9 Star Wars Villains We Want in Comics

Marvel Comics is currently producing an adaptation of the novel Thrawn, and it is one of the very best installments in their generally impressive line of Star Wars comics. It is taken from excellent source material penned by Grand Admiral Thrawn‘s creator Timothy Zahn, but the comic itself has been deftly executed. The plotting and political maneuvers have been just as thrilling as action with pirates and other showdowns. It’s yet another example of how comics can help to build the Star Wars extended universe, and a reminder of how much fun it is to read the stories of villains who remain outside or barely touch the movies.

Once Thrawn is complete, there will be a big gap in the Star Wars line at Marvel Comics waiting for more bad guys who aren’t Darth Vader. That’s what got us thinking about who exactly would fit that role and there are a lot of great answers. Star Wars is packed with excellent villains from its sith lords to bounty hunters, and everything in between. These are our top nine picks for Star Wars baddies needing their own comics adaptations in the very near future.

Asajj Ventress

The majority of Ventress’ story was told in the cartoon The Clone Wars, but as one of the most fascinating characters to emerge from that series, we’d love to learn more about her. Her many associations and adventures leave ample room for side stories and minor missions. As a character she is a perfect fit for a one-shot, introducing comics readers to a standout animated feature and providings a bloody story to fit. This is one villain we simply cannot get enough of.

Aurra Sing

Whereas Asajj Ventress is a character with most of her story already told, Aurra Sing offers the opposite side of that coin. Like so many Star Wars characters, Sing’s career began in a single shot during The Phantom Menace. Following in the footsteps of other bounty hunter cameos she became a fascination for fan fiction and cosplayers. It’s time that Aurra Sing’s story was better completed for modern canon. Not only is she a visually striking protagonist, but her career on the Outer Rim presents an opportunity to flesh out the lore of the Old Republic.

Cad Bane

Boba Fett can eat his heart out. In the wide world of Star Wars bounty hunters, Cad Bane is the modern gold standard. His adventures in animated features have fleshed out a character with complex motives, incredible skills, and enough paranoia to fill the galaxy. Those elements add up to the perfect protagonist for a variety of heist and conspiracy-oriented stories. Bane has held the spotlight in the past, but he’s still more than capable of holding his own series. Whether he’s hunting Jedi or moving through a variety of new bounties, Bane is a worthwhile character in his own right worthy of further exploration.

Darth Plagueis

Adapting the legend of Darth Plagueis to comics presents an opportunity to explore the history of the Star Wars universe before even the prequel trilogies. This is more about the world around Plagueis than the man himself. His legacy is central to the Skywalker legend, but it’s the times he inhabited that are most interesting in his own story. Fleshing out his rise and fall provides a chance to see the Old Republic at its height of power and the Jedi before they even suspected a substantial threat. It’s mythmaking at its greatest, and it would be even better to actually see these events in comics.

Director Orson Krennic

Krennic is the prototypical stuffed shirt of the Empire. He may become particularly nefarious when his own neck is on the line in Rogue One, but there’s very little differentiating him from the many commanders choked to death by Vader over the years. Digging deeper into his rise to power would allow readers to investigate the banality of evil that built the Empire. Most men aren’t Palpatine, but bureaucrats looking for a raise. This mundane element of Krennic offers a new spin on villainy in Star Wars.

Doctor Cornelius Evazan and Pondo Baba

This pair from the very start of Star Wars don’t have much definition in the new canon from Disney. That should be considered an opportunity though. In their very brief time on screen so many tantalizing details are dropped. Evazan is wanted in 12 systems and Pondo Baba does appear to be a worthy combatant against any weapon besides a lightsaber. Whether they’re portrayed as bluffing low-level scoundrels or just as ugly as their faces suggest, there’s a very interesting story to be explored with this pair.

Greedo

One of the most iconic villains in Star Wars history came from the very same scene as Evazan and Pondo Baba. Greedo’s screen time might have been short, but his legacy is undeniable as fans still argue about his competence and which order he and Han pulled the trigger. The truth is that Greedo did get the drop on Solo though, and for a very brief instant could have taken his bounty. That suggests some degree of ability, and one that is likely well-founded in the criminal underworld of Tatooine. Greedo deserves to finally have more of his story told and readers could learn a lot more about Jabba and his associates along the way.

IG-88

In the lineup of bounty hunters in The Empire Strikes Back, IG-88 is the only one that could be described as a literal killing machine. Before the new canon took effect, this killer droid was a great source for bloody stories in both prose and comics. His ability to calculate plans to a the thousandth degree and precise aim created a near-perfect bounty hunter. That’s the best possible premise for an action comic set in the Star Wars universe.

Prince Xizor

There are very few villains from outside of the Star Wars movies that can even be compared to Grand Admiral Thrawn. Prince Xizor is one of them. His wealth and influence, both through royal and illicit connections made him an incredibly powerful being during the original trilogy. Unlike Vader, Palpatine, or Thrawn though, Xizor thrived on corruption. He worked through any means necessary and never had a government to sign off on his crimes. In an age where corruption is regularly in the headlines, this is a story worth telling as Xizor examines the connection between power and its misuse.