One way that Star Wars has distinguished itself from other sci-fi series is its revolutionary dynamic space battles. While it may seem pretty obvious that a series with the words "star" and "wars" in the title should feature space battles of one kind or another, the series managed to captivate fans with realistic thrilling fights from the very first film when the Millennium Falcon shot its way through a squad of TIEs to escape the Death Star.
When Marvel began producing Star Wars comics in 2015, one way it distinguished itself was in the depiction of these high-stakes space battles. While most of these battles have been good, some are truly out of this world.
10 Vader's Took Out 3 Rebel X-Wing Squads On His Own
One of the biggest events of Marvel’s Star Wars comics is the Vader Down crossover. When Vader arrived at the planet Vrogas Vas, he exited hyperspace in his TIE Advanced ship only to find three Rebel X-wing squads in orbit over the planet. The Rebels had been running drills.
The Dark Lord of the Sith attacked—and was attacked—but the Rebels didn’t stand a chance. He tore through the X-wings, destroying an entire squad in moments. Then Luke Skywalker singled him out, flying straight into Vader’s TIE and sending them both crashing down to the planet below.
9 Han Solo Outmaneuvered Pursuing Ships In A Storm
Early in the 2015 Star Wars series by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday, Han Solo was flying with Leia in a stolen Imperial ship when two TIE fighters asked for clearance codes. After giving the codes to the TIEs, Han got nervous and rabbitted...right as the TIEs were messaging the all-clear sign.
This led to a chase where Han took his stolen ship down to a nearby planet that the navigation computers didn't recognize. The planet's atmosphere was filled with electrical storms that could rip a ship apart. However, Han actually had a secret stash house on the planet to lay low.
8 Han Solo Raced In The Dragon Void With The Galaxy's Greatest Pilots Through An Imperial Blockade
Han Solo flew in the most dangerous and high-stakes space race in the Star Wars Galaxy, known as the Dragon Void. There were multiple stops along the way, and Han was supposed to pick up a Rebel operative at each spot. The only problem was that one of the Rebels--and he didn't know which--was a traitor.
At the end of the race, the Empire set up a blockade. With a murderous traitor aboard the Millennium Falcon and an imperial armada descending on him, Han used every trick he had to survive. To his amazement, the other pilots in the Dragon Void race came to his aid, including the last of an alien race that had since departed for another dimension.
7 The Rebel Jail Orbiting A Star Was Besieged
Some people will argue about what constitutes a "space battle." After all, everything is technically in space, even planets, but one does not refer to a fight on the ground of a planet as a space battle. For the sake of this list, any fight not on a moon or planet will qualify.
With that definition, it makes it important to look at the Rebel Jail that was built orbiting a star to house criminals that the Alliance captured. While Leia was at the jail with Sana Starros and Doctor Chelli Aphra, the jail was attacked by someone who began releasing and then killing the prisoners. The three women teamed up to take down this new threat, only to learn he was one of their fellow Rebels.
6 Darth Vader Mind-Controlled A Sentient Whaleship And Flew It Into A Star
The 2015 Darth Vader comic by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larocca remains one of the greatest Star Wars comics Marvel has released. One of the main antagonists of the series is Cylo, a cyberneticist who fused technology into people to create potential replacements for Darth Vader by mimicking Force powers. Cylo also has cloned numerous copies of himself, so every time he died, his consciousness would be transferred into a new body.
Vader attacked Cylo's main ship, built into a giant sentient alien space whale. He then used the Force to control the creature's mind, making it fly straight into a star.
5 The Rebels Stole An Imperial Star Destroyer
Han, Leia, Luke, and a handful of other Rebels successfully stole an Imperial Star Destroyer, making it look like the ship was destroyed in a blast (when in reality, they went into hyperspace right as the blast detonated). With a skeleton crew, they flew this damaged ship toward an Imperial world.
However, the elite Task Force 99 unit of S.C.A.R. Troopers boarded the Star Destroyer and began picking off the Rebels. Aboard this blasted behemoth of a ship, Luke crossed lightsabers with a S.C.A.R. Trooper who was even better trained with one, while the other Rebels fought for their lives.
4 R2D2 Took On An Entire Star Destroyer By Himself To Rescue C3pO
After the S.C.A.R. Troopers attacked the Rebels aboard the stolen Star Destroyer, they captured C3pO. They brought him back to a different Star Destroyer (one that was fully functional). R2D2 was not about to let anything happen to his best friend.
The little astromech stole an X-wing, flew it to the Star Destroyer where C3Po was being kept, then hacked the systems aboard the massive to ship, unleashing widespread devastation. He pitted different Stormtrooper units against one another, shot some into space out of the airlocks, trapped others in the trash processors, and unleashed gouts of flame on still more. After rescuing Threepio, he stole another ship. But this time, he was pursued by Darth Vader, flying his own Imperial TIE. Thankfully, Han and Luke were there. Han shot Vader from behind and the Rebels all escaped.
3 The Rebel Fleet Was Devastated By The Empire After Queen Trios's Betrayal
The Rebellion spent years and a small fortune building a coalition and an impressive fleet of warships. Then, one of their most important allies, Queen Trios of Shu-Torun, betrayed them.
Not only did she sabotage the Rebel ships, but she also gave the Empire their location. When the Empire attacked, one ship went down after another before the Rebels were finally able to scatter and escape. This undid all the progress that the Rebels had made and turned Trios into a formidable villain.
2 The Rebels Were Ambushed And Their Codes Were Cracked After The Empire Strikes Back
The Empire Strikes Back is the darkest film of the original trilogy. It begins with the Rebels being forced to flee their base on Hoth and it ends with Han frozen in carbonite, Luke losing a hand, and the main characters barely escaping with their lives.
The moment Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando rescued Luke from Cloud City, they flew to reconvene with the rest of the Rebel fleet who had scattered. They also flew right into an ambush. The Empire had cracked the Rebels' codes so any time that one Rebel group contacted another, both would be exposed to the Empire. This cost countless lives as the Empire savaged the Rebel fleet.
1 Doctor Aphra Boarded Other Ships In The Middle Of Pitched Space Battles
Doctor Chelli Aphra is probably the most popular original character from the new Marvel comics for Star Wars. Created by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca, the rogue archaeologist Doctor Aphra got her own series in 2016, where she found herself fleeing from one misadventure to the next, beset by tragedy and the consequences of her own bad decisions.
At one point she was jailed aboard a prison ship. As part of their sentences, the prisoners had to form boarding parties to attack other ships. In space. Needless to say, this was terrifying, and she barely survived the ordeal. She was also one of the lucky ones.