Marvel's Star Wars Comics Are Finally Moving on From the Most Unhinged Year in Canon

Since aboriginal 2020, galore of Marvel’s superior Star Wars comics—the main Star Wars series, Darth Vader, and the already concluded Doctor Aphra and Bounty Hunters—shifted to a caller play successful the timeline of the archetypal movies: the contiguous days and weeks aft the events of The Empire Strikes Back. Like the archetypal renewed generation of Marvel Star Wars worldly earlier it, which explored the years betwixt A New Hope and Empire, this 1 would research the clip betwixt Empire and Return of the Jedi.

Now, that epoch is coming to an end, with Marvel’s confirmation that some Star Wars and Darth Vader’s existent volumes would extremity with contented 50, with some to acceptable to merchandise arsenic bumper-sized, 50-page comics successful September. Here’s the occupation though: the clip play betwixt A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back was about 3 years, overmuch arsenic it really was betwixt the merchandise of some films successful our world. That’s a batch of clip to constitute Star Wars comics in, and Marvel did, for astir 5 years! The clip play betwixt Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?

One year. One. About. And we’ve had arsenic much, if not much with each the antithetic bid that person cropped up, Star Wars comic stories crammed into that clip period—included arsenic portion of the existent canon—for astir arsenic overmuch time.

Don’t get maine wrong, a batch of these stories person really been truly good. But they’ve besides often been perfectly bonkers—like that clip Qi’ra from Solo showed up to effort and termination Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine by locking them in a large container and throwing that large container into a sun, lone to beryllium stopped by the Knights of Ren (don’t interest astir it); oregon that clip each that led to an past portion of exertion unleashing a droid zombie plague that astir took implicit the full postulation successful an effort to predominate the Force itself (do not interest astir it); oregon the clip Darth Vader uncovered that Palpatine’s advisor Sly Moore had really been starring a rogue faction of the Empire seeking to overthrow the Emperor, the Schism Imperial, and pondered joining it himself (maybe bash interest astir this one, it’s a comparatively caller crippled enactment that is sanction checked successful Marvel’s PR astir the roadworthy to Darth Vader #50, but besides possibly don’t, due to the fact that we cognize what happens instantly aft this, it’s Return of the Jedi!). And that’s not adjacent half of it.

All of these moments and reveals, connected their own, would inactive mostly beryllium benignant of chaotic and crazy, successful that loving Star Wars extended beingness worldly way—canon, rebooted oregon otherwise, benignant of needs those chaotic moments to consciousness decently similar Star Wars to me, but possibly that’s conscionable my framework of notation aft having grown up with things similar That Time Chewbacca Died Because Extragalactic BDSM Aliens Dropped a Moon connected Him oregon The One Where Ki-Adi-Mundi Has So Many Wives. But it’s the information that each these immense stories, connected apical of the interesting, affectional ones that person made connections to acceptable up the journeys characters similar Luke, Leia, Lando, and Vader spell connected to beryllium the radical we conscionable successful Return of the Jedi—especially Luke, having to grapple with the information of his begetter and his lonely way to becoming a Jedi—have had to beryllium crammed into a singular twelvemonth successful the timeline conscionable makes them consciousness adjacent much insane.

Whatever’s adjacent for Star Wars comics astatine Marvel remains unknown. Today’s quality lone came with the vague committedness of much accusation to travel connected the “new era” of comics successful the coming weeks, alternatively than definitive confirmation of erstwhile they’ll beryllium set. We could spell instantly aft Return of the Jedi and capable successful immoderate of the gaps inactive floating astir successful that play (Marvel already did that successful tiny portion successful Shattered Empire, during the “Journey to The Force Awakens” transmedia initiative). There’s 30 years inactive mostly unexplored betwixt Jedi and The Force Awakens that are ripe for much storytelling opportunities. Hell, they could adjacent commencement doing what they did for the archetypal trilogy with the sequels, going betwixt movies measurement by volume. Or the prequels! The comics could spell backmost successful clip arsenic overmuch arsenic they’ve gone forward.

There’s truthful galore possibilities that unfastened up present that this peculiarly chaotic epoch of Star Wars comics is coming to an end—hopefully the adjacent epoch volition find determination with much country to breathe.

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