By
Kevin Erdmann
Published 44 minutes ago
Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero.
With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention.
Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.
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Marvel’s Star Wars comics are great, but there's one big problem with Darth Vader. Since 2015, Marvel's canonical Star Wars comics have expanded key periods between films, deepened the dimensions of iconic characters, and delivered some of the coolest moments in the galaxy far, far away. However, there's one surprising opportunity Marvel still hasn’t explored with its Star Wars license.
Remarkably, there's one major part of comic book publishing that Marvel has never taken advantage of with Star Wars, and specifically Darth Vader: If the Marvel era of Star Wars comics were to end without doing some kind of Darth Vader/Marvel Universe crossover, it can easily be argued that they'll have wasted the license.
Marvel's Star Wars Comics Contain Some Amazing Canon Stories
Within the established Star Wars canon, Marvel has produced some major standouts. Series like 2015, 2017, and 2020's various Darth Vader series have all been absolute bangers, revealing the Dark Lord's earliest days as a Sith, his efforts between films to betray his master, everything that led to his eventual redemption to save his son in Return of the Jedi, and more.
Likewise, Marvel's flagship Star Wars series (in all its forms) has been incredibly entertaining, right alongside smaller miniseries like their Black, White, and Red series focused on individual characters like Darth Maul, Boba Fett, and Vader.
Marvel's Star Wars comics were also heavily involved in the recently concluded High Republic publishing initiative that began in 2021, adding just as much to the new Star Wars era as the novels.
Without a doubt, some of the best Disney-era storytelling has come from these canon Star Wars comics with exciting and bold expansions to the lore, helping fill major timeline gaps with new context and greater emotional depth. Yet for all their ambition within the canon, Marvel has yet to go outside the walls of the vast canon.
Why Hasn't Marvel Branched Out With Darth Vader Crossovers?
Naturally, Darth Vader comics have arguably seen the most success and hype out of all of Marvel's various Star Wars comics. That said, Marvel has never attempted any kind of big crossover with the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Looking beyond Star Wars, Marvel has indeed embraced non-canon crossovers across their catalog of iconic characters existing outside the main Marvel Universe continuity. They’ve recently released titles like Alien vs. Captain America and Predator Kills the Marvel Universe, major multiversal showdowns designed purely for spectacle with no bearing on either franchise's official continuity.
Xenomorph Facehugger on Shield in Alien vs Captain America Comic Art
That said, Darth Vader has inexplicably never been a part of a similar crossover event with the Marvel Universe.
It’s quite bizarre when considering that Darth Vader’s canonical timeline is essentially finite. Marvel will eventually exhaust the narrative space between movies. shows, and what they've already shown of Darth Vader's journey on the page since 2015. At this point, why not let loose with non-canon battles pitting Vader against the Avengers or the X-Men just for fun?
If an alternate universe is the problem for Star Wars/Lucasfilm, you wouldn’t even necessarily need one to make a crossover happen. A Marvel villain like Nightmare could manifest a "fake" Vader from collective pop culture, as Star Wars does exist as a fictional franchise within the Marvel Universe.
Illusions can be created, or even powerful cyborg stand-ins carrying a resemblance to the Sith Lord could debut. The possibilities are there. Heck, even the X-Men's Kitty Pryde once cosplayed as Darth Vader back in the early '80s.
A non-canonical crossover where Darth Vader takes on Earth's Mightiest would be incredible and a major comics event, just like we've been seeing with Marvel's various Alien and Predator crossovers. Let's not waste the super cool opportunity with one of sci-fi's greatest villains of all time.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Created By
George Lucas
Cast
Bob Anderson, Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones, Matt Lanter, Matt Lucas, Jake Lloyd, David Prowse, Sebastian Shaw
First Appearance
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
Died
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi
Alliance
Jedi, Sith
Race
Human
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Comics
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Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
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Star Wars
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