Fan Expo 2015 – Marvel Star Wars Panel
Marvel has a sizable presence at this year’s FanExpo and they are celebrating Star Wars, just like everyone else. As the world anticipates the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Marvel gathered some of their top talent to talk about their contribution to the one of the world’s best loved sci-fi franchises. Hosted by Marvel talent scout CB Cebulski, they wasted no time in wishing the audience a happy Force Friday and introducing themselves.
Along with host Cebulski, the panel was attended by three reknowned creators, two artists and writer, all of whom have helped shape the new face of the Star Wars comics. John Cassaday has an impressive resume but is well known for his artistic contribution to the Joss Whedon written Astonishing X-Men. John was responsible for the art in the first six issues of the flagship Star Wars comic. Another X-Men veteran, Stuart Immonen, has taken over for Cassaday and is working with writer Jason Aaron. Finally Charles Soule who introduced himself to the Fan Expo audience as the man who killed Wolverine has been tapped to write the newest series entitled Lando.
After talking about their earliest memories of Star Wars and how they were exposed to the franchise, Cebulski talked about how happy Marvel was to have the lisence back. Marvel used to publish adaptations of the Star Wars movies, until they gave up their license over 20 years ago. Now, in partnership with Lucasfilm, Cebulski said Marvel was proud to have the rights back from Dark Horse and were excited to continue the story in continuity. Yes, you read that right, all of the new comic titles take place in the official continuity of the Star Wars universe. Cebulski took the time to explain that a 6 person story team at Lucasfilm are the ones making a new expanded universe possible. He also disclosed that while the comics currently fall between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back (except for Kanan which begins 5 years before A New Hope) in 2016, that would change. Each of the creators mentioned a classic Star Wars character that they would like to integrate into the comics. While Cassaday lamented never getting to draw Yoda, Immonen observed that he hasn’t yet had a chance to draw Darth Vader, while Soule mentioned that Obi-Wan was an underrated character that he would like to explore.
The most exciting part of the panel was when the attendees were offered a preview of what is to come. Cebulski revealed that there would be a new four-part mini-series written by Greg Rucka and drawn by Marco Checchetto called Journey to the Force Awakens: Shattered Empire; which will take place after the destruction of the second Death Star. We can also anticipate the first crossover between titles this December when Darth Vader makes an appearance within the main Star Wars series. Of course, as Lucasfim continues to establish their cannon, Star Wars fans can trust that the story will continue not only on screen, but in comics as well.
