Summary
AsStar Warsreveals Princess Leia’s official armored look as Vader’s apprentice, fans are getting one of the character’s darkest redesigns ever. However, even her redesign as Darth Vader’s apprentice doesn’t quite equal a recent costume change that made Leia look just as imposing as the franchise’s other Dark Side adepts.
In a recent press release, Marvel revealed that the upcomingStar Wars: Darth Vader #50will include a story exploringPrincess Leia’s turn to the Dark Side, imagining a timeline where Darth Vader recruits her as his apprentice. The cover from Derrick Chew shows Leia alongside Vader, with a flowing veil and hi-tech armor signifying her turn to the Dark Side.
The story is coming from Greg Pak and Luke Ross, and will be included alongside the issue’s main ongoing story, in which Vader attacks Exegol in thefinal battle of his rebellion against Palpatine. Following this, Marvel’sStar Warscomics will conclude their current era, which is set betweenThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi, switching to a saga set between the original and sequel trilogies.
Cover Artist:
Leinil Francis Yu
GIANT-SIZED DARTH VADER EPIC! The longest-running DARTH VADER comics series ever reaches its stunning conclusion as THE DARK HEART OF THE SITH comes full circle! Darth Vader finally unleashes the unfathomable power he’s accumulated through the SCHISM IMPERIAL against the only person in the galaxy he hates more than he hates himself - EMPEROR PALPATINE! Also featuring the final twists in the saga for key characters like LUKE, LEIA, SABÉ, OCHI, ZED, SLY MOORE, the members of the Schism Imperial and more!
Star Wars Officially Bridges the Original & Sequel Trilogies with New BATTLE OF JAKKU
Star Wars plans to bridge trilogies with three brand-new series, fully revealing the Battle of Jakku as the final conflict of the Galactic Civil War.
Princess Leia Becomes Darth Vader’s Apprentice in New Story
But Her Dark Side Redesign Has Been Done Better
InStar Warscanon, Vader long chafed under Palpatine’s control and wanted to kill and replace his master, however he needed his own Sith apprentice to do it. Vader spent a long time trying to corrupt and recruit Luke Skywalker, only to be redeemed and freed from the Dark Side by his son. However,Star Wars: Darth Vader #50will now ask what would have happened if he’d targeted his daughter instead. Recent comics have shown that like Luke,Leia had immense inner darkness, and there were moments in the war against the Empire where she truly lost hope. Like many who fell to the Dark Side, this would conceivably leave her vulnerable to her father’s machinations.
Leia’s Sith Armor Isn’t Her Best Dark Side Look
Princess Leia’s Imperial Disguise Is Way More Haunting
As cool as it is to see Leia getting Sith armor that matches her father’s, she has actually looked scarier - and really recently. 2022’sStar Wars #29(from Charles Soule and Ramón Rosanas) saw Luke, Leia and their allies infiltrate an auction to acquire rare Nihil technology. To hide her identity from those who might report her to the Empire,Leia takes on the guise of an Imperial loyalist, complete with an expressionless white mask. It’s a haunting look, and one that echoes her father’s adoption of a mask to complete his rebirth as Darth Vader.
As cool as Leia’s new official Dark Side look is, it doesn’t quite live up to her recent Imperial disguise. An armored costume accentuates her link to Vader, but the Imperial disguise subverts Leia’s best qualities and turns her into what she could easily have been - a disaffected Imperial who lives above the problems of the people the Empire crushes under its heel. Hiding her face was a great visual decision (as well as a necessary disguise) because it so clearly symbolizes her loss of humanity and turning away from compassion.
Hopefully,Star Wars: Darth Vader #50will take cues from Princess Leia’s Imperial disguise within the issue itself, because her ghost-like appearance successfully turned the galaxy’s most passionate defender into a cold-hearted member of the Imperial class who stood shoulder to shoulder withStar Wars’villains.
