Gerry Duggan Talks Chewbacca Solo Series: "Chewbacca Is A Ronin Who Has Found A New Master"

At Comic-Con International: San Diego, Marvel Comics announced a new miniseries taking Han Solo's stalwart companion, Chewbacca, on a solo adventure.

The series will be written by Gerry Duggan (Deadpool) and drawn by Phil Noto (Black Widow), and sees Chewie crash-landing while on a mission for the Rebel Alliance. Chewie then becomes entangled in a planetary conflict while trying to get back to the rebellion.

Duggan took some time out of his busy Comic-Con schedule to answer a few questions about the new series, which debut in October.

With Star Wars comics, there's always talk of getting the characters' voices right. Chewie's is one of the more unique voices in the series. How are you approaching that for the comic?

I'm writing each roar twice. Once for the letterer, onomatopoeia and all, and a second line in parenthesis that will never see print, but contains the translation for the editors, Lucasfilm, and of course, my amazingly talented collaborator Phil Noto. He just told me he felt his whole life was leading up to this. I agreed, then we both agreed not to tell our wives and kids. As far as writing Chewie, he's got a warrior's soul. He's smart, resourceful, with a sense of humor. It sounds silly, but there was always a humanity to Chewbacca, that was partly the performance of Mr. Mayhew, but also the magic of practical effects. Phil Noto's Chewie feels alive in that same way.

We mostly know Chewie as part of duo. What aspects of Chewbacca might we see in the series that perhaps are overlooked when he's working with Han?

He'll be thrust into a leadership role, with a new cast of characters, some very eager to avoid any Imperial entanglements, and some others that are intent on joining the Empire. You'll see Chewie as a warrior and a tactician, and you'll get a taste of what he's given up to join the fight. The story will have lots of action and some laughs, but we're also going to follow Chewie as he faces some of his deepest fears.

What can you tell us about the planet that Chewie is going to find himself marooned on?

It's a beautiful planet. Phil, Jordan and I talked about what haven't we seen? We're going to a galaxy far, far away -- let's be exciting and different. Jaum is one of the big bads of this story, and Phil took the simple ideas we had and created a truly iconic Star Wars villain design. Jaum has a plan to entice the empire to Zarro's planet, and only Chewie and Zarro can stop him.

Most of the core Star Wars cast have an archtype they occupy. Luke is the heroic savior, Han is a scoundrel, Leia a rebellious leader. What would you say is Chewie's role?

Chewbacca is a Ronin who has found a new master in the scoundrel.

What can you tell us about the young girl that Chewie is going to be running into on his adventure?

She's going to take on the bad guys with Chewie or not, so Chewie is teaming up not for any shared interest, but he's really making a heroic sacrifice. He's already got an important mission that he's setting aside for the great good. The Empire won't be expecting the fight that Chewie and Zarro will present to them in this series.

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