Marvel Pulls Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Shadow of Vader

Although he’s managed to put on a brave face about it, author Chuck Wendig hasn’t been having the best month. Last Friday, Wendig announced via Twitter that Marvel had fired him from working on two upcoming Star Wars comics due to the vulgar, politically-charged nature of his social media posts. One of those books was the Star Wars: Shadow of Vader miniseries, for which he had already completed three issues. Wendig’s initial tweets indicated that Marvel would be bringing another writer on board to finish the last two issues. However, upon looking at Marvel’s January 2019 solicitations, the book is conspicuously absent from that month’s list of titles.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Shadow of Vader was originally scheduled for release in January 2019 after being announced at this year’s New York Comic-Con. Evidently, the title was going to supplant Marvel’s primary Star Wars: Darth Vader series penned by writer Charles Soule. It would differ from that book in that it would offer looks at the corrupted Anakin Skywalker from the perspective of other characters. Think of it as a take on Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross’ Marvels, if it was set in a galaxy far, far away. Those characters would include a recognizable face from The Empire Strikes Back, a Death Star mortician, and a cult of Vader devotees who were introduced in Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath novel trilogy.

Marvel has yet to issue a statement to clarify their reasons for Wendig’s firing and definitively state whether Shadow of Vader will ever see the light of day. Meanwhile, Wending himself has taken to Twitter in order to express that he’s just as confused as we are:

Several have asked about SHADOW OF VADER’s lack of January solicits — it was scheduled to come out in January, the first two issues. No idea what it means, sorry? The art was late, so possible it’s delayed for that or until they find a new writer for issues 4 & 5? — Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) October 17, 2018

He went on to suggest that Marvel may go so far as to quietly cancel the series. However, he reiterated that “they’re not gonna keep [him] in the loop.” If the book is in fact canceled, Wendig won’t be the only one at a loss. In the Twitter thread where he first discussed his firing, the author heaped praise on artists Juanan Ramirez and Greg Smallwood. If their work on either Star Wars book has been completed as well, it would certainly be a shame for it to go to waste.

What do you think about Marvel’s decision to pull Shadow of Vader? Give us your thoughts in the comment section below.