The High Republic

Starting the panel off with some news from The High Republic, Cavan Scott reveals that, starting in issue #8, The High Republic (2022) will feature prominently. That was as much High Republic news as they revealed during this particular panel. Not entirely a surprise, though, because of the avalanche of news that came on Day 2, which you can read about here.

Return of the Jedi 40th Anniversary Comics

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi, Marvel has a slate of one-shot comics to celebrate. We already knew about some of these already, but we did get plenty of new details on the one-shot miniseries.

Alyssa Wong's Return of the Jedi: Ewoks #1 is described as a "fun take on the stories the Ewoks tell around the campfire." It comes to comic book shops on April 12, 2023.

Two other anniversary one-shots were discussed: Return of the Jedi: The Empire #1 by Jody Houser and Return of the Jedi: Lando #1 by Stephanie Philips. These were already announced but are worth mentioning since they'll be included in the miniseries. Lando will be out on May 3, 2023, and The Empire will be out on June 7, 2023.

Two other one-shots in the miniseries were announced: one focusing on the Rebellion and one on Max Rebo. Return of the Jedi: The Rebellion #1 will be released in July 2023 and does not yet have an author announced. Return of the Jedi: Max Rebo #1 will be written by Daniel José Older and releases in August 2023.

Yoda

The end of the maxi-series Yoda is in sight. Author Marc Guggenheim will write issues #7-9 and continues the maxi-series' pattern of three part stories. This arc will take place over three different time periods. Issue #7 will feature Yoda vs. General Grievous, issue #8 will tie into Revelations #1, and issue #9 will be the story in which we find out who Yoda has been talking to throughout the maxi-series. Cavan Scott will write finale issue #10, which will be about Yoda facing his failures. Covers for issues #9-10 were revealed.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Adaptation

The Mandalorian season 2 will get its own comic adaptation, just like season 1! It will be written by Rodney Barnes, who also wrote the first season's adaptation. If it follows the same format as the first season, it will be eight issues with one for each episode.

Darth Vader: Black, White & Red

Darth Vader: Black, White & Red has been announced for a while now, but we got some new details in this panel. Jason Aaron, Peach Momoko, and Toruun Grønbekk are the writers on the miniseries. At the panel, they announced that each author will write a ten page story. Specifically, Jason Aaron's story will span across all four issues. The first issue of Darth Vader: Black, White & Red will be released on April 26, 2023.

Star Wars (2020)

Charles Soule revealed some details about the storyline of a handful of upcoming issues of Star Wars (2020). Issues #34 and #35 will explain how Luke Skywalker got his green lightsaber. Issue #34 releases on May 3, 2023, and issue #35 releases on June 7, 2023. Soule also revealed that issue #36 will focus on Leia and will show more of what the Millennium Falcon is capable of.

Doctor Aphra (2020)

The character Doctor Aphra will be returning to her roots by joining the Darth Vader (2020) series by Greg Pak, which will serve as a pseudo-crossover between the two series. And speaking of crossovers, Luke Skywalker will be joining the Doctor Aphra (2020) series by Alyssa Wong for an arc. In this arc, specifically issue #32, Jedi Shaak Ti will appear!

But before we get to the crossovers, the current arc about the Spark Eternal needs to conclude. Wong announced that it will do so in issue #30. Lastly, in issue #34, the character called Starweirds will return to comics. Starweirds first appeared in a codex from Star Wars: The Old Republic and in an RPG sourcebook. They were a species that appeared to people like ghosts and weaponized their ability to telepathically scream at victims.

Bounty Hunters (2020)

Ethan Sacks, author of the Bounty Hunters (2020) series, hinted at some upcoming plotlines in his series. The series will be leading up to a showdown between the bounty hunters and Inferno Squad. He also mentioned that Boba Fett "may not be the only Fett featured." And lastly, Durge will return to comics in Bounty Hunters issue #35!

Dark Droids

The biggest news to come out of the panel was the announcement of a new comics crossover event: Dark Droids by Charles Soule. “Think about your cell phone & all the things you use it for. Now think about your phone thinking about you and all the things you ask it to do," Soule said. "And your phone hates you for it, and it’s talking to all the other phones about how it wants to eat you!” He goes on to say that "when there is something wrong with the droids, then there is something wrong with everything.”

Dark Droids will focus on a corrupting agent called the Scourge, which affects droids, cyborgs, and seemingly anything with droid parts. Some interior art was shown, revealing that several recognizable droids will join in the crossover fun: Chopper, Ajax Sigma, Triple Zero and BT-1, 2-1B, 4-LOM, a Gonk droid, and battle droids, among others. The Star Wars (2020) portion of the crossover will hark back to the Lando miniseries, also by Soule.

The Darth Vader (2020) portion of the crossover will explore how Darth Vader is made up of many machine parts (more machine than man, one might say). The Doctor Aphra (2020) portion of the crossover will focus on the Tagge corporation. And lastly, the Bounty Hunters (2020) portion of the crossover event will introduce readers to an unseen prototype droid army from the Clone Wars era.

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That does it for the Marvel Comics news from Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023! What are you most looking forward to from this batch of news? Let us know by Tweeting us @youtini_us.