Star Wars: Oscar Isaac Praises Poe Dameron Comics

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy star Oscar Isaac is publicly praising the comics based on his character, Poe Dameron. Author Charles Soule wrote the comic series Star Wars: Poe Dameron from 2016-2018; as it turns out, Oscar Isaac not only knows about that series, he claims he read all thirty-one issues of it, and loves it!

In an interview with Publishers Weekly’s Heidi MacDonald, Oscar Isaac was asked directly if he knew of Soule’s Poe Dameron comics, to which he gave this enthusiastic reply: 

“I have, I got all of them. I was so excited: that was the first time a character of mine had been in a comic book – that I had created this character. So I was really excited to see that and read about his parents and yeah, that was a really special thing to see.” 

Star Wars: Poe Dameron followed Poe across different periods in the Resistance battle with The First Order. It was set before The Force Awakens, as well as before and after The Last Jedi. In addition to fleshing-out the character of Poe Dameron and his career as The Resistance’s best pilot, the Poe Dameron comics also fleshed out the hero’s backstory, and the role of his parents (Shara Bey and Kes Dameron) in the larger Star Wars Universe. For a lot of Star Wars fans, the Poe Dameron comics are so much more responsible for making the character a fan-favorite and true successor to Han Solo than Sequel Trilogy films ever did. 

To that point: by the time poor Oscar Isaac got to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, he (like every major cast member) could barely restrain his criticisms of how Disney and Lucasfilm had handled his character’s arc (“Look, was there some crying in the shower? Yes!”). In post-Star Wars interviews, Isaac even seemed to indicate that the frustration was enough for him to close the door on playing Poe for good: 

“[I’m] happy and feeling fulfilled that the task is complete,” Isaac told Variety. “So I can’t imagine what it would be that would make me want to redo this thing or revisit it.”

Of course, a great deal has changed in the Star Wars Universe since the Sequel Trilogy ended. The Mandalorian sparked an entire Star Wars TV Universe to flourish and take the reigns of the franchise. Corrective measures for some of the missteps of the ST era are bringing fans anticipated new series like Rogue One prequel series Andor. If Diego Luna gets a chance to do more with his character from one film, Oscar Isaac definitely deserves that same chance for Poe Dameron. And after the acting clinic Oscar Isaac put on in Marvel’s Moon Knight TV series, Lucasfilm may be kicking itself for not utilizing him for more Poe. 

The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is streaming on Disney+.