George Lucas always believed Star Wars was for kids, and the next Star Wars movie – The Mandalorian and Grogu – is definitely embracing that aesthetic. Step away from the big screen, though, and you’ll see so many different occasions where the franchise has switched genres. You’re talking hard science-fiction, riffs on classic stories like Apocalypse Now, and there’ll soon be a full-on Star Wars horror.
It’s true that genre switches are mostly associated with other franchises, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But Star Wars has a proud experimental history, and the franchise seems to be getting bolder, with Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy hinting a Star Wars horror show is in the works. Here are some of the biggest genre-switches we’ve seen over the last 49 years.
11. The X-Wing Books Give Us Epic War Stories
The Star Wars movies blend science-fantasy, galactic conflict, and spiritual mysticism. Other mediums have often dialed up the military conflict, most notably Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston’s incredible “X-Wing” novels. Focusing in on the pilots of Rogue Squadron and a black ops team known as Wraith Squadron, these are set on the front lines as the nascent New Republic battles against the Imperial Remnant. They also happen to be some of the best Star Wars books ever written.
10. Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear
John Whitman’s Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear books were Star Wars’ answer to Goosebumps, starring a pair of siblings struggling to survive the Galactic Civil War. They feature living planets (that consume their visitors), undead monsters, and mad scientists galore. One of the best stories, Ghost of the Jedi, even riffs on Alien. They’re pretty mild by horror standards, but all the tropes are there.
9. Coruscant Nights is the Ultimate Star Wars Detective Noir Story
In 2008, Michael Reaves launched one of the best Star Wars noir stories of all time: the Coruscant Nights trilogy. The books starred Jax Pavan, an Order 66 survivor who worked as a private detective on Coruscant. They’re fantastically well-written, full of drama and deep characterization, using all the classic noir tropes – all under the brooding presence of Darth Vader, given Jax is working on Coruscant itself.
8. Death Troopers Was a True Star Wars Horror
Joe Schreiber’s Death Troopers is generally seen as the first true Star Wars horror. Published in 2009, it riffed on The Shining and Alien, and it was followed by a prequel book called Red Harvest in 2010. This is zombie horror at its best, with stormtroopers resurrected as soulless, unspeakably hungry monsters. Star Wars canon has riffed on the Death Troopers in Ahsoka Season 1, when the Great Mothers raised stormtroopers from the dead against Ahsoka Tano.
7. Kaiju Chaos Came to Star Wars in The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 2 brought Kaiju action to the Star Wars galaxy, introducing its version of Godzilla. The Zillo Beast is a powerful energy-manipulating monster, and – in true Kaiju fashion – it wound up on Coruscant, hunting Emperor Palpatine himself. The Zillo Beast later returned in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which revealed the Empire had it experimented on.
6. Star Wars Does Ocean’s Eleven in Scoundrels
Legendary Star Wars writer Timothy Zahn penned a delightful Ocean’s Eleven-style heist novel in 2013. Unsurprisingly, Scoundrels starred Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian as they put together a crew. Star Wars has long been fascinated by the underworld, and Scoundrels shows just how much potential it has.
5. Lost Stars is the Perfect Star Wars Young-Adult Romance
Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced the planet Jakku, a junkyard planet which even had a crashed Imperial Star Destroyer on its surface. The story of that ISD is told in Claudia Gray’s fantastic Lost Stars, a young-adult romance set against a Star Wars backdrop. It’s basically the Star Wars version of Romeo and Juliette, with the two lovers on different sides of the Galactic Civil War.
4. The Screaming Citadel is True Vampire Horror
Marvel regained the license to Star Wars comics in 2014, and soon slipped into a pattern of annual event. 2017’s “The Screaming Citadel” story is true vampire horror, set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, with Luke Skywalker sought after by a dangerous ancient alien who consumes the Force. It also features Doctor Aphra, Star Wars’ version of Indiana Jones.
3. Star Wars’ “Fairy Tales” Are Incredible Glimpses Into the Star Wars Galaxy
From 2019, writer George Mann began working on a series of anthology books that essentially tell fairy tales set in the Star Wars galaxy. Like all the best fairy tales, there’s supposedly a degree of truth in every single one of them, which makes them particularly exciting; several feature Sith and monsters that have since been fleshed out in epic stories. The highlight is Dark Legends, which focuses in on the Sith Lords and other dark side monsters – including the Star Wars version of werewolves.
2. Andor is Unlike Anything in Star Wars History
Tony Gilroy’s Andor is a unique TV show, more mature than any other Star Wars TV show to date. It’s as much spy drama as anything else, as the nascent Rebel Alliance work to undermine the Empire while the shadow of the Death Star looms. The story serves as the perfect prologue to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Season 1 launched in 2022, with the second (and final) season airing in 2025.
1. Skeleton Crew Embraces the Galaxy’s Younger Side
Starring Jude Law, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is an epic John Hughes-style adventure in the style of The Goonies. It stars a group of kids who unwittingly launch themselves into space from their fabled homeworld of At Attin, plunging into a galaxy of pirates and (apparent) Jedi. It’s an absolute joy to watch, a welcome reminder that the best Star Wars stories have always been aimed at kids.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!