Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Hands On - 10 Things We Learned
4. It's Trying Something Different With The Era
EA
The gap between Episodes III and IV has actually been relatively well traversed in the expanded canon, which is why the announcement that Fallen Order would be set in that timeframe wasn't greeted with excitement across all corners of the Star Wars fandom. The animated cartoon Star Wars Rebels was already exploring that particular period, and other video games, like The Force Unleashed, had done the same years earlier.
Fortunately, from what we were shown, I think it's fair to argue that Fallen Order is trying something genuinely different with the period than what was seen in those other offerings. Yes, on a base, surface level it is another story about a fugitive Jedi on the run between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, but - without spoiling anything, because we're not allowed - Respawn are doing something genuinely new and fresh with their story, even while citing Episode IV as a major touchstone in articulating their version of a galaxy far, far away.
Aesthetically they've already found something that's both recognisably Star Wars and their own thing, and the addition of brand new planets is refreshing also.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
