Five years. That is how long Star Wars fans waited between the December 2019 theatrical release of The Rise of Skywalker and the first issue of its Marvel Comics adaptation. The film closed out the Skywalker Saga with polarizing results, and the comic book version became one of the most delayed projects in Marvel's Star Wars line. Originally solicited for June 2020, pushed through multiple reschedule cycles, and finally landing on shelves on February 26, 2025, the five-issue miniseries carried the weight of unfinished business. Writer Jody Houser and artist Will Sliney did not just adapt a movie. They attempted to fix some of its most glaring omissions.
For readers coming to the rise of skywalker comic for the first time, the immediate question is not whether it follows the film beat-for-beat. It does not. The real question is whether those deviations make the story stronger. In most cases, they do.
The Creative Team Behind the Adaptation
Jody Houser had already established herself as one of Marvel's most reliable Star Wars voices before taking on this project. Her previous work included the Star Wars: Thrawn miniseries, which adapted Timothy Zahn's novel into a six-issue run that was praised for its restraint and fidelity to the source material. She also wrote the Age of Republic one-shots, exploring prequel-era characters with a character-first approach that distinguished her from writers who leaned heavily on spectacle.
Will Sliney, the series artist, brought a kinetic style that had already been tested in the Star Wars sandbox. His work on Star Wars: The High Republic comics demonstrated an ability to handle large-scale space battles alongside intimate character moments, which is exactly the range the Rise of Skywalker adaptation required. His action choreography is tight, his facial expressions carry emotional weight even in smaller panels, and his use of lighting effects during Force-sensitive scenes gives the book a visual identity separate from the film's color grading.
The collaboration was announced in early 2020, with Houser confirming in a StarWars.com interview that the book would include material cut from the theatrical release. "There's always a balance between what you're showing, what you're adding, and what you're leaving out," she said. That philosophy shaped the entire project.
What the Comic Added That the Movie Cut
The theatrical version of The Rise of Skywalker left an estimated 40 to 50 minutes of footage on the cutting room floor, according to editor Maryann Brandon's public statements in early 2020. Not all of that material made it into the comic, but several significant additions reshape the reading experience in ways that matter.
Force Ghosts as Physical Presences
This is the single most-discussed change. In the film, the Jedi voices that speak to Rey during the final confrontation with Palpatine are heard only as audio, a creative choice that frustrated fans who wanted to see these characters rendered on screen. The comic corrects this. Ahsoka Tano appears as a visible Force Ghost during the climactic scene, alongside Luke, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and the other Jedi. It is a small adjustment in terms of panel space, but it fundamentally changes the emotional register of that moment. You can see the figures standing behind Rey, not just hear them as disembodied encouragement.
Fan communities on Reddit and Twitter flagged this as the change they had demanded most loudly, and the comic delivered it without fanfare, as though it had always been the intended version.
Expanded IG-11 Sequences
The droid IG-11, who sacrifices himself in The Mandalorian Season 1, appears in the film in a rebuilt but limited capacity. The comic gives him more page time, including sequences that clarify his programming state and his relationship with the crew. These additions help bridge the gap between his Mandalorian appearance and his function in the film's third act, where his reactivation feels abrupt in the theatrical cut.
The Ben Solo Shrug
Yes, it is in there. When asked directly whether the infamous "Ben Solo shrug" (a meme-worthy gesture during Kylo Ren's confrontation with Rey on the wreckage of the second Death Star) would appear in the adaptation, Houser responded: "Almost definitely yes." The shrug survived the transition from screen to page, rendered by Sliney with just enough self-awareness to acknowledge its status without undermining the scene's tension.
Additional Character Interiority
Comics have an advantage that film does not: internal monologue. Houser uses caption boxes to give readers access to Rey's thought process during key decision points, particularly during her conversation with Leia's Force ghost and her moments of doubt before the final battle. Finn receives similar treatment, with brief internal lines that add weight to his arc from reluctant soldier to committed Resistance leader. These are not wholesale rewrites of character motivation. They are texture additions that the 142-minute runtime could not accommodate.
"The movie had a breakneck pace and the comic even more so. But there are moments where Houser slows down just enough to let you feel what these characters are going through. That is where the adaptation earns its existence."
StarWarsNewsNet review of Issue #5, June 2025
Issue-by-Issue Breakdown
The five-issue structure covers the film from its opening crawl through the final scene on Ahch-To. Here is how the story distributes across the run:
| Issue | Release Date | Story Coverage | Notable Additions |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Feb 26, 2025 | Opening through Kijimi arrival | Expanded Resistance briefing; additional Poe/Finn dialogue |
| #2 | Mar 26, 2025 | Kijimi droidsmith sequence through Kef Bir arrival | Extended Babu Frik scene; Zorii Bliss backstory hints |
| #3 | Apr 23, 2025 | Death Star wreckage through Kylo's redemption | Extended Rey/Kylo confrontation; Ben Solo shrug; Leia Force ghost scene |
| #4 | May 28, 2025 | Exegol approach through fleet battle | Expanded IG-11 sequences; Citizen Fleet assembly scenes |
| #5 | Jun 11, 2025 | Palpatine confrontation through ending | Visible Force Ghosts including Ahsoka; extended "Rey Skywalker" moment |
The pacing across the five issues mirrors the film's structure closely enough that readers familiar with the movie will recognize every major beat. Where the comic diverges is in the connective tissue between those beats, the moments where Houser and Sliney had room to breathe and build.
