- "'Cult Encounters of the Star Wars Universe' and 'Supernatural Encounters of the Star Wars Universe' were originally intended to be published as articles in Star Wars Gamer magazine, as spiritual sequels to The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life: The Marvel Series (Star Wars Gamer, 2000), an in-universe article Rich Handley (my good friend and co-author of Cult Encounters) and I wrote for the first issue of the magazine, with illustrations by Joe Corroney."
- ―The author, Joseph Bongiorno, on the unpublished articles that preceded the pitched novella
Supernatural Encounters: The Trial and Transformation of Arhul Hextrophon is a novella that Joseph Bongiorno wrote and pitched for publication on the now-defunct Hyperspace section of StarWars.com. It would have used material from the unpublished articles "Cult Encounters of the Star Wars Universe" and "Supernatural Encounters in the Star Wars Universe," which were intended for the magazine Star Wars Gamer before its cancellation in 2002. Rich Handley, who co-wrote the published article "The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life: The Marvel Series" with Bongiorno, and Abel G. Peña were contributors to the pitch. Bongiorno claimed that the work was officially licensed; however, it was not reviewed by Lucasfilm editorial and was never officially released, making it non-canonical to any official continuity. Bongiorno continued to expand it in the years that followed, and eventually released the finished work on his own website in 2023.
Development
Conception
- "After the announcement regarding Hyperspace's cancellation, I continued editing and adding to the work, incorporating elements from other Expanded Universe works (such as the Fate of the Jedi novels, The Clone Wars and, eventually, even Star Wars Rebels) as other Star Wars authors and content creators developed ideas that blended well with my own."
- ―Joseph Bongiorno
Joseph Bongiorno and author Rich Handley had previously co-written the article "The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life: The Marvel Series," which was published in the magazine Star Wars Gamer 1 in 2000.[4] Following its publication, Bongiorno began work on two articles intended for Star Wars Gamer: "Cult Encounters of the Star Wars Universe" and "Supernatural Encounters in the Star Wars Universe." The former was to be co-written with Handley and the latter was intended to be released afterward; however, the cancellation of Star Wars Gamer in 2002 left the articles unpublished.[3]
Bongiorno reworked the two proposals into a duology consisting of an article titled "Cult Encounters: Excerpts from the Last Days of Arhul Hextrophon" and an expanded novella, Supernatural Encounters: The Trial and Transformation of Arhul Hextrophon.[3] His planned content included a detailed origin of the Star Wars Universe and Typhojem, the Left-Handed God.[1] The story of the Supernatural Encounters duology would have followed the character Arhul Hextrophon. At some point, Abel G. Peña became a contributor to the duology. His material included the Sith, the Mecrosa Order, the Sorcerers of Tund, and the Sorcerers of Rhand, among others. Peña also contributed lore that had been cut when he wrote the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide,[3] which was published in 2008,[5] and his unpublished article[6] "Vader's Legacy."[3]
Further production
- "It was discussed as something that could potentially be published on StarWars.com probably over a decade ago but that never went anywhere."
- ―Matt Martin, on the officiality of Supernatural Encounters
Bongiorno's cover from his website
Bongiorno's pitch for Hyperspace was accepted through Pablo Hidalgo, and he began readying the duology for online publication. Much of Supernatural Encounters was written in 2008, and he filled out tax paperwork during that time period.[3] Potential Hyperspace pieces would be reviewed first by the editors from publishing before posting. According to Hidalgo, the publishing editors nixed Supernatural Encounters without reviewing it due to its concept and length.[7] The closure of Hyperspace was announced in 2010 and came to pass without the publication of the duology.[3]
In 2013 or 2015, Handley and Bongiorno pitched the duology to Matt Martin, who ran StarWars.com at the time, and Dan Brooks, who then operated the Blog. Bongiorno stated that Lucasfilm gave him permission to post his work on his website, named the Star Wars Expanded Universe Timeline, and that it was planned to be linked to or embedded on the StarWars.com Blog in a manner similiar to Peña's SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story. However, the latter has not taken place, and Bongiorno has not had further communication regarding if or when the duology may be acknowledged on StarWars.com.[3]
According to Bongiorno, "I filled out the requisite legal documents (a CA-587 form, which is called a Non-Resident Withholding Allocation Worksheet and W-9 tax form) when the stories were first approved for publication by Pablo Hidalgo, the same licensing process I went through for my previous contributions to the Expanded Universe. There isn't any Lucasfilm licensing process beyond this."[3] However, Pablo Hidalgo directly refuted this statement on Twitter, stating that the document was never approved and never underwent the publishing editorial process for Hyperspace content because it was denied by the publishing department before review based on concept and length.[8]
The story was significantly expanded since 2018. Around this time, a greater level of references to other works began to appear in further revised online drafts, as Bongiorno sought his "Grand Unification Theory" to harmonize various franchise crossovers. Extensive passages referencing the events of franchises such as, Battlestar Galactica and BraveStarr, began to appear in his historical narrative and basis of the Star Wars galaxy's earliest eras.[3]
Over the subsequent years, Bongiorno continued to work on the Supernatural Encounters novella,[3] beyond its original commission,[9] to add content related to Legends works released since the closure of Hyperspace, such as the novel series Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi, and he has incorporated elements from the canon continuity that followed the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, namely the Star Wars Rebels television series.[3] Bongiorno released a version of the work in progress on October 31, 2018,[10] and continued to work on an expanded edition[3] until its full release on his website on August 29, 2023.[11] Since its release, Bongiorno has periodically updated it to address errors and contradictions on his website.[3]
Status of officiality
- "It never went through publishing editorial, so while full of neat ideas, it's not part of anything official."
- ―Pablo Hidalgo, on the officiality of Supernatural Encounters
According to Leland Chee, who maintains Lucasfilm's Holocron continuity database, Supernatural Encounters has never been tracked in the Holocron, he was not aware of any forthcoming new Legends books as of March 2021, and he only tracks materials from an official source.[13] Hidalgo later confirmed that the novella had not gone through any publishing editorial and thus was not part of anything official.[12] Following the novella's release, Matt Martin was asked if it would be part of the official Legends continuity and stated he had no memory of anyone on his team reviewing it.[2] When asked again as confirmation that it was not official, Martin stated he had no reason to assume it would be.[14]
Another fan brought up Hidalgo's work on Supernatural Encounters, to which Hidalgo replied publishing editors had declined and rejected it.[15] Hidalgo stated in regard to his commissioning of Supernatural Encounters that, while he did indeed commission back during the days of Hyperspace, the novella "was not to be" in the end.[16] As Supernatural Encounters had expanded beyond what was originally commissioned, Hidalgo was unable to review the modern work[9] due to rules against accepting unsolicited material,[17] even as a fan.[18]
Legacy
Some concepts developed for Supernatural Encounters were introduced into Legends by Abel G. Peña or at his suggestion. Intended lore about Ampotem Za was incorporated by Peña and Handley into their 2007 Hyperspace supplement "Aliens in the Empire."[3] The 2012 book Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side, written by Daniel Wallace, introduced the Sith species regarding Ajunta Pall as a manifestation of Typhojem.[19] The detail was suggested by Peña as a reference to the backstory in Handley and Bongiorno's unpublished article.[1]
Notes and references
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