Preview pages from Marvel’s Star Wars: Jedi Knights reveal new villain

With Star Wars: Jedi Knights, Marvel Comics’ latest series set in that galaxy far, far away, writer Marc Guggenheim (Legends of Tomorrow, X-Men Gold) wants to do something different: Tell a story of the prequel-era Jedi like Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda, and Mace Windu… without the prequel-era corruption and malaise that lead to their downfall.

“I love the idea that the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy,” Guggenheim told Polygon via email, “but there are surprisingly few examples of that out there — mainly because the Jedi get sucked into the Clone Wars. I’m as much of a fan of the Clone Wars as the next guy, but I really craved seeing the Jedi doing their thing on a non-war footing. That’s the great appeal of this new Jedi Knights series: We really get a chance to see what the Jedi did before the Clone Wars and their eventual fall.”

Guggenheim’s new series, featuring art from Madibek Musabekov (X-Men Red, Star Wars: Obi-Wan), focuses on a different pair of Jedi on missions across the galaxy, but with an “overarching threat,” according to Marvel’s announcement of the series.

“Now, this is not to say that the whole series is an apologia for the Jedi,” Guggenheim went on. “Rather, it really has to do with where I’m choosing to shine the spotlight. For the first ten or so issues of the series — which is as far as I have currently plotted — we’re focusing less on the internecine issues in the Republic and more on Jedi being Jedi. Specifically, what does ‘being guardians of peace and justice’ truly entail?”

In these five unlettered pages from Star Wars: Jedi Knights #1, which Polygon can reveal courtesy of Marvel Comics, being guardians of peace and justice involves a lot of kicking butt — and also includes a first look at a new villain.

Marvel’s announcement of the series teased a “mysterious new villain targeting Qui-Gon Jinn for death.” So naturally, we asked what Guggenheim could tell us about the masked figure we see in these pages, leaping at Qui-Gon with daggers drawn. The writer played it coy, revealing the character’s name — Corlis Rath — and inspiration, but not his connection to that mystery.

“My notes to Madibek [Musabekov] about this character centered around the idea that so much of the Jedi design language is informed by Japanese culture,” said Guggenheim. “The Jedi are, essentially, samurai. So I thought it would be interesting if we had an antagonist who was the Star Wars equivalent of a ninja. Clearly, Madibek took that notion and really ran with it — as he’s wont to do — and just delivered this incredibly visceral and compelling design that, I think, really nails that ‘Star Wars ninja’ bullseye.”

Rath is a new character to the Star Wars mythos, who will also appear in Marvel’s Star Wars issue which will be be given away on this year’s Free Comic Book Day on May 3 — following his debut in Star Wars: Jedi Knights #1, which hits shelves on March 5.