Art Direction: Sliney's Visual Language
Will Sliney's art on this series sits somewhere between the painted realism of Marco Checchetto's Darth Vader run and the more stylized approach of Pepe Larraz's work on the main Star Wars title. His panels during the Exegol sequence are dense with detail, the Sith Eternal fleet fills entire splash pages with a scale that the film achieved through wide-angle VFX shots but that translates surprisingly well to static illustration. The lightning effects are rendered in heavy white and violet inks that crack across the page without feeling like they are imitating the movie's CGI.
The quieter sequences are where Sliney distinguishes himself further. The Kijimi scenes have a noir quality, narrow alleyways lit by neon signage, characters half-shadowed in doorways, that gives the planet a lived-in texture the film only partially achieved. The Pasaana desert sequence uses warm amber and burnt orange palettes that contrast sharply with the cold blue-grey of the Star Destroyer interiors, creating visual rhythm across the early issues.
One criticism that surfaced in reader reviews on League of Comic Geeks: the character likenesses occasionally drift from the actors' appearances. Rey's face varies between panels in ways that break immersion momentarily. This is a common challenge in licensed adaptations, where artists work from reference photos rather than live sittings, but it is noticeable in a few splash panels during Issue #3's confrontation scenes.
How It Compares to Other Star Wars Film Adaptations
Marvel's approach to adapting Star Wars films has shifted significantly since the original 1977 series. The prequel trilogy received its own comic adaptations through Dark Horse Comics, which operated with more creative freedom to expand the material, the Obi-Wan versus Anakin duel on Mustafar, for instance, was given far more page space than the film allotted. The Disney-era adaptations have been more conservative, hewing closer to the screen.
The Rise of Skywalker adaptation occupies a middle ground. It does not rewrite the story the way some Dark Horse prequel adaptations did. But it does more than simply transcribe the film into panel form. The additions are deliberate, targeted at specific fan criticisms, and they demonstrate an awareness of what the film's theatrical cut was missing.
| Film Adaptation | Publisher | Issues | Expansion Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| A New Hope (1977) | Marvel | 6 | Minor (deleted scenes added) |
| The Phantom Menace (1999) | Dark Horse | 4 | Moderate (extended duels, cut dialogue) |
| Revenge of the Sith (2005) | Dark Horse | 4 | High (extended Mustafar duel, Order 66 scenes) |
| The Force Awakens (2016) | Marvel | 6 | Low (near-direct film transcription) |
| The Rise of Skywalker (2025) | Marvel | 5 | Moderate-High (deleted scenes, Force Ghosts, interiority) |
The Five-Year Delay: What Happened
The gap between announcement and release deserves its own discussion. The series was originally listed in Marvel's June 2020 solicitations with a ship date that was pushed first to late 2020, then to 2021, and then into a prolonged silence that left many fans wondering whether the project had been quietly canceled. Marvel never issued a formal cancellation notice, but the series disappeared from solicitations entirely for stretches of 2021 and 2022.
The reasons were never publicly detailed in a single statement, but reporting from outlets including The Hollywood Reporter and IGN pointed to a combination of factors: Marvel's internal restructuring of its Star Wars publishing line following the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga, pandemic-era production delays that affected artist scheduling, and what one source described as "creative recalibration" on the adaptation's scope. Whether that last point reflects a decision to add more material or simply to wait out the film's reception cycle is unclear.
What is clear is that the delay worked in the series' favor. By the time Issue #1 shipped in February 2025, fan sentiment around The Rise of Skywalker had cooled enough that the comic could be evaluated on its own terms rather than as a tie-in to a film people were still actively debating. The five-year gap gave the adaptation space to exist as a companion piece rather than a marketing extension.
Reception Among Readers and Critics
The series received a mixed-positive reception across its run. StarWarsNewsNet called Issue #5 "a solid cap" and praised the Force Ghost additions as "the change the movie should have made." Reviews on League of Comic Geeks averaged around 7 out of 10 across the five issues, with Issue #1 scoring highest at approximately 7.8 and Issue #4 dipping to roughly 6.5, a reflection of the fleet battle sequence's difficulty in translating cinematic spectacle to static panels.
