Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Marvel’sThe Rise of Skywalker Adaptation#1-2Five years after the release ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Marvel’s new comic adaptation of the culminating Skywalker saga movie provides some new tweaks and changes. Regardless of how you feel aboutThe Rise of Skywalker, there’s no denying thatEpisode IXwas controversial. Now, this new adaption is expanding upon some key elements that have arguably helped improve the original story.
Coming from Jody Houser, Will Sliney, and Guru-eFX, Marvel’sRise of SkywalkerAdaptationwas meant to release in 2020, only to be postponed due to publishing delays during the pandemic. Now, the first two issues of the adaptation are finally out, wasting no time adjusting some scenes and elements compared to how they were presented in the original film. Considering just how many moments were controversial,Star Warsfans should be eager to see what these new changes are, especially now that they canseethem rather than just reading about them inRise of Skywalker’sofficial novel.
7Leia’s Missing Scenes Finally Become A Reality
Expanding Carrie Fisher’s Role
First and foremost, Leia Organa’s scenes are expanded upon, giving the Resistance leader a more complete role. Having passed away in 2016, Carrie Fisher’s scenes inThe Rise of Skywalkerwere done using unreleased footage fromThe Force Awakens.While Leia Organa’s role was important and deserved to be included, the end result was controversial as Lucasfilm had to navigate around the limited footage they had. As such, this new adaptation gives Leia some additional lines and beats, making her role and presence far more organic and natural compared to what’s seen on-screen.
6Rose Tico Gets A Bigger, More Important Role
(Helping To Defeat The Sith)
Following her significant role inThe Last Jedi, Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico was very much sidelined inThe Rise of Skywalker. Rather than joining in on the mission to find Exegol, Rose gives Finn a simple line about how she was going to stay back and study Star Destroyer schematics rather than join in on the adventure.However, this new comic adaptation fleshes out Rose’s role with the reveal that she had been put in charge of the Resistance’s entire engineering corps by General Organa.
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Tasked with ensuring the Resistance has enough ships ready and prepared when the time comes to face Palpatine’s Final Order,Rose Tico gets a more active role in saving the galaxy than theRise of Skywalkermovie ever lets on. It doesn’t fully excuse Lucasfilm’s decision to sideline Rose, but the new reveal does help make her involvement far more crucial to the heroes' success.
5The Real Meaning of Leia Passing Han’s Medal To Chewbacca
A Key Token Of The Past
One of Leia’s expanded scenes in the adaptation sees her speaking with Maz Kanata, reflecting on everyone the Resistance has lost while holding Han Solo’s medal fromA New Hope. This is the same medal Maz ends up giving to Chewbacca at the end ofThe Rise of Skywalker. As such, it’s a pretty cool expansion to see the medal’s significance to Leia and why she kept it, rather than just being an Easter egg to the original trilogy.
4Finn’s Power in The Force is Teased in Combat
During The Pasaana Chase
InThe Rise of Skywalker,Finn throws a rope that gets caught in the treads of the First Order speeder during the Pasaana chase sequence.However, it’s worth noting that the comics' depiction shows Finn with an outstretched hand, perhaps implying that his precision and timing can be accounted for due to his secret connection to the Force. After all,it was confirmed by director J.J. Abrams that Finn was Force-sensitive, and he even tries telling Rey about it in the following scene. However, this hanging plot thread was inexplicably never followed up (much to fans' and actor John Boyega’s frustration).
3Chewbacca Fights The Knights of Ren
(Not Merely Captured Like A Sucker)
Fans will likely appreciate thatThe Rise of Skywalker Adaptation #1shows Chewbacca putting up an impressive fight against the Knights of Ren. In the movie, he’s shown already in their custody. As such, it’s a nice confirmation that the mighty Wookiee didn’t just surrender (which was highly doubtful).
2Rey Skywalker’s Name Change is More in Honor of Leia Than Luke
Rey Trained With Leia for Much Longer
Another solid addition/improvement to be found inThe Rise of Skywalker Adaptationis the greater parallels made between Rey and Leia. While Luke did impart his wisdom inThe Last Jedi, the comic highlights that Rey spent a much greater amount of time training under Leia.To that end, it does make it easier to argue thatRey’s ultimate name change was more in honor of Leia than Luke, her true master in theStar Warstimeline.
1Expanding The ‘Empress of The Sith’ Vision
The Danger Of What Rey Could Become
Rey’s fear of the future and what she could become is also given more of a focus in theRise of SkywalkerAdaptation.This includes multiple visions of her as a new Sith Empress, including a brand-new shot where Rey’s sitting on the Exegol throne with Kylo Ren standing at her side. As such, this fresh look at Rey’s visions makes the Palpatine, Solo, and Skywalker legacies matter even more, driving home the idea that these family legacies could have easily been doomed and forever broken in darkness, just as much as they were ultimately redeemed in the light.
Rise of Skywalker Adaptation#1-2 is now on sale from Marvel Comics.
