How Luke Skywalker Learns About ‘Rogue One’

The first Star Wars spinoff movie told the story of a group of Rebels whose efforts shifted the tide in the war against the Galactic Empire, but because of their sacrifices they weren’t celebrated war heroes like Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker.

But in the upcoming Star Wars comic book, their efforts in the fight will be discovered by the crew of the Millennium Falcon.

Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, K-2SO, and the others retrieved the Death Star plans and gave them to the Rebel Alliance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, starting the downfall of the Imperial forces led by Emperor Palpatine. Their efforts resulted in the destruction of the holy city on Jedha with the rest of the planet being devastated, and that is where Luke and his allies will go when Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca take over the Star Wars comic with issue #38.

“We know the story because we’ve seen Star Wars, but to me, the specifics are really interesting,” Gillen said to CBR.

Set between the events of A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back, Gillen and Larroca’s story will build off of writer Jason Aaron’s run and bring the characters to the Rebel base on Hoth. But his story will begin with a trip to Jedha.

We’re going to the post apocalyptic wasteland that was left after the Empire blew a hole in Jedha and removed one of the holiest sites there. That’s great for all of our characters.

We’re taking Leia to a planet that was shot by the Death Star. For a survivor of Alderaan that’s everything. Then Luke is searching for the spirituality of the Jedi and he’s taken to a big hole where their holiest site used to be. That’s an enormous visual that expresses the problem that Luke is facing. What he’s looking for isn’t there anymore.

So there’s that juicy, meaty, thematic stuff and then you’ve got really good visuals. The idea of dropping, Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids into a post-apocalyptic wasteland is pretty fun.

When asked if anyone survived the destruction of the city, Gillen was coy.

The Rogue One crew survived it, so there’s a good chance others did as well. Also, Jedha City wasn’t the only settlement on the planet. Those other settlements though are in shall we say . . . a pretty poor state right now.

There are reasons why the Empire thinks it needs to go back to Jedha. They took all the Khyber Crystals from the planet and now they’re coming back for something else. That’s prompted what would be best described as a neo-partisan movement. Some people are trying to carry on in the spirit of Saw Gerrera.

Through that we get people like Luke discovering everything that allowed him to get into a position to destroy the Death Star. He finds out about Jyn Erso and all the people who sacrificed their lives to give him the chance to be a hero. As you can imagine, that’s going to hit Luke hard.

When I saw Rogue One I immediately thought, “I wonder what Luke makes of all this? I wonder what Leia makes of it?” Now I’m in a position where I get to write that. [Laughs] It’s a lot of fun.

Rogue One was definitely an important story in Star Wars lore, and though it’s meaning is particularly more impactful because it’s not recognized in other movies, it will still be intriguing to see how our heroes respond to the sacrifice the Rebels made.

Star Wars #38 will hit stores November 1.

The Rebel Alliance turns its attention to the shattered planet of Jedha! Once the site of great significance to the Jedi, Jedha was left in ruins when the Death Star annihilated the Holy City there. Now, new series writer Kieron Gillen joins artist Salvador Larroca to bring Luke, Leia, Han, and the rest to the remains of the tragic victim of the Empire’s fury!