2024 was a big year for Star Warsa bold film in which the transmedia franchise grew in new and unexpected ways. Viewers experienced stories ranging from comics to live-action television, animation and audio drama. And within these milieus, tales that span hundreds of years of Star Wars timeline.
Whether you're a fan of live-action or animation, novels or comics, you've had a lot of excitement this year. But what were the best and biggest moments of Star Wars? Here are our picks.
10
The Jedi Council returns for a new adventure
Star Wars: The Living Force
Published in April as part of The phantom menace25th anniversary celebrations, Star Wars: The Living Force presented an epic adventure starring the Jedi Council. This book of channels by John Jackson Miller Episode Iwith his cape and delves deep into one of the most interesting parts of the film: The Jedi Council. The book begins with Qui-Gon Jinn analyzing the Republic's failures and bringing them to the Council.
The Jedi Council decides to turn their words into action, moving to the planet Kwenn in the Outer Rim as a whole to hold a celebration of the closing Jedi Temple.. The Jedi's grand celebration, however, is threatened by Outer Rim pirates with a significant hatred for the Jedi, leading to an intense battle. The Living Force dives deep into the personality of each member of the Jedi Council, giving each legendary master an incredible and sometimes hilarious personality.
9
Darth Vader's attack on Exegol
Darth Vader (2020) By Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco
In the final arc of March 2020 Darth Vader series, which came to an end this year, Darth Vader attacked the Sith stronghold of Exegol. Vader found out about Palpatine's contingency on the Sith world early in the series, so in a way, the entire story was building up to this attack shortly before the events of Return of the Jedi. But how did the story get to the point where Vader attacked Palpatine's forces?
Darth Vader's motivation was a classic Sith idea: to destroy his own master. Over the course of the comic series, Vader became increasingly resentful of Palpatine, to the point where he joined advisor Sly Moore in a schism within the Empire. This "Schism" was what attacked Exegol, resulting in a colossal battle between Vader and many Kaiju, and one of the most memorable events in history. Star Wars comics in 2024.
8
Omega and Crosshair escape the Empire
The bad lot Season 3
The bad lotThe finale had a lot going for it, but the animated series really shined in Omega and Crosshair's storyline at the start of the final season. The season 2 finale left viewers shaken by Tech's death and the Empire's successful capture of Omega and Crosshair, who were held captive in the laboratories of Mount Tantiss. Many expected this to be where the Lot would rescue them, but the opposite happened at the start of the season.
Omega and Crosshair begin to work together and eventually achieve an incredible escape from the Empire facility.. This was the fulfillment of seasons of character development and world-building around Tantiss, leading to a satisfying escape worthy of any great prison break. Most of all, though, Omega and his brother unite with the rest of the Bad Batch after they go on the run, creating an emotional resolution to what is just the beginning of a great season.
7
Jedi romance achieves great success in the High Republic
The High Republic: Temptation of Force
2024 also brought The High Republic in its fourth and biggest year to date, with the release of several books and many comics, as well as a TV show set at the time. Focusing on the main novels, Temptation of the Force by Tessa Gratton was released in June and did not disappoint. Continuing the story of The Eye of Darkness by George Mann, Temptation reunites Jedi Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann again, and it gets hot.
Avar and Elzar have long had feelings for each other, but as Jedi they are not allowed to form relationships. During the tremendous crisis of Nihil and the Occlusion Zone, however, the long romantic history between the two flares up - especially considering Avar Kriss's return from Nihil space at the end of Eye of Darkness bringing the two together again. Temptation of the Force brings our heroes to Naboo, where once again a forbidden Jedi romance blossoms.
6
Viewers are introduced to the Attin In Skeleton Crew
Star Wars Suburbs Are More Than They Seem
Star Wars: Skeleton CrewThe first few episodes immediately won over viewers, featuring intriguing and instantly likable characters, a plot that continually poses as many questions as it answers, and an interesting ongoing mystery. That last point was really the highlight of the show, with the “lost planet of eternal treasure” capturing the imagination. Even now, Attin remains a mystery.
The planet Attin looks a lot like the idealized American suburb from the 80s films to which the series pays homage. But viewers quickly realized there was something sinister behind the lawns and streets of Attin, as no one outside the planet's mysterious, cloudy barrier believes it to be real.. In the introduction of Attin and the gradual development into Skeleton Crew It was certainly a highlight of the year.
