Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has arrived and if you’ve seen the movie then odds are that you’re now eager for MORE STAR WARS. Maybe you want to spend a little more time in that galaxy far, far away. Or maybe you want some more detailed quality spin-off material.
Don’t worry, we got you. Before you rewatch Force Awakens again, or search through your closet for that N64 Rogue Squadron cartridge, here are some NEW explorations you can take through the Star Wars universe.
Marvel Comics’ Star Wars: Darth Vader
Writer Kieron Gillen and artist Salvador Larroca had the daunting task of showing two aspects of Darth Vader that weren’t in the original Star Wars trilogy: the Sith Lord grappling with mundane political issues within the Empire, and his emotional growth between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. But the duo has winningly located those hidden moments between films—drawing on everything from The Godfather to House of Cards—and expanded them into a compelling comic book series that’s been running since early 2015. Read the scene where Boba Fett informs Vader about Luke Skywalker and tell us you didn’t tear up.
The series has been so successful that it’s inspired a spinoff following new character Doctor Aphra, a renegade archaeologist. On top of that, Marvel’s Han Solo series has been a lot of unexpected fun, too, and the Poe Dameron comics are a monthly burst of joy.
Star Wars: Bloodline
Claudia Gray’s Leia-centric novel is an absolute must-read if you meet any of the following criteria: 1. You love Leia, in all her temperamental, brilliant, decisive, sympathetic, tough-as-nails glory; 2. You want to know more about how the First Order came to be; 3. You wonder if Han Solo ever had a legit job between Jedi and The Force Awakens; 4. You’re a narrative completist; 5. You just need another excellent, compelling Star Wars tale to tide you over until Episode VIII. Set a few years before The Force Awakens, it more than makes up for the limited screen time General Organa got in Episode VII: It’s an entire book about how good she is at politics, and how ready she was to retire before a whole new enemy rose to the surface.
HamillAnimals
If you are not currently spending your time on this Twitter account that juxtaposes Mark Hamill with adorable animals… what have you been doing with your life? We’re Tor.com and we’re here to rescue you—now you know what you’ll be doing for the rest of the year.
Star Wars: Rebels
A logical step after the success of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars cartoon, Star Wars: Rebels was created to examine the period of time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The show took a season or so to find it’s feet, but it keeps getting better and better–and with the return of fan favorites like Ahsoka Tano and Rex, it’s mythology keeps getting sharper. The crew of the Ghost are a fun group to get to know, and the growth of young Ezra Bridger as he becomes more skilled using the Force gives us all the nitty-gritty learning that three films with Luke Skywalker didn’t have time for. It’s also a great place to keep track of what the else the Rebellion accomplished before Jyn Erso joined up to steal the Death Star plans.
Star Wars Battlefront: Ultimate Edition
The Star Wars Battlefront video game came out in late 2015 and promised a high quality multiplayer third-person-shooter game that would essentially place you inside the series’ iconic planets and locales. And while that was technically true, what got initially released was really only half of what was expected.
A year later, however, the developers have doubled the amount of content within the game, fixed the bugs, and dropped the price to $40. Want to see what happened before Rey ended up on Jakku? That’s in there. Want to join in on Rogue One’s battle on the planet Scarif? That’s in there. Want to play as one of the bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back? That’s in there. It took a year, but Star Wars Battlefront (Ultimate Edition) has become a bargain for Star Wars fans seeking an immersive, detailed experience/who want to pretend to be Darth Vader and fling people around with The Force.
SEAGULLS! (Stop It Now)
Bad Lip Reading can be hit-or-miss but occasionally it hits BIG by losing its mind and turning a bad lip reading into an unbearably catchy song.
Run! Run! Run! Jump! I can be a backpack while you run!
Yoda is the best.
