’s not even the projects on the actual slate that are causing concern for Star Wars fans. At the end of 2024, Lucasfilm also confirmed a new Simon Kinberg trilogy set after the sequel trilogy. The current theory is that the Obaid-Chinoy “New Jedi Order” movie may be absorbed into this project instead of existing as its own thing.
And then came the biggest bombshell just a few weeks ago. Current sitting studio president Kathleen Kennedy will step down, with Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan assuming the role of co-CEOs. Filoni will lead the creative arm, while Brennan will head up the business element of the studio.
With new leaders and an ever-shifting movie slate, the chances to see Daisy Ridley’s Rey on the big screen in a leading role are seemingly becoming slimmer.
How do you feel about Star Wars consistently retconning and adding new stories to these parts of the timeline? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
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