Cal Kestis, the hero of EA’s Star Wars Jedi video games, will appear in a spin-off TV series — marking his first voiced appearance in another medium.
The redheaded Jedi will play a role in new episodes of Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy set to debut on streaming service Disney+ next month. A non-canon spin-off set in a “What If?”-style remixed Star Wars universe, Rebuild the Galaxy previously introduced the world to Darth Jar-Jar. Who knows what this second round of episodes will see Kestis (or an alternate universe version of him) get up to.
As in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Kestis will once again be voiced by Cameron Monaghan, in the actor’s first voice role as Kestis outside of a video game. News of Monaghan’s return, as well as Kestis’ appearance on a poster for the series, come amid fan speculation the Jedi may eventually turn up in live-action form — something Monaghan himself has said he is open to.
While Monaghan has said he would “absolutely” want to portray Kestis in live-action, the actor has also said the project would “have to be right” for the character. “By that I mean, it has to continue the story or the character in some way,” Monagahan said in March 2024.
“I don’t want him to just kind of show up to stand around and be there. I want him to mean something and for there to be a significance for the character itself. So, it would have to make sense. But in the right context then, yeah, absolutely.”
Kestis’ appearance in Rebuild the Galaxy marks the latest appearance of his popular character outside of Respawn’s Jedi series, alongside other elements from the games. Kestis already has a spin-off novel, Jedi: Battle Scars, and popped up in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, a smartphone game also published by EA.
Over time, various elements from the Star Wars: Jedi series have popped up elsewhere. A droid of the same model as Kestis’ loyal companion BD-1 is featured in Episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett (you can also buy the droid as a LEGO set), while Season 1 of Ahsoka saw the titular Jedi use psychometry. This rare force ability allows Jedi to detect echoes of the past by interacting with objects or locations, and was taken by some as an indication that Ashoka had encountered Kestis at some point in her past.
Is this just Disney having fun with its vast cast of Star Wars characters, a reminder there’s still a third Star Wars: Jedi game from Respawn on the way, or a tease that fans can expect yet more from Kestis (and Monaghan) in future? Time will tell.
For now, Rebuild the Galaxy launches via Disney+ on September 19.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
