Delve deep into the Dark Side with behind the scenes details from Marvel Star Wars Darth Vader (2017)…
Thanks to StarWars.com, we go behind the scenes of the latest Darth Vader comic run, where we get a look at the ruthless Sith Lord, Darth Vader.
The comic first takes place immediately following the events of Revenge of the Sith, where Vader is still finding his new place within the Force. Writer Charles Soule explains Palpatine’s motives.
"The Emperor really wants Vader to dig deep into the dark side and see what he’s gained, even after everything he’s lost. That’s really where Vader is at this point. He’s lost everything he ever had to rely on; he doesn’t have any guiding light at all except for Palpatine."
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
Within the Force, Anakin and Vader are two completely different entities, but it doesn’t mean the Sith Lord hasn’t kept a piece of his former life, inside of that daunting mechanical suit.
"It would be nice to show him using his engineering skills, which have always been part of Anakin Skywalker’s character. Just because he’s Vader now, doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to fix stuff"
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
The Jedi Master Vader hunts down is an anomaly, and only survived the dreaded Order 66 due to the fact he was in self-imposed exile.
"The Barash Vow is something that can be used in different places. It’s not common, so it doesn’t have to come up or be referred to all the time. It gives the Jedi a very interesting history."
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
There could be similar reasons we see Luke in exile come the events of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, in order to atone for his failure like Master Kirak Infil’a, but that question is yet to be officially answered.
Throughout the comic, we see the ruthless monster depicted in the films, but see that a slight glimmer of his humanity does, in fact, remain.
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
"He’s a monster, but he’s a tragic monster. He murdered an entire city — men, women, and children — in issue #4, and didn’t look back. Just walked away as they were all drowning by his hand. But here, you still feel for him to some degree. Vader is a wonderfully complex character to write."
Introduced in Star Wars Rebels, we get our first glimpse of the Dark Side Jedi-hunters, known as the Inquisitors. We now will have their earliest Star Wars canon timeline appearance, within the upcoming issues. Vader will show them who is the boss, putting these Inquisitors in their proper place.
"You see Vader attempting to figure out how he’s going to do this job. This is his first assignment after the lightsaber quest. Vader’s like, “Wait a minute. So I have to be a manager?” Which is not something that he really considered or wanted to be. We got to make up a couple new Inquisitors, and there’s also some really familiar faces. The Grand Inquisitor is in it, various brothers and sisters that we’ve seen in other stories"
Photo credit: Lucasfilm
The final few issues of the Vader (2017) comic run will present some new challenges for the Sith Apprentice, mainly in showing restraint and a bit of patience, which is often times difficult for this really angry and merciless character.
"The easiest solution for Vader, always, is just to kill anybody who is a problem for him. It also brings into focus the fact that there are some Jedi out there who survived and how they’re going to play into this going forward."
Next: Darth Vader will hunt down a familiar Jedi in the upcoming Marvel Vader comic
We will next meet the Grand Inquisitor when Vader (2017) hits stores on October 4th. You can pre-order the upcoming issue and catch up on previous ones here.