When filmgoers first caught up with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and the rest of the Rebel Alliance back in 1980's Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back they had gone from winning a major victory against the Galactic Empire, in 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope, to hiding out from the Imperials on a desolate, frozen wasteland. There were some hints as to how they got there, but a lot of questions about to what happened between the first two films in the original Star Wars trilogy went unanswered.
That all changed in 2015, when Marvel Comics relaunched their Star Wars series and used it as a way to tell canonical tales about what happened between A New Hope and Empire. Previous writers Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen have chronicled the Rebel's triumphs and tragedies between Episodes 4-5 of Star Wars, and in July's Star Wars #68 the new creative team of writer Greg Pak and artist Phil Noto kick off a run that will move the series even closer to The Empire Strikes Back.
CBR spoke with Pak about exactly when in the Star Wars timeline his initial arc is set, how working on the recent Star Wars: Age of Rebellion one-shots aided his run and what it's like creating new things for the Star Wars universe.
The big news is you're taking over Marvel's Star Wars series with Issue #68, after your work on the Star Wars: Age of Rebellion one-shots. What's it like moving from these one-shots to an ongoing? Did you have any thoughts or ideas about the characters while working on the Age of Rebellion stories that you'll explore in further detail here?
Working on the one-shots was a dream come true and a perfect way to gear up for the ongoing. The one-shots feature classic heroes and villains from the original trilogy and the mandate was to tell an iconic, standalone story about each character that epitomized why we love them -- no small order, huh?
So, to prepare for those one-shots, I rewatched every movie in the series and dug into other key canon material, like the Leia, Lando and Vader comic book series and the Tarkin prose novel. I'd written about half of those one-shots when my editor, Mark Paniccia, asked if I'd be interested in taking over the main book, and I don't know if I've ever said yes faster in my career. All of this stuff just hits the sweet spot for me.
I was eight when the first Star Wars movie came out, so these characters have literally been in my head for decades. So the one-shots whetted my appetite and opened my head up even more to fun places we could take the characters in the ongoing. It's been incredibly fun and I'm hugely grateful to my editors Mark Paniccia and Tom Groneman and everyone at Lucasfilm for the opportunity.
Kieron Gillen's run paved the way for the Star Wars comic to connect up with The Empire Strikes Back, and it looks like your first arc will continue the run up to Empire. Is there still a lot of story to tell before the events of Empire, or are you looking to get through that film and begin revealing what happened prior to Return of the Jedi?
Our story starts shortly before The Empire Strikes Back. Remember that opening credit crawl, which talked about all the probes the Empire sent out in search of Luke Skywalker? In the movies, we see just one of those probes on Hoth. But what about all the others? In our story, the Rebellion learns that probes are searching for them across the galaxy and sends out our heroes in three teams to set decoys and traps in hopes of leading those probes away from the Rebel fleet. It's a great chance for some big adventure and action and hugely fun character exploration with our heroes at a critical stage in their respective journeys.
Writing about fictional icons at a specific point in their lives means there are certain things you can't do with them. So, what can you tell us about your plans for the main Star Wars cast at this point? Which characters do you initially want to focus on? And which aspects of them do you want to explore?
We're getting to play with all the key heroes from that time period, and by dividing them into three groups, we're getting the chance for each and every one of them to have some pretty special moments. For example, I remember that when my friends and I saw Empire for the first time back in 1983, we were blown away when Luke used the Force to draw his lightsaber to his hand from the snow. That set all kinds of wheels spinning in our heads -- clearly Luke learned more about the Force between the movies! What happened? Who'd he learn from? How did he train? So, it's kind of a trip to be able to contribute in some small way to answering some of those questions in this storyline.
We're also getting the chance to play with the Han/Leia relationship before it actually becomes the Han/Leia relationship, which is tremendously fun. We're complicating things with a new character from Leia's past named Dar Champion and an undercover operation that puts Han and Leia in much closer proximity than either of them wants -- or at least admits that they want -- at this stage.
And then I'm thrilled that Chewie and Threepio get the spotlight as well. They both play key roles in the movies -- absolutely critical and beloved, but also clearly in supporting mode. In this story, they get their own storyline with some pretty big character moments -- even, dare I say, hero moments.
One benefit, of writing canonical stories is the chance to fill in the gaps on things that were touched upon in the main films. For instance, in Empire Han talks about his brush with the bounty hunter on Ord Mantell. Do you plan on showing us what happened on Ord Mantell or other film events that were referenced but never shown?
The big reference we're running with is that opening crawl's talk of all those probes. What I love is that that gives us permission to open things up and tell some new stories on brand-new worlds with brand-new supporting characters. You'll absolutely see some fun references to existing worlds and characters that add to that lore. But I'm hugely excited and grateful to my Marvel editors and our friends at Lucasfilm for being so open to brand-new worlds and characters as well.
What's it like creating and introducing new things in the Star Wars universe versus in the Marvel Universe?
It's a big thrill! Over the years, I've contributed new elements to everything from the Hulk to Superman, as well as co-creating entirely new characters like Amadeus Cho and Wave, and it's awesome every time. But I gotta admit -- somehow adding in-continuity elements to the Star Wars universe has been particularly mind-blowing this year. I guess I just never imagined the opportunity would come, and now here we are. And as I've said, my editors and the Lucasfilm folks have been tremendously supportive. It's always amazing when everyone on the team gets excited about story ideas and characters all together.
Star Wars comics also allow you to tell original trilogy era stories using concepts introduced in recent films like you did with Canto Bight in your recent Jabba the Hut story. Will we see more of that in your Star Wars run?
I've watched and rewatched all the movies, and they're all part of the big narrative, so elements from any era might pop up here and there in our storyline as appropriate. I can't say too much for fear of spoilers, but I can think of at least one thread in the comics that will expand on elements introduced in one of the newer movies.
Helping you bring the Star Wars universe to life is artist Phil Noto who has done covers and interiors for a large number of Star Wars projects over the past few years. What's it like working with an artist like Phil who has a real working knowledge of these iconic characters?
Phil's been a dream to work with. First and foremost, he loves the source material and his enthusiasm comes through in every page and every panel. And it's been hugely fun chatting with him via email as we've worked through the scripts. He immediately got the vibe I was going for with the storyline, with its combination of big action, fun Star Wars humor and genuine emotional stakes. And every email and image he sends is just so full of joy. You've already seen his gorgeous covers, but his interior art is going to blow you away.
Finally, you're writing Star Wars comics in the same year that The Rise of the Skywalker, a film that looks to bring the epic generation spanning saga of the Skywalker family to a close. How does it feel writing these books with the release of that film just six months away?
It's a trip! I'm a big fan of the new movies and can't wait to see what happens next!