2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens reintroduced moviegoers to the world of Star Wars, and dropped them into a raging conflict between two paramilitary groups: the heroic descendants of the Rebel Alliance known as the Resistance; and The First Order, a tyrannical group hellbent on forging a new Galactic Empire. One of the key players in that conflict was the Resistance's top pilot, Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac, the leader of an elite team of pilots known as Black Squadron. The film began with Poe completing an important mission (locating the explorer Lor San Tekka), and concluded with the destruction of the First Order's Starkiller base, in which the pilots of Black Squadron played a key role.

In their ongoing Marvel Comics series Star Wars: Poe Dameron, writer Charles Soule and artists Phil Noto and Angel Unzueta have been fleshing out their title character and his fellow pilots with a longform story that shows the struggles they've endured and missions they've undertaken while trying to find Lor San Tekka. In issue #25, that story comes to a close with an epic race between the Resistance and the First Order to reach the missing explorer first. Then in Poe Dameron #26, a new era and arc begins as Soule and Unzueta show what their cast was up to during their offscreen moments in The Force Awakens.

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CBR spoke with Soule about moving from one era to another, the evolution of Poe's nemesis Agent Terex, and the important and grounded role Resistance leader, General Leia, plays in the series.

Poe Dameron #25 cover by Phil Noto

CBR: So, Charles --when you kicked Poe Dameron off, the series was set in a time period just before The Force Awakens, with your title character and his squadron of pilots tasked with finding Lor San Tekka. In issue #25 you bring that mission and the current arc to a close with a story that has both the Resistance and the First Order racing to rescue Tekka from the icy void of space. How does it feel to reach this point in your story? How big is the scope, scale and action in issue #25?

Charles Soule: Poe #25 is designed to bring the story I’ve been telling since #1, with all its twists, turns and sidesteps to a satisfying conclusion. In issue #1, Leia Organa gave Poe Dameron and his Black Squadron a mission to track down the Force explorer Lor San Tekka and hopefully get his assistance finding her brother Luke Skywalker. Poe 25 is where that mission finally ends, one way or the other. So, the action is big, but it’s also thematically big. Lor has seen some things in his time. He has some wisdom to impart. We’ll see if he gets a chance. Tons of big moments, including a surprise I’ve been planning since the start of the series.

Poe Dameron #25 art by Angel Unzueta and Arif Prianto

The First Order and the Resistance are locked in this course of action because of ex-First Order agent, Terex. It's been interesting to watch his evolution and his story unfold. In issue #24 he tells Poe that the secret to happiness is to stop caring about the fate of the galaxy. That quote and his actions in this arc reminded me of the sort of shadowy, powerful characters we saw in the latest Star Wars film, The Last Jedi that profit off the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance. Was that your intention? And can you talk about what reaching the time of The Force Awakens means for Terex's role in the book? Is it necessarily at an end?

Terex is one of my favorite characters in the whole story, Poe included. His arc began decades prior to the series, as an Imperial Stormtrooper who started fighting shortly before the Empire fell. Ever since that moment, he’s always been searching for an opportunity to once again be part of something bigger than himself. He eventually found his way to the First Order, but it wasn’t really a replacement for what he thought he’d lost, as we’ve seen. Terex’s realizations and decisions in #24 hopefully felt very earned and satisfying for readers, as well as thematically consistent with other storytelling across the Star Wars Universe, such as The Last Jedi -- I know they did for me, as the writer. As far as seeing him again… we’ll see! He’s still out there, and I know people like him. I certainly do.

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In April's issue #26 you kick off a new arc titled "The Awakening," that appears to be happening at the same time as The Force Awakens. What can you tell us about the events of this arc and how they'll unfold? Will we see some scenes from the film? Primarily new action? Or a mixture of both?

The idea with the new arc past #25 is to look at the events of The Force Awakens (and… beyond?) through the eyes of characters we didn’t necessarily follow in the movies. So, we’ll see things like Poe’s escape from Jakku after crashing there with Finn. We’ll see Snap Wexley’s recon mission to Starkiller Base. Things like that -- just filling in blanks. The really fun thing, though, is how this story is being told. I don’t want to get into too many spoilery details, but it’s all being told by Poe and other characters after the events took place. So, where and when we’re hearing these things, and who’s listening… just super fun.

Poe Dameron #25 art by Angel Unzueta and Arif Prianto

One supporting character whose role has really been stepped up in the back half of Poe Dameron is General Leia. What's it like writing her after Carrie Fisher's tragic passing? And what's your sense of Leia in the wake of some of the things we saw and learned about her in The Last Jedi? Are you interested in exploring some of her force related abilities in this series?

I think Leia is stronger because she’s not a Jedi, or even someone who wields the Force prominently. She’s able to achieve what she does through her personality, intelligence and emotional understanding, which is pretty amazing. So, while I liked that we finally got to see Leia using the Force in The Last Jedi, I think that moment stands on its own. I think seeing her lifting pears with the Force or something like that would cheapen the beat from the film, and it’s ultimately unnecessary.

Leia Organa doesn’t need a lightsaber to kick ass, and neither did Carrie Fisher. I’m trying to stay true to that idea with every scene I write for her, especially now.

Poe Dameron #25 art by Angel Unzueta and Arif Prianto

What else can you tell us about the antagonists of this new arc? Will we primarily see familiar First Order faces? Does the story afford you the chance to introduce any new villains?

That’s a great question -- I will say that the story has elements that go beyond just the beats of The Force Awakens, which means we definitely have room for new antagonists.

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Your artistic collaborator on Poe Dameron, Angel Unzueta, is especially great with likenesses, action, and emotion. So I'm excited to see what he'll do with this arc. What's it been like telling this story with him?

I’ve been so lucky with both Angel and my original collaborator on the series, Phil Noto (who still draws the covers for us). Poe feels like Poe, Threepio feels like Threepio -- they’re all perfect. Angel’s getting to draw some characters he hasn’t tried before for the new arc (as is Phil), which is fantastic. I know he was excited about it, and now that I’ve seen pages come in, so am I.

I was at a convention [earlier this month] -- Emerald City Comic Con, which was the first show I’d done since last fall, and the first since The Last Jedi came out. It was extremely clear that many people have found this series since the last time I was able to chat with people about it, and the support and enthusiasm was wonderful. I’ve loved writing Poe and the world we’ve been able to create around him -- it’s nice that so many people seem to feel the same way.

Poe Dameron #25 is available now from Marvel.

Poe Dameron #25 art by Angel Unzueta and Arif Prianto