Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Dark Temple Prequel Comic Coming This Fall

Marvel Comics has announced a five-issue prequel series leading up to the November release of Jedi: Fallen Order. Based on the preview, it promises to be a great part of the story you won’t be able to get anywhere else! Here’s the released cover for issue #1 of Fallen Order: Dark Temple.

Where does Dark Temple fit in the time line?

Dark Temple takes place before events in the highly anticipated game. It will tell the story of Jedi Master Eno Cordova and his padawan, Cere Junda. They are sent to the remote planet of Ontotho on a mission to excavate a mysterious temple. There, they find themselves caught between warring factions of security forces and a local resistance. The comic series is not required reading to follow the events of Fallen Order. However, it will serve as an enhancement and nice lead-in to the events we’ll experience in the game.

Ontotho appears to be a new planet introduced into canon, and not much is known about it thus far. Wookieepedia and Star Wars Galaxy Maps have almost no information on it aside from this release announcement.

Who is at the helm?

Matthew Rosenberg of Uncanny X-Men and Punisher fame is tapped to write the story.. Paolo Villanelli will illustrate. He is no stranger to Star Wars, having worked on the Vader: Dark Visions series. In an interview with StarWars.com, Rosenberg had this to say about writing Fallen Order: Dark Temple:

 “Working on the Jedi: Fallen Order comic has been a great experience. Respawn and Lucasfilm are not only creating one of the most exciting video games in a long, long time, but they’re also telling a truly epic Star Wars story. So having the chance to introduce audiences to some of the game’s cast, and explore a bit of who they are and how they got where they are is really fun. Cere Junda and Eno Cordova are a pair of Jedi that fans are definitely going to want to know more about, and this comic will tell you part of their story you won’t get anywhere else.” 

Matthew Rosenberg

Villanelli then had this to add:

“What’s more fun than working on a new Star Wars book? Well, the answer is working on a new Star Wars book exploring a completely new part of the franchise. As a video game lover I was super excited to be part of the new Fallen Order game, and as an artist I was thrilled to explore and create a part of it for the comics. Besides our titular heroes Cere and Eno, we’ll get a chance to show new planets, villains, and some good old light saber action.”

Paolo Villanelli

Will any Dark Temple characters appear in-game?

It’s too early to know much more about the story arcs and how they connect. Still, there’s a possibility that Respawn Entertainment and LucasFilm had an actor in mind already for Eno. From the cover art release, Eno bares a striking resemblance to veteran sci-fi actor Tony Amendola.

Fans of Stargate SG-1 will remember Amendola as Jaffa master Bra’tac. On the other hand, followers of Continuum will remember him as Liber8 leader Edouard Kagame. He could have simply been the inspiration for the character, but it would be cool to see him in the action.

It appears padawan Cere Junda will be in-game as Cal Kestis‘ mentor, but later in life. It’s currently unknown if she is also a hiding Jedi or a padawan that didn’t finish her training before Order 66. Either way, the comic series will be a nice tie-in of her backstory and how we’ve arrived into Cal’s story arc.

More Star Wars is never a bad thing, and Dark Temple could be just the thing to ease us into our gaming chairs for those late-night sessions fans will no doubt have when Fallen Order is released this November. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Dark Temple hits the comic shelves in September. Will you be reading it? Sound off!

Source: StarWars.com; Comicbook.com