Star Wars: The High Republic's Charles Soule on Revealing Porter Engle's Backstory and Seeding Phase III In The Blade (Exclusive)

When Star Wars kicked off The High Republic with Charles Soule's novel Light of the Jedi, one character among the many quickly grabbed readers' attention despite having a relatively minor role: Porter Engle. Introduced as a simple cook at an unremarkable Jedi outpost, it's soon hinted that Porter was once one of the most feared Jedi in the galaxy, known as "The Blade." Though he hadn't drawn his lightsaber in years and hoped never to again, Porter sprung into action when the Nihil attack caused the Great Disaster, showing that his skills remained as sharp as ever.

Readers wanted to know more, and now they have more. Soule is writing Star Wars: The High Republic – The Blade, a Marvel Comics miniseries that's part of Phase II of the High Republic. Teaming with Marco Castiello and Jethro Morales, Soule is suing the miniseries to reveal Porter Engle's origin and show him at his peak as an active Jedi. Soule also teases that the series introduces a new character who will have a significant impact on the future of The High Republic as it heads into Phase III. ComicBook.com had the opportunity to send some questions about the series to Soule. Here's what he had to say.

Can you tell me a bit about the creation of Porter Engle?

A great thing about the High Republic era of Star Wars: it gives many of its creators the opportunity to do something most Star Wars fans have imagined as long as they've been part of the galaxy far, far away... create their own Jedi. The High Republic is set a few hundred years before Episode I, in a golden age for the Republic during which the Jedi Order was at one of its peaks. So, you have many Jedi of many types running around having adventures. Porter Engle was a character I created for the very first High Republic story, my novel Light of the Jedi. I wanted him to be older, wiser, very experienced, semi-retired, but absolutely legendary. The sort of Jedi other Jedi speak about in hushed tones. When we first meet him, Porter's working primarily as a cook at a Jedi Outpost on the far Outer Rim. He hasn't drawn his lightsaber in a long time. But events spiral out of control, as they often do in Star Wars stories, and he's called back into action. That's when we see what he's really capable of – he's essentially a lightsaber "gunslinger," capable of extraordinary feats with the Jedi's ancestral weapon. He's got a long, deep, history, though, and wasn't exactly thrilled that he had to fight again. He thought he'd left it all behind. I created him primarily because I like that sort of archetype – the old warrior called for one last battle – and thought it might work well within a Jedi context. And so it has!

Was giving his history always part of the plan for the High Republic or is this comic something that came as a reaction to fan response to the first group of High Republic stories?

I always hoped to get a chance to do more with Porter, and while I wouldn't say it was something we planned from the beginning, the opportunity presented by Phase II of the huge High Republic initiative (which is set 150 years before Phase I, where Porter was introduced) seemed like it could be a great chance to examine him in his prime. That said, if people didn't connect with Porter and his story the way they have, I doubt I'd be writing more of his story. Like with many things connected to the High Republic, it's been amazing to see the way fans have responded – not just to Porter Engle, but really to all of what we've created here.

What can you tell me about the premise of The Blade and what sets it apart from the other High Republic stories we've seen so far?

The Blade is a four-issue miniseries that begins to tell the story of how Porter Engle became the Jedi we met in Phase I. A legend to all the other Jedi, but deeply conflicted within himself about the things that built that legend. Here, he's much younger, cocky and cool (as cocky as Jedi get, anyway – let's just say he's extremely confident in his own abilities). He's traveling with a woman named Barash, his sister and a fellow Jedi, and they've evolved a sort of symbiotic approach to the way they handle Jedi business. Porter handles the saber, while Barash is deeply empathic, and helps to guide where that saber should be used. They travel the galaxy during the rough, unsettled era that is Phase II, helping to bring the light wherever they can. They get called to try to help a besieged city on a very remote planet, at which point things start to go off the rails. It very much has its own tone – it's a Jedi story, but it's also a war story, and a bit of a western, and a tragedy. The closest thing I'd compare it to is Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I'm very proud of it, and the work Marco Castiello and Jethro Morales are doing with the art is wonderful.

What can you say about how The Blade fits into the overall tapestry of The High Republic initiative? Is this strictly an origin story for Engle, or are their other things being either revealed or set up?

It's definitely giving a lot of backstory for Porter (and Barash), but it's also setting up a very important element of Phase III. In particular, there's a character introduced at the end of Issue 2, General Viess, who you should pay attention to. She's very cool (and also awful).

Why did you end up writing this story? What draws you to Engle as a character and makes you want to tell his story?

Part of it is simple – when you create new Star Wars Jedi, you want to spend as much time with them as you can. Porter Engle is one of my all-time favorite creations (which is saying a lot), and I've got tons of stories to tell about this amazing, conflicted, lightsaber superstar. He's a very real person who goes on a very intense journey, almost loses himself, and settles on a new equilibrium that's both tragic and beautiful. It's great stuff, and I'm thrilled that I get to expand how readers see him.

What can you tell me about working with Marco Castiello? What mood are you trying to set with your collaboration? What strengths of his might your script highlight?

This isn't my first time working with Marco – we did two issues of the main Marvel Star Wars run together (#19-20). He did an amazing job with tricky scripts, especially in #20, and I hate to say it but I've given him plenty of tricky stuff to do in The Blade as well. Alongside Jethro Morales, who comes on board in the second issue, he has to (gets to?) draw some absolutely insane lightsaber combat scenes. I wanted this story to show readers things they've never seen before as far as the way sabers can be used, and Marco and Jethro have done an amazing job pulling that off. It's a beautiful book, for sure.

Star Wars: The High Republic – The Blade #1 is on sale now. Star Wars: The High Republic – The Blade #2 goes on sale on January 25th.