Sorry if you’re still grieving after 2019’s Star Wars – Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (which I personally didn’t hate), but it’s time go back for another round. Marvel Comics has just announced the comic book adaptation of the last Star Wars movie is coming out more than five years after it opened in theaters.
Written by Jody Houser (Doctor Who, Star Wars: Thrawn) and drawn by artist Will Sliney (Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider), the previously-announced – like, in 2020 – five-issue limited series directly adapts the 2019 movie. Plus, to make up for that crazy delay, Lucasfilm and Marvel have injected never-before-seen (at least not officially) scenes back into the story.
As Marvel’s official post also points out, the five-issue limited series will finally arrive on February 26, shortly after the ongoing series Star Wars: Legacy of Vader’s February 5 debut. Long story short: Kylo Ren stans are eating good again, even if this doesn’t exactly signal a return of the character played by Adam Driver elsewhere.
Perhaps the most interesting bit of the official press release is editor Mark Paniccia pointing out the sequels’ most loyal fans are already making some serious noise about wanting to see more of certain characters introduced in 2015’s The Force Awakens: “There’s a resurgence of interest in these characters, especially Kylo Ren, Darth Vader’s blood heir.” While bringing back Ben Solo (at least in the post-TROS era) would be tricky, Disney and Lucasfilm are certainly taking notes, which is why Daisy Ridley’s Rey could be the key to Star Wars’ on-screen future if insiders are to be believed. For now, at least one movie focusing on the character is officially in development.
Below, you can check out the excellent cover for issue #1, with Kylo Ren and his gang of useless Knights, by Phil Noto as well as the gorgeous variant by Brian Stelfreeze, which focuses on the heroes of the Resistance:
We already know all there’s to know about this story, but this is how Marvel is presenting it ahead of February:
“As the Resistance struggles against the First Order’s dominance, Poe Dameron discovers an unthinkable threat on the horizon. As the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance, Rey must find a way to the hidden Sith hideout, putting her on a collision course with Kylo Ren! With only hours to act, will our heroes avert the devastation of the FINAL ORDER?”
After a handful of years of furious discourse over the Star Wars sequels, I highly doubt this late adaptation will make anyone change their tune, but leaving the trilogy in comic book form incomplete always felt weird, plus an official look at cut scenes will always welcomed by the sickos (I’m the sickos). Let’s hope the giant baby with an alien spider-freak on their head has made the cut.