New Star Wars Jedi Animated Series Leaks

After months of speculation, Lucasfilm seems to have accidentally confirmed the existence of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi ahead of its impending official announcement at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim in May. The seemingly Jedi-centric show will be a collection of “animated anthology shorts.”

The details seem to have leaked when the Celebration website published the convention’s panel schedule, which includes a panel called “Tales of the Jedi,” which will feature host and Star Wars author Amy Ratcliffe in conversation with Lucasfilm executive producer Dave Filoni on Saturday, May 28 at 2:30 pm PT/5:30 pm ET. While you can no longer access the panel schedule on the site’s homepage, you can still find the listing here.

Beyond its title and format, we know virtually nothing about this series except that it shares a name with a familiar Star Wars brand from the early ’90s that launched a whole new era of storytelling for the franchise. Dark Horse Comics’ Tales of the Jedi, which was created by Tom Veitch and Chris Gossett, explored the trials and tribulations of a new cast of Jedi heroes and Sith villains living millennia before the events of the Original Trilogy (the Prequels and Sequels didn’t exist in 1993). In many ways, this is the series that really began to flesh out the lore of the light and dark sides beyond what fans knew from the movies, not only depicting the ancient Jedi as more of a samurai-like society of heroes spread out across the galaxy but also showing the intrigue and regular betrayals within the Sith Empire’s hierarchy.

Tales of the Jedi was also the foundation for the much more popular Knights of the Old Republic brand which itself spawned several comics series, books, and three classic video games, with a remake of the original KotOR game currently on the way. (A KotOR movie has also been long rumored.)

While it makes sense that Lucasfilm would bring back a recognizable name for a Jedi anthology series, it seems unlikely that the new Tales of the Jedi will have anything directly to do with Ulic Qel-Droma, Exar Kun, Naga Sadow, or any other storylines from the now non-canon Legends continuity. After all, these characters are very deep cuts in 2022, and are now usually relegated to fun little easter eggs in Disney canon stories to make older fans like myself happy.

Instead, the new Tales of the Jedi could just be a way to explore more popular characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, and others without having to tie all of these stories together or stick to one art style or aesthetic. It’s also possible it’s an expansion of The High Republic era, starring the heroes first introduced in the books and comics. Or maybe it’ll be an anthology series about the Jedi Order that rises up after the Sequel Trilogy? We just don’t know.

Fortunately, Star Wars Celebration Anaheim is just around the corner. The convention kicks off Thursday, May 26 and runs through Sunday, May 29. Fans should also expect new looks at Lucasfilm’s upcoming live-action slate, including The Mandalorian, as well as updates on The Bad Batch, the Marvel comics, and the Del Rey line of books.