‘Darth Vader’ Writer On How The Sith Lord Made His Lightsaber

The mystery of how Darth Vader got his iconic red lightsaber has been revealed thanks to writer Charles Soule, and he’s frankly surprised the story remained a mystery for as long as it did.

Soule’s Darth Vader comic book series for Marvel Comics, with artist Giuseppe Camuncoli, picks up immediately after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and Soule says he wanted to kick it off an important and archetypal tale.

“[Lucasfilm] said, ‘We want to tell a story that starts right after Episode III. What do you want to do?’,” Soule recalled in an interview with StarWars.com. “Then I considered, ‘What are the stories that need to be told here?’ I thought, ‘What’s a better quest than a dark wizard going after his magic sword?’”

“It worked out so perfectly because at the end of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan takes the blue lightsaber and that leaves Vader without a weapon,” Soule continued. “I couldn’t believe that that story hadn’t been told and seemed like a perfect starting point for this guy. It also left him vulnerable. He’s in a suit that he doesn’t know how to use yet, and he doesn’t have a weapon. With characters as iconic as Vader, it’s about the idea that they could have a meaningful quest that is very essential to their storytelling and how they become the person or the character that you know. It’s hard to do because so many stories have been told. So, finding this open window was phenomenal. It was a lucky break, for sure.”

Now that Vader has his lightsaber, Soule teased that he’ll cross swords with a known Jedi later in the series.

“The next big Jedi arc is with a known Jedi from the films, who I loved writing and I’m very excited to be able to do stuff with,” Soule said.

Darth Vader #5 is on sale now. Darth Vader #6, introducing the Inquisitor program first seen on Star Wars Rebels, goes on sale October 4th. Vader’s quest for his lightsaber will be collected in Star Wars: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith Vol. 1: Imperial Machine, releasing in November.