Aside from death and taxes, it seems the only other inevitability in life isStar Warsdiscourse. To this day, fans still passionately debate the merits and shortcomings of every piece of media in the franchise. Now another unexpected dimension has been added to the fray.
In the wake of the rather lackluster critical reception that surroundedStar Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, director Colin Trevorrow’s original script for the film leaked online, giving fans a glimpse at what might have been. Trevorrow parted with Lucasfilm over creative differences, resulting in the decision to bring back J.J. Abrams to directthe final, arguably underwhelming film in the trilogy. But Trevorrow still managed to create a script, tentatively titledDuel of the Fates, before all that went down, and now fans can experience it in the much more palatable form of a webcomic.
RELATED:Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Should Have Killed This Character Off-Screen
Thanks to artist Andrew Winegarner, the now non-canon conclusion to what has come to be known as the “Skywalker Saga” has received new life. After initially adapting a few key scenes from the script last year, he ultimately decided to give the entire story the same treatment, the result of which fans can now finally enjoy. He explained that he enjoyed theDuel of the Fatesscript far more thanThe Rise of Skywalker, so this ended up being his way of bringing his preferred conclusion into the spotlight. “My dream would be forMarvelto agree to publish my adaptation as a Legends version ofEpisode IX; as Dark Horse Comics used to do,” Winegarner said on his comic’s website. For those unaware, “Legends” refers to the now non-canon stories in theStar Warsuniverse, originally referred to as the “Star WarsExpanded Universe.”
Winegarner apparently had several reasons for putting in this much effort. First off, he believes in the importance of preserving Trevorrow’s script which exists in a strange limbo state between canon and fanfiction. “Star WarsIS our new mythology,” he said. “As such, multiple iterations of stories should be able to exist alongside each other.” Secondly, he also took issue with certain character developments inThe Rise of Skywalker, saying “My biggest issue withTROSis that all of Rey’s agency was completely taken away, both as a character (she’s now only important because of who she’s descended from) and as a woman (she no longer has her own power, she has ‘his power’).” Perhaps that’s one more result ofStar Warstending to reduce its characters to stereotypes.
It can be a valuable experience for fans to enjoy this story that was previously restricted to the dry pages of a script. Not only is it a perfectly valid story in the same way any non-canonStar Wars"Legends" story is, but since it was meant to be a mainline film in the series, it could contain a great many elements that would have otherwise flown completely under the radar. Similar to how characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn made the jump from Legends to canon as part ofthe surprisingly memorable cast ofStar Wars Rebels, givingDuel of the Fatesmore exposure gives its own unique identity a chance to, perhaps, one day see its own homages in the series.
Naturally, the ironically “lukewarm” receptionThe Rise of Skywalkerreceived also left many fans wantingsomething more than just nostalgia fromStar Wars, and this webcomic might be just what some of those hungry devotees need right now. It might not be canon, but hey, it’s all fiction anyway, right?