5
Luke Skywalker's Jedi Lesson for Ben Solo
Star Wars (2020) #50 by Charles Soule and Madibek Musabekov
Just like 2020 Darth Vader the comic ended, as did the main Star Wars comic book directed by Charles Soule, with the final issue illustrated by Madibek Musabekov. This issue brought things into a new light, with the story being framed as a lesson for Ben Solo from none other than Jedi Master Luke Skywalker in his Ossus Jedi Temple. Luke was one of the main characters in the comics, so it gave the series a wonderful sense of finality.
In the story, Luke teaches Ben about how far one must go to defeat his enemy. This is an absolutely fundamental value for Star Warsas it defines the light side and the dark side in many ways. Luke's story takes place before Return of the Jediwhere he has the option of using an ancient Force artifact to kill Palpatine once and for all. But through the artifact's dark powers, thousands of other people would die along with him, leading Luke to choose not to use the device. This is a powerful lesson for the young, conflicted Ben Solo.
4
The Return of Grand Moff Adelhard and the Iron Lock
Star Wars: Battle of Jakku by Alex Segura
Star Wars: Uprising was a 2015 mobile game by Kabam set shortly after the Battle of Endor that has been unavailable to play for years. This game told the story of Star Wars Anoat sector of the galaxy, where Cloud City was located, under the rule of Grand Moff Adelhard. This Imperial warlord lied to the sector, telling them that Palpatine was still alive and blocking the entire sector from the newly formed New Republic's influence.
The inaccessibility of this story was addressed, however, in the 2024 comic maxi-series Battle of Jakku by Alex Segura. Taking exactly the same period, Battle of Jakku follows Luke, Leia and their New Republic allies in a fight against Adelhard and his powerful Imperial remnant. This return of older canon characters to the forefront of a new story sets a huge precedent and was definitely one of the highlights of 2024 Star Wars comics.
3
The Bad Batch destroys the Empire's work on Mount Tantiss
The bad lot Season 3
As mentioned previously, Mount Tantiss was a central location for the last two seasons of The bad lotas the central laboratory where the Empire conducts cloning experiments. This directly impacted the clones kept there, which eventually included Omega and Crosshair. At the end of the show, however, Clone Force 99 returns in full force to rescue Omega once again.
The climactic series finale of The bad lot was action-packed, seeing the release of not only the Zillo Beast held there, but also the Clone X Trooper division to combat the Bad Batch. This ending is absolutely sublime, with beautiful animation showing the emotional impact of the clone family's long journey. It ends surprisingly well for them too, with the research and facilities on Mount Tantiss destroyed, although their surviving assets are ominously redirected to Project Stardust.
2
Star Wars Introduced Its First New Live-Action Sith Lord Since 2005
Star Wars: The Acolyte
2024 also saw the release of the first live-action Star Wars series that takes place outside of the Skywalker Saga with The Acolyte. A mystery set during the High Republic Era, The Acolyte is set in a time when the Jedi believe the Sith are extinct, but follows twin sisters whose lives become intertwined with those of the Sith through a catastrophic series of events. In the midst of all this, however, Star Wars introduced one of its best characters in years, Qimir – also known as The Stranger.
The Stranger first appears to the Jedi in the forest of Khofar to a Jedi search party, descending from the trees and igniting his lightsaber. This began the incredibly choreographed duel in the forest of Khofar, which ended with the deaths of 8 Jedi, and showcased the Stranger's immense skill with the dark side of the Force. Qimir then continued to play a pivotal role in the The Acolyteeventually being revealed to be a student of Darth Plagueis and former student of Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh. The Acolyte solidified Qimir as one of the best live-action Sith ever Star Wars.
1
Barriss Offee's fate as an Inquisitor is finally revealed
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire
Long-standing mysteries and thrillers fueled Star Wars for years, and Barriss Offee's case is no different. After his surprisingly violent anti-Jedi actions in The Clone WarsBarriss was never seen again, which is especially troubling and interesting for a former Jedi held in Republic custody as that same government transformed into the Empire. Fortunately, 2024 contained the answer that had been in the works for over a decade, in Tales of the Empire.
Barriss's three animated shorts reveal that shortly after the events of Revenge of the SithBarriss joins the newly formed Inquisitorius, training under the Grand Inquisitor and Darth Vader. She has been working for the Empire for probably years, hunting down the surviving Jedi, although it disturbs her.as his hatred for the Jedi was more caused by the Clone Wars than the actual nature of the Jedi themselves. Barriss then leaves the Inquisitorius, becoming an independent Jedi healer who gives her own life force to help others, as a true Jedi would.