Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Wars #19
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Star Wars, Luke Skywalker's ongoing evolution in the Force confirms a key detail about Darth Vader himself. Set after the events of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is more determined than ever to continue his path and become a Jedi. Having collected a list of important Jedi sites across the galaxy from the Empire, Luke has finally decided to visit them to see what more he can learn as he strives to become a Jedi knight like his father before him (before his fall to the dark). However, this new issue also reveals Luke's true form within the Force. In doing so, new insights into Vader's true form are likewise confirmed, first seen in Charles Soule's 2017 Darth Vader run.
Seeing as how Charles Soule is writing Marvel's current Star Wars series, it seems he's created some significant narrative ties between his prior Darth Vader series and the new Star Wars #19 with artist Marco Castiello. Not only is Luke continuing his training on the same world where Vader retrieved his kyber crystal to forge his Sith lightsaber, but Luke's decision to meditate and grow his connection in the Force creates a major connection to his father. Sitting down and levitating above the ground, Luke's true form in the Force is revealed as a being of blue light. As such, it actually points back to his father's darker and more turbulent form in the Force, seen first in 2017's Darth Vader #8 and the final issue Darth Vader #25 from Soule.
Looking back at Vader's own meditation following Revenge of the Sith during his first days as a Sith Lord, Vader's true form in Force sees him composed of a red and black swirling mass, representing the chaos and darkness he's fallen into. However, his arms and legs are left as empty white space to imply that he's no longer whole, his limbs having been replaced by prosthetics after his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, when Vader has his dark side vision in Darth Vader #25, after constructing his castle on Mustafar, he's rejected by Padmé right before "a being of blue light" armed with a lightsaber expels Vader from the vision, returning him to his physical body. Thanks to the new Star Wars #19, it's now confirmed that Vader unknowingly saw his future son, the one who would be his undoing as a Sith Lord.
Furthermore, it should also be noted that the first appearance of Vader's true Force form in Darth Vader #8 also saw a collection of glowing blue butterflies flying around Vader amid the violent and storming mindscape. While it's been theorized that these butterflies are the remaining shreds of light that remained after Anakin's fall to the dark, Luke's similarly bright blue form helps confirm that they're indeed the good his mother Padmé still saw in his father, even as she died at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
While this isn't the first time Charles Soule has created connective tissue between his current and past works in the galaxy far, far away, it's certainly one of the most significant and impressive. Thanks to the reveal of his son's true form in the Force, the new insights into Darth Vader's own true self have been confirmed, sowing the seeds for his eventual redemption by Luke in Return of the Jedi. As Luke Skywalker's journey to become a Jedi continues, it will be interesting to see how else Soule might further connect his path to his father as Marvel's Star Wars continues.