While fans are still drying their eyes in the aftermath of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the question of larger connections to the Star Wars universe are being answered thanks to a brand new Marvel title that will talk about Leia, Luke, and the rest of the Rebel Alliance and just how they were influenced by Jyn Erso's team. Star Wars comics fill in the gaps between the films answering the question of "What happened when..." for the audience. They, like the Star Wars: Forces of Destiny series, help us take steps into a much larger world.
Jyn's team and their efforts helped turn the tide of the struggle against the Empire. Rogue One put faces on a group of "spies" who have gone unnoticed for many years. Fans fell in love with Churrit Imwe, Baze Malbus, Bodhi Rook, Cassian Andor, the sarcastic droid K2-s0 and of course, Jyn herself. While the movies might not go into how young Luke, Leia and the Rebel alliance were affected by their efforts, the comics have arrived to apply the question of "What happened when...?"
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Incoming Marvel comics writer Kieron Gillen and artist Salvador Larroca will apply that question to the iconic characters of A New Hope. In an interview with CBR, Gillen discussed how the story will take them to apocalyptic places and feature a "darker more militaristic tone" than previous writer Jason Aaron's run.
I thought the best way to start that was by coming off the back of Rogue One which was more of a war movie take on the Star Wars universe. We’re kind of starting with a smaller story explicitly integrating with and exposing the New Hope characters to everything that happened in Rogue One. We’re going to the post apocalyptic wasteland that was left after the Empire blew a hole in Jedha and removed one of the holiest sites there. That’s great for all of our characters.
He went on to add that the sacrifice of the Rogue One team will motivate a young Tatooine farmboy named Luke Skywalker to seriously consider taking up arms against the empire. While we saw Leia at the end of the film, Luke's take on it has remained a mystery until this pivotal comic book.
"Through that, we get people like Luke discovering everything that allowed him to get into a position to destroy the Death Star, He finds out about Jyn Erso and all the people who sacrificed their lives to give him the chance to be a hero. As you can imagine, that’s going to hit Luke hard. When I saw Rogue One I immediately thought, ‘I wonder what Luke makes of all this? I wonder what Leia makes of it?’ Now I’m in a position where I get to write that."
Luke Skywalker's character arc, spanning decades, will play an important part in future films, like Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi. Seeing just what shaped him into the freedom fighter and how he became the reclusive Jedi master we've seen in the Last Jedi trailer will make for a fascinating exposé.
Star Wars backstory never goes out of style and while fans are waiting for Luke's story to continue in The Last Jedi they'll probably have questions about where it began. This comic seems poised to answer just that in a timely fashion for the farmboy-turned-jedi master.
Next: Will A Star Wars Spinoff Ever Feature a Non-Human Hero?
Kieron Gillen's Star Wars #38 hits comic stores in November.
Source: CBR
