It’s no secret at this point that a great many fans have their issues withThe Last Jedi. Different people have different problems with the movie, but one thing many people agree on is thatHan Solo’s deathfromThe Force Awakenswas largely glossed over, especially by the characters who would have been most affected by it. Namely, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. Seriously, even J.J. Abrams admits having Leia hug Rey instead of Chewie was a mistake. That aside, the comic adaptation ofThe Last Jedihas amended the situation to some degree, as the book spends more time with Luke mourning the death of Han.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyscreenwriter Gary Whitta actually wrote the adaptation ofThe Last Jedifor Marvel Comics. He decided it would be appropriate to give Luke a little more time to process the death of Han. In the movie he simply asks, “Where’s Han?” when he finds out that Rey and Chewie came toget him in the Millennium Falcon. We then later cut to Luke aboard the Falcon, silently mourning the loss of his friend. However, there was never any real explanation from Rey or Chewie about what happened and we never got to see Luke’s reaction to it.
In the pages ofStar Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation#1, that is changed. Following Luke’s questioning of Han’s whereabouts, there is a whole page dedicated to the Jedi being offered an explanation and his reaction to it. Rey explains thatHan was killed by Kylo Ren. We then cut to a panel of Luke and see what he is thinking internally. “I would have known. I would have felt it. If I hadn’t…” Then Luke turns away and we see Chewie reaching his arm out to comfort his old friend. Luke and Chewbacca then hug with Luke saying, “It’s all right Chewie.”
Rian Johnson had an awful lot of plates to spin inThe Last Jediand certain things couldn’t be worked into the movie’s narrative. Something like this, unfortunately, didn’t make the cut, even though it probably should have. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough. This gives fans the moment they needed.Chewie and Lukedeserved to mourn the loss of Han Solo together and we needed to understand Luke’s emotion about the death of one of his closest friends better than we did.
Novel or comic adaptations ofStar Warsmovies have long been a staple of the franchise, but they are generally reserved for the most hardcore of fans. Though, theyoften include new tidbitslike this that can be very impactful and rewarding. We’ll have to see what Gary Whitta and artist Michael Walsh have in store for us when the next issue of the adaptation arrives next month. You can check out the pages of the book with Luke mourning Han for yourself below.Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation#1 is out now fromMarvel Comics.
