With the release of the upcoming Star Wars #25, writer Charles Soule will have penned 100 total comic book issues set within the galaxy far, far away. To mark the occasion, Marvel Comics’ Star Wars #25 will be a giant-sized issue that sees Soule re-team with some of his most notable collaborators to revisit his previous Star Wars stories — including his and artist Will Sliney’s The Rise of Kylo Ren.
Soule describes Star Wars #25’s Kylo Ren-centric tale as being part of the story of The Rise of Kylo Ren, a limited series set prior to the events of the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, an unlettered, Sliney-illustrated preview page revealed by ComicBook.com strongly suggests that this new chapter actually takes place a little bit later — more specifically, immediately after the events of the 2017 film Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The page finds Kylo outside the abandoned Resistance base on the planet Crait, the site of The Last Jedi‘s climax, presumably after his battle with a Force projection of Luke Skywalker, which bought the Resistance enough time to escape. Kylo’s Upsilon-class command shuttle is waiting for him, though the First Order’s AT-ATs have evidently departed by this point. The ship is guarded by two Stormtroopers, who implicitly fall victim to Kylo’s rage.
In addition to Soule and Sliney’s Sequel era-set Kylo Ren story, Star Wars #25 also includes a Prequel-era story featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, illustrated by Ramon Rosanas; an Original Trilogy-era story featuring Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, illustrated by Giuseppe Camuncoli; and another Sequel-era story featuring Poe Dameron, illustrated by Phil Noto.
“Star Wars #25 includes four all-new stories set during the runs of prior series I worked on for Marvel — Darth Vader, Obi-Wan & Anakin, Poe Dameron and Rise of Kylo Ren,” Soule told ComicBook.com. “These are all moments I would have put into those original comics, but either I didn’t have space or hadn’t thought of them. The original creative teams came back for most of those, which was really meaningful for me — and many of the variant covers for the issues include people I’ve worked with as well. The Vader and Obi-Wan stories have the same title, for reasons that will become clear. The Poe story is sad but hopefully kind of lovely, and the Kylo story is a beat I know must have happened. Can’t wait to hear what the fans think!”
Written by Soule and illustrated by Sliney with colors by Guru-eFX, Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren ran for four issues from December 2019 to March 2020. The series takes place approximately six years before the events of 2015’s The Force Awakens, which itself takes place immediately before the events of 2017’s The Last Jedi. The Rise of Kylo Ren chronicles how exactly former Jedi Padawan Ben Solo became the villainous Kylo Ren, with Han Solo and Leia Organa’s son joining the Knights of Ren, killing the group’s original leader and ultimately taking his place.
Written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Ramon Rosanas, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Will Sliney and Phil Noto, Star Wars #25 goes on sale July 20 from Marvel Comics.
Source: ComicBook.com