For as much as we love everything in Star Wars, we also can't seem to help ourselves from complaining about it. Whether it’s the Ewoks, the prequels, or The Force Awakens plot holes, people can’t help but nitpick, myself included. But as I’ve been reading Marvel’s Star Wars comics, I’ve been amazed at how they’ve been able to take those problem areas and make them into clever and compelling stories. It’s like turning lead into gold.
Take Captain Phasma, for example. Leading up to the release of The Force Awakens, her caped Stormtrooper in gleaming armor was featured prominently in the trailers and on the posters, and actress Gwendoline Christie did tons of press alongside the lead actors. She was even featured on the cover of Vogue in a silver dress evoking Phasma’s armor. But when the movie hit, she had sparse screen time and barely any lines. As for her role in the climactic battle, she was nothing more than a plot device and a means for Han Solo to make a trash compactor throwback joke. It was Boba Fett all over again: a cool costumed character that ultimately disappointed fans.
But with the release of Captain Phasma #1, the first issue in a four-part mini-series by Kelly Thompson and Marco Checchetto, everything changed for the character. (Here’s your spoiler warning!) It picks up towards the end of The Force Awakens during the attack on Starkiller Base, showing her escape the trash compactor and then go through great lengths to hide the fact that it was she who lowered the shields and allowed the Resistance to succeed in their attack. She not only erases the computer history but decides to blame it on another First Order officer. In that short period of time, we learn so much about her personality. She’s ashamed of what she did, but she also knows it will most assuredly mean her death if her superiors find out what she did, so she uses her cunning to cover her tracks. She’s proud, resourceful, and deceitful -- all things we never could have guessed about her in the movie. Suddenly this underutilized character was full of intrigue. And that’s not even mentioning the multiple instances of utter badassery she displayed during her escape.
Marvel’s Star Wars comics also did some patchworking on one of the most despised elements of the prequels: Anakin and Padme’s romance. There’s a Darth Vader series by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larocca that takes place just after A New Hope, and the first story arc is all about Vader trying to find out the name of the pilot who blew up the Death Star. When he figures it out, we see flashbacks to key scenes between Anakin and Padme, putting those formerly cringe-worthy moments to good use, showing Vader’s emotional gut-punch when he learns he has a son. Who knew Darth Vader even had emotions?
Even the most mocked of all prequel lines about Anakin disliking sand is used to great effect when Vader, on a mission to Tatooine, makes a stop at the Tusken Raider village and leaves it a bloody, fiery ruin. From this new reading, it’s not sand he hates, it’s Sand People.
The comic creative team even sheds new light on the lightsaber battle/shouting match between Obi-Wan and Anakin, re-examining it in Vader’s mind and infusing every action with heavy symbolic meaning. Whereas watching the movie left me indifferent to the impulsive Anakin, this comic left me floored with the weight of his tragic downfall. If a comic is making me get teary-eyed over scenes from the prequels, then they’re doing something right.
These comics and others, along with the novels, have done a great service to the Star Wars franchise by acknowledging issues with the movies and using it as an opportunity to tell stories that “fix” them. While these comics don’t purely exist to address movie gripes, it’s an added bonus that they help to patch them up and, ultimately, make the Star Wars franchise stronger as a whole.
I've Got Issues is an ongoing column by Joshua Yehl. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
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