From the brief glimpses fans were given of Captain Phasma in the first teaser for The Force Awakens, the character was primed to be the most exciting component of the Star Wars sequel, only to get a few moments of screen time. In her new comic book, Star Wars: Captain Phasma, readers learn not only how she escaped a trash compactor and Starkiller Base, but also that she witnessed Kylo Ren’s duel with Rey in the woods.
The new comic, which takes place in the minutes after last seeing her, Phasma is shown escaping the trash compactor Finn tossed her in, thanks to an explosion from a Resistance bomber. While making her way to a TIE Fighter to escape the planet, she witnesses the duel, but notes that she can’t identify who Kylo is engaged with. The comic also doesn’t note whether she witnesses Kylo lose the battle, which would certainly shake Phasma’s confidence in her leader.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Considering the first issue takes place in such a short timeframe, it’s tough to say if witnessing the duel, and her leader’s loss, has a drastic impact on her, but readers were given another clue about her loyalty to The First Order following her lowering of the shields on the planet, allowing the Resistance to destroy it.
Captain Phasma is perceived as a devout leader within The First Order, which made her quick actions of lowering shields appear so surprising. After she escapes the trash compactor, her first action is deleting the records of who lowered the shields to pin the blame on another member of the organization, showing that, even when faced with certain death, Phasma made sure to cover her tracks.
While this information doesn’t retroactively change much about her actions, it does show her underhanded nature, which we can assume will be explored in The Last Jedi.
A recent argument about the character has been whether or not we’ll see the character unmasked in the upcoming sequel, with comments made by Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo about a specific behind-the-scenes photograph being at the center of the debate.
In a Vanity Fair spread earlier this year, fans saw Gwendoline Christie in full Phasma garb, minus the helmet. At Comic Con de Chile, a fan asked if we would see Phasma unmasked, with Hidalgo specifying that the photo was a behind-the-scenes moment and not indicative of a plot point. Whether this means we’ll never see her unmasked or if she looks drastically different from Christie is up for debate.
We’ll know more about Phasma when she returns in The Last Jedi.
