Lucasfilm didn't want Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to be a Jedi game at first

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order almost didn't feature a Jedi protagonist, as Lucasfilm wasn't sure about the idea at first.

As revealed by Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order director Stig Asmussen (via The Guardian), Lucasfilm wasn't completely sold on the idea of Respawn developing a Jedi-centered video game at first. "We wanted to do third-person action adventure, and we wanted to have a Jedi with lightsabers," Asmussen reveals, "and then [Lucasfilm was] like – wait."

"It’s a big process," Asmussen adds, giving more context to working with Lucasfilm on its most prized IP. "At that point, to Lucasfilm, the Jedi are like the holy grail. I mean, it’s something that they’re probably the most protective of, except for maybe Baby Yoda. So we had to kind of earn that."

Speaking about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order protagonist Cal Kestis, a force-sensitive individual who goes on to become a Jedi Knight, Asmussen explains: "We had to go through a whole process of, why do you want it to be a Jedi? What do you want to do with the Jedi? They were really uncomfortable with Jedi, and they said, 'Let’s reset this. Let’s call this character a force user.'"

Thankfully, Respawn and Lucasfilm managed to work something out which gave us the Cal we all know and love today. We're set to meet a slightly older Cal in just a couple of weeks when Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (a sequel to Fallen Order set five years after the events of the first game) releases on April 28, 2023, for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Find out what else was revealed over the weekend with our everything announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023 guide.