July will see the release of Star Wars #25, which marks 100 issues that Charles Soule has written for the franchise. Marvel is celebrating the landmark occasion with a giant-sized issue reuniting Soule with many of his previous collaborators. Together, they’ve crafted stories set in the Prequel and Sequel eras of the galaxy far, far away, featuring fan-favorite characters such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren. With so many Star Wars stories on his resume – including a novel set during The High Republic – there is no one better to talk to about Star Wars #25 than the writer himself.
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ComicBook.com spoke with Charles Soule via email ahead of the release of Star Wars #25 to get his thoughts on the historic run, some of his favorite stories and characters to write, what it’s like revisiting his past titles to tell untold stories with his artistic collaborators, and what fans can expect out of the giant-sized issue. We also have an exclusive first look at art from Star Wars #25, featuring Anakin and Obi-Wan (art by Ramon Rosanas), Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader (art by Giuseppe Camuncoli), Kylo Ren (art by Will Sliney), and Poe Dameron (art by Phil Noto). The issue goes on sale July 20th.
Anakin & Obi-Wan by Ramon Rosanas
Reflecting on 100 Issues
ComicBook.com: How does it feel to have charted a majority of Marvel’s Star Wars comics ranging from the Prequel to the Sequel eras?
Charles Soule: In a word… surprising. From the start, with the Lando miniseries I did with Alex Maleev and Paul Mounts back in 2015, my goal has always been to swing for the fences, and tell the best Star Wars stories I could – the kind of stories I’d want to experience as a Star Wars fan. When I was working on the arc for Star Wars that precedes #25, I remember thinking “Huh, I’ve done a lot of these… I wonder how many” – and then I ran the numbers and realized I was almost at 100 scripts under my belt in the galaxy far, far away. With a little shifting around of things, I figured I could make my 100th be STAR WARS #25, and that’s how it worked out. That’s well over two thousand pages of comics, in all main eras of current Star Wars (including the High Republic!), working with some of the very best artists in all of comics. I’ve gotten to write some huge moments for characters that have mattered to me – and many others – since I was a little kid, and the Star Wars work I’ve done for Marvel has led to some incredible opportunities. I still can’t believe it all happened this way, and continues to… but I couldn’t be happier. Here’s a very true statement, which I think and hope comes across in my work: I love Star Wars.
Palpatine and Darth Vader by Giuseppe Camuncoli
Favorite Stories and Characters
Looking back, what stories have resonated with you the most, and is there a favorite character you’ve enjoyed writing over the others?
This is a tricky one, because there are moments in everything I’ve done that stay with me – little bits of dialogue I love, or things that the fans have connected with, or gorgeous art, or character beats I can’t believe I got to author. All the Star Wars stories I’ve written have given me different things. I’m hugely proud of my run on DARTH VADER with Giuseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini and David Curiel, but RISE OF KYLO REN with Will Sliney was hugely special, as was EYE OF THE STORM with Guillermo Sanna, because I got to do a lot of work with a character I created for the High Republic, Marchion Ro. I care about them all pretty deeply (which, honestly, is a big part of my secret sauce when I’m writing these stories.)
Kylo Ren by Will Sliney
Tease for Star Wars #25
You get the chance to reunite with many of your artistic collaborators for STAR WARS #25. Can you tease some of the adventures you have planned for our heroes and villains?
STAR WARS #25 includes four all-new stories set during the runs of prior series I worked on for Marvel – DARTH VADER, OBI-WAN & ANAKIN, POE DAMERON and RISE OF KYLO REN. These are all moments I would have put into those original comics, but either I didn’t have space or hadn’t thought of them. The original creative teams came back for most of those, which was really meaningful for me – and many of the variant covers for the issues include people I’ve worked with as well. The Vader and Obi-Wan stories have the same title, for reasons that will become clear. The Poe story is sad but hopefully kind of lovely, and the Kylo story is a beat I know must have happened. Can’t wait to hear what the fans think!
Poe Dameron by Phil Noto
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Image Credit: Lucasfilm -
Image Credit: Marvel Comics
