Trivia / Star Wars (Marvel 1977)

---

• Executive Meddling: One of the rare good examples. Lucasfilm prevented almost all direct interactions between Darth Vader and the main rebel cast, and to compensate the writers turned him into The Chessmaster with an occasional talent for The Plan.
• Exiled from Continuity: Once the Star Wars Expanded Universe really came into being with The Thrawn Trilogy and Dark Horse Comics took over the license, the Marvel comics were largely ignored except for a few subtle nods here and there. This changed in the late 90s and early 00s, when the EU started more explicitly referencing the events of the comic, including making the villain Lumiya a major character after the New Jedi Order novels before serving as a major antagonist in Legacy of the Force. After the Disney buyout, the Marvel comics were just as non-canon as everything else in Legends, until elements from it were reintroduced in Star Wars Adventures.
• Overtook the Manga: The comic got ahead of the movies themselves after the first six issues (which were adaptations of the film). Ironic since it's a comic book adaptation of a screen franchise.
• Sequel Gap: In 2019, 33 years after the comic's cancellation and 5 years after the end of the Star Wars Legends continuity, issue #108 of this series was released as part of Marvel Comics' 80th anniversary celebrations.
• What Could Have Been: Early plans for a post-ESB arc involved the Empire building a second Death Star. The idea was vetoed by Lucasfilm, but they didn't give a reason why at the time. The people at Marvel, however, could see right through this and figured "a new Death Star" would be part of the still-upcoming Return of the Jedi. Ultimately, Lucasfilm approved the same plot with a second Death Star swapped out for a new superweapon, the Tarkin.

---