Credit: Lucasfilm/ EADarth Revan is the reason fans want to see the Old Republic in live-action and Star Wars might ruin the character in the process.
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For “Knights of the Old Republic,” a video game from Bioware, told a story most fans won’t forget. A story about the player stopping a Sith Lord and realizing at the very end you’re the Sith lord you have been searching for. Darth Revan. It’s a great story, and that era where the Sith Empire fights the Republic continues to be one of the most beloved eras, but Lucasfilm hardly acknowledges it.
After Disney bought the company, the Old Republic has been an afterthought, but some Star Wars projects have hinted at that era and started to set up future stories. Star Wars: The Clone Wars almost brought Darth Revan into canon during the Mortis arc, but George Lucas and Filoni agreed it didn’t feel right. Later on, Revan was only confirmed to be in canon thanks to an art book about Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019), which revealed Darth Revan’s name was on Exegol.
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Now, “The Knights of the Old Republic” is looking to be remastered, and the legendary story of Darth Revan can be revisited. According to one interview with former Bioware employee John Gallagher, it was very important to Lucasfilm that Darth Revan’s appearance be genderless and that the Sith Lord would be mysterious:
“‘Mysterious.’ Indeterminate whether you’re male or female, with an inscrutable mask. Let’s get the eye slots like a Mandalorian but a little more tribal. So I started looking [for] inspiration [among] mid-African tribes of the 16th, 17th, 18th century, and what some of their ornamentation looked like. I lined that up with some Star Wars inspo and got Revan in about 20 minutes. I did one sketch. One marker sketch; and did an adjustment to the color. Then I was like, oh, there we are.”
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The employee said he wasn’t solely responsible for Revan’s creation because it was a group effort. Now, Revan’s return in the remake could follow the same expectation as the original game, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Lucasfilm uses this opportunity to change Revan before they come into live-action, which feels imminent.
Star Wars has a tendency right now to change characters drastically from legends to canon, and changing the gender of a famous Jedi/Sith Lord will definitely shock and anger fans. It’s something that would create some backlash from fans. It’s why any Old Republic content will be tough to make for Lucasfilm because nothing they do will please every fan, and when so many people love a certain era as fiercely as the Old Republic, it’s hard to imagine what stories they will be brave enough to tell.
Do you think Revan should swap genders? Let Inside the Magic know what you think!