Where Marvel’s Star Wars Comics Fit Into The New Canon

By Nick Tylwalk | Jun 9, 2015

It’s a commonly known fact that when Disney announced three more Star Wars movies, it also declared that most of the existing Expanded Universe material — that is, any media that told stories before or after the six existing films — was getting thrown out of official canon. Everything commissioned after that, whether it be TV shows, video games or comics, would tell the new, official tale of a galaxy far, far away.

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Since Disney owns both Star Wars and Marvel, it’s only natural that the latest batch of comics is part of canon too. Most fans know that all of Marvel’s new series are set in-between Episodes IV and V (better known as A New Hope or just plain Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back), but where exactly do these new titles fit in with everything else going on right now?

IGN has the answer. The gaming and pop culture mega-site has put together a Star Wars Timeline that neatly sorts out what goes where with respect to canon. Not only does it place the movies and animated series in proper order, it also highlights key battles and other major events throughout franchise history.

For our purposes, we’re most interested in the comics, and this is what we’ve got:

Star Wars: Princess Leia comes first, the next work of fiction of any kind set after the end of Episode IV.
After that is the regular Star Wars series, where Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca raid an Imperial weapons factory.
Star Wars: Darth Vader is said to follow after that, but as we’ve seen in the most recent issue, it feels like it might be running concurrently with the main Star Wars title, as the #6 issues of both series showed two different takes on the same scene (namely, Boba Fett telling Vader a very personal revelation about the lightsaber-wielding pilot who blew up the Death Star).

With more Star Wars comics on the way — including Lando, which writer Charles Soule confirmed to Bam Smack Pow is also set between Episodes IV and V — you might want to bookmark that page. The Star Wars universe is only going to get more heavily populated in the months leading up to the release of The Force Awakens, and you’ll probably welcome an aid in keeping it all straight.

Next: Star Wars Comic Delays and New Release Dates

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