The most consistent praise centered on Houser's additions. The internal monologues, the expanded character moments, and the Force Ghost corrections were cited repeatedly as reasons to pick up the series even for readers who had already seen the film multiple times. The most consistent criticism targeted pacing. Five issues is a compressed format for a film that runs over two hours, and some readers felt that the middle issues, particularly #3 and #4, rushed through sequences that deserved more breathing room.
Reddit's r/starwarscomics community generated substantial discussion around each issue's release, with the prevailing sentiment being that the adaptation was "better than expected but not as expansive as hoped." One highly upvoted comment summarized it concisely: "The comic Adaptation is 5 issues. It's too short." That view was common enough that Marvel may want to consider six-issue runs for future film adaptations if they intend to maintain this level of story expansion.
Where to Read It
The series is available through several channels, depending on your reading preference and budget:
- Marvel Unlimited — The digital subscription service carries all five issues in its library. A standard Marvel Unlimited subscription runs approximately $9.99 per month or $69.99 per year (as of mid-2025 pricing). This is the most cost-effective option if you do not collect physical comics.
- Local Comic Shop (Single Issues) — Each of the five issues shipped with a standard cover by Will Sliney and variant covers by artists including Brian Stelfreeze. Single issues typically retail for $3.99 to $4.99 depending on the shop and cover variant.
- Trade Paperback Collection — Marvel released a collected edition (ISBN 978-1302926243) that compiles all five issues into a single volume. This is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most independent bookstores. The trade runs approximately 120 pages and includes a cover gallery in the back matter.
- VeVe Digital Comics — The VeVe app offers digital copies of individual issues in a guided-read format, with some issues available as 3D collectible variants for collectors who prefer that ecosystem.
For readers outside the United States, Marvel Unlimited remains the most accessible option, as physical distribution of Marvel's Star Wars titles is uneven in many international markets. The trade paperback is available through Amazon's international storefronts, though shipping costs can be significant.
Is It Worth Reading If You Have Seen the Movie?
This is the practical question, and the honest answer depends on what you are looking for. If you watched The Rise of Skywalker and felt that the film's biggest problems were structural, that the story logic was broken or that character arcs were fundamentally mishandled, the comic will not fix those issues for you. Houser works within the framework of the film's screenplay. She does not rewrite the plot.
If your frustration was more granular, if you wanted to see Ahsoka as a Force Ghost, if you wanted more IG-11, if you wanted the film to slow down for ten extra minutes of character moments, then the comic delivers on those specific desires. It is a tighter, slightly more thoughtful version of the same story, rendered by an artist who understands how to make space opera work on a page.
For collectors of Star Wars comics specifically, the series is a necessary addition to any complete Marvel-era Star Wars run. It slots chronologically after the main Star Wars title's events and connects to the broader publishing line. And for readers who have never seen the film, the comic works as a standalone space opera adventure, though you will get more out of it if you have at least passing familiarity with the sequel trilogy's characters and conflicts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Rise of Skywalker comic canon?
Yes. Marvel's Star Wars film adaptations are considered part of the official Star Wars canon, though they sit at a lower tier than the films and primary television series in Lucasfilm's continuity hierarchy. Events depicted exclusively in the comic (such as the expanded IG-11 scenes) are canon unless contradicted by a higher-tier source.
How many issues are in the series?
Five issues, released monthly from February through June 2025. There are no additional one-shots or tie-ins connected to this specific adaptation.
Does the comic fix the "Rey Skywalker" ending?
No. The comic adapts the film's ending faithfully, including the "Rey Skywalker" name declaration. It does add a brief internal monologue from Rey during that scene, providing slightly more context for her decision, but the moment plays out essentially as it did on screen.
Can I read it on Marvel Unlimited?
Yes. All five issues are available on Marvel Unlimited, typically added to the platform approximately three months after their physical release date. By mid-2025, the full run should be accessible to subscribers.
Will there be a Rise of Skywalker novel adaptation?
Rae Carson's novelization of The Rise of Skywalker was published in March 2020 and remains the primary prose adaptation. The comic and novel complement each other rather than overlap. The novel expands the story's interiority even further than the comic does, particularly around Palpatine's history and Rey's emotional state. Marvel has not announced any plans for an additional novel.
What is the reading order if I want the complete sequel trilogy comics?
The sequel trilogy film adaptations in comic form are: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Adaptation (6 issues, 2016), Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation (6 issues, 2018), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Adaptation (5 issues, 2025). Read them in that order for the complete film-to-comic experience. Between these, Marvel's main Star Wars ongoing series fills in events between the films.
The Rise of Skywalker comic adaptation represents the final chapter of Marvel's film adaptation line for the Skywalker Saga. For readers tracking the entire run from A New Hope through the sequel trilogy, it closes a publishing arc that began in 1977. Whether it changes your opinion of the film itself is uncertain. But it gives the story a few more pages to breathe, and in some cases, that extra space is exactly what was missing.
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