For decades, fans of Star Wars wondered how Luke Skywalker’s father went from being a hero of the Republic to Darth Vader. Beginning in 1999, the Star Wars prequels nominally answered those questions. But it wasn’t until the animated series, The Clone Wars was released that Lucasfilm had enough screen time to properly dive into the long process of sliding towards the Dark Side. But while the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker has now been explored in depth, there’s still a chunk of the elder Skywalker’s life that is shrouded in mystery: The gap between the end of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and the beginning of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
It’s a gap Lucasfilm and Marvel aim to fill with their upcoming comic Darth Vader. Not to be confused with the other Marvel comic entitled Darth Vader that takes place during in the aftermath of A New Hope (seriously guys, giving both comics the same name is confusing), the new series will be from the creative team Charles Soule (Poe Dameron, Astonishing X-Men) and Giuseppe Camuncoli (Amazing Spider-Man) and pick up right where Revenge of the Sith leaves off.
From the official press release:
When Anakin Skywalker fell, both to the pull of the dark side and to the blade of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he rose back up, more machine than man. Having lost everything that he once held dear, the one who was prophesized to bring balance to the Force instead chose a darker path. Now, in a story set directly after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, he must take his first steps into a darker world as…Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith!
“With the all-new DARTH VADER series, we will finally get the chance to witness iconic moments in the Star Wars galaxy through the lens of one of its most famous characters,” said series editor, Jordan D. White. “With Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli at the helm, we are going to spotlight the construction of Vader’s red lightsaber, the fallout of Order 66, the beginnings of the Inquisitor program, the rise of an Empire, and many more sinister moments never seen before!”
While White doesn’t explicitly say so, fans can assume the comic will at least touch on Darth Vader returning to Mustafar to build his Lava Castle. We may even get a backstory for the minion that waits on the Dark Lord of the Sith in his metabolic chamber in Rogue One. If nothing else, I hope there’s a line or two where Vader explains he want to dam a lava river and Tarkin just stares into the middle distance like he’s on The Office.
Darth Vader #1 will be available wherever comics are sold this June.