Greg Pak Previews 'Star Wars: Darth Vader' #1

“Join me, and together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son!”

In the shattering climax of The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader infamously revealed his true relationship to Luke Skywalker, inviting his son to rule the galaxy at his side. But Luke refuses—plunging into the abyss beneath Cloud City rather than turn to the Dark Side. We all remember Luke’s utter horror in this life-altering moment... But what about Vader?

Tomorrow, writer Greg Pak and artist Raffaele Ienco unite to present the answers in STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #1!

Ahead of the mag's release, Marvel.com got Pak's thoughts on writing this iconic villain in a fascinating new era.

“The immediate aftermath of The Empire Strikes Back is sort of the coolest place to tell a Vader story," notes Pak, "because at the end of Empire, we all remember Luke’s perspective: he gets his hand lopped off, he finds out that his father is Vader, Vader says, 'Come with me, we will rule the galaxy together.' And Luke is horrified by all of this. He lets himself fall down into the depths of Cloud City. He rejects his father and, he’s wrecked. And that’s whose perspective [the film] mostly follows.

"But this is the chance to follow Vader—because Vader is equally wrecked by that encounter," he explains. "When you go back and unpack that scene, you know that Vader serves the Emperor, but in this moment—when he sees his son, meets this son for the first time—he senses the Force in this kid. The Force is strong in this one. And Vader actually offers to join up with him, overthrow the Emperor, and rule the galaxy with his son. He thinks this is that moment where everything is going to change for him...and then his son rejects it. That’s huge!

"This scene parallels Anakin and Padmé on that platform on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. Spoiler alert! But you know, it’s the same moment; Anakin is flush with all this new power, and Padmé is horrified. She’s just found out he’s done all these horrible things—and, basically, it’s the same thing he tells Luke later: 'We will rule together. This is my galaxy now. It’s ours.' And similarly, she rejects him. This is the same cycle. [In Empire,] it re-traumatizes him.

"So it’s this incredibly emotional moment. And of course, being Vader, he's going to hunt down everyone who hid the existence of his son from him and destroy them. But every step of the way, he's going to get deeper into his own past. So it’s this big, thrilling, horrifying adventure story that's also laced with all of this emotion. Raffaele Ienco is drawing this and he’s incredible, and Neeraj Menon is coloring—and it’s got all that great grit that you love from the original trilogy—and Joe Caramagna is lettering it. It’s just an incredible pleasure to work on."

Read STAR WARS: DARTH VADER #1 at your local comic shop tomorrow, February 5!