Star Wars: Easter Eggs and References in Marvel's Star Wars #2

One of the fun parts of reading a series like Star Wars, based on an existing product, is seeing [...]

Vader and Luke meet in Star Wars #2

One of the fun parts of reading a series like Star Wars, based on an existing product, is seeing what little bits and pieces, what references and nods, are put in there just for fans. Yes, we're talking about the ever-present "Easter Eggs," and Jason Aaron and John Cassaday clearly have fun placing them within these pages.

Here are five notable Easter Eggs we found inside this week's Star Wars #2 from Marvel Comics, with some direct references to film lines and characters, the first canonical chronological appearance of a couple of famous Star Wars staples, and more. There are minor spoilers for the issue here, so do yourself a favor and read the comic first! And no, we're not going to count the intro-page scroll every time, but yes, it does count if you're keeping score.

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Vader Steals His Saber

Darth Vader takes the blue lightsaber from Luke - which actually belongs to him! It's his lightsaber that he created and wielded as Anakin Skywalker. Luke doesn't make his own lightsaber until Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when he does so as the final part of his Jedi training (and out of necessity, after Vader… ahem… removes the other lightsaber from Luke). Vader acknowledges this just as the AT-AT comes crashing through the building, saying, "I know this weapon. This once belonged to—" This could, then, be his first real hint and intuition that Luke is his son.

Bonus sub-reference: the "You killed my father!" line, with that excellent response you can see above.

Aliens Among Us

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Aliens seen in the Rebel Alliance include: A Togruta female on the AT-AT with Han, Leia, Artoo, and the Jawas; Anakin's padawan in The Clone Wars was a Togruta named Ahsoka Tano. Likewise, Luke almost gets his lightsaber back when it is thrown into the chest of a Mon Calamari; a famous member of his species would have told him it was a trap. A Zabrak male wields a pipe; that species yielded Darth Maul and Savage Opress to the Sith. While the Ithorians (those hammerhead guys) never had a super famous character in the canon works, artist John Cassaday noted they are a personal favorite, so he draws them into chaotic scenes like the early fight scene in this issue. Twi'leks were not seen in the films (again, in order of release) until Return of the Jedi, and then only as slave dancers to Jabba the Hutt. Since then, the tail-headed (those tentacles are called Lekku) aliens have become fan favorites, with Jedi in the canonical Clone Wars and prequel trilogy, and Sith in the "Legends" books and comics, amongst multitudes of others.

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Six Billion Languages, Only One Example

C-3PO speaks six billion languages… but here he goes to his old fallback, and asks if the aliens tearing apart the Millennium Falcon speak a language he's mentioned before, on-camera. "Do you speak… Bocce perhaps?" Threepio asks. That's the specific language that Owen Lars, Luke's uncle, asked the droid if he could speak when first picking him out in A New Hope.

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Not Much Bigger Than 2 Meters

"A farm boy who can bullseye womp rats," Luke says of himself, recalling a boast he made in A New Hope, referring to their size similarity to the exhaust port target on the Death Star.

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Speeder bikes and the AT-AT

Two Star Wars staple vehicles now, sure, but timeline wise, this issue, which takes place just after the first movie, is the first time these heroes have encountered either in a canonical appearance. The Speeder bikes are used in a famous chase scene in Return of the Jedi and the AT-AT walkers (All Terrain Armored Transport) were seen at the Battle of Hoth in Empire Strikes Back.

That's what we found in this week's issue, what others did you find in your hunt, or which was your favorite nod? Sound off in the comments below!