Star Wars was already planning to put one foot into the waters of the dark side with The Acolyte coming this summer. Now, they’ve planted the other foot in as well with the announcement that the Tales of the Empire series will be released all on May 4 as well.

Tales of the Empire is clearly a play on 2022’s Tales of the Jedi, and with the “Empire” literally replacing “Jedi” in the trailer, that’s very obvious. My assumption is that they will continue to alternate this Tales of the _____ series with Star Wars Visions every year. Not a bad idea!

After Ahsoka and Dooku were the focus of Jedi, Morgan Elsbeth and a returning Barriss Offee will be the featured characters of Empire. This is an excellent decision to give backstory to a recent star in Elsbeth while also continuing the story of Barriss from Clone Wars.

It also looks like we’ll see a lot of familiar faces return including Grand Admiral Thrawn, General Grievous, the Grand Inquisitor, the Fourth Sister, Marrok, and this one guy named Darth Vader.

I’m excited for the show, and I can’t wait. The kid and I will be going to the theaters that day to see the 25th anniversary re-release of The Phantom Menace, so it’s going to be a Star Wars filled day.