Poe Dameron to Pilot His Own 'Force Awakens' Spinoff Comic From Marvel

By Graeme McMillan

The title focusing on Oscar Isaac’s X-wing pilot will launch in April.

As one of the new cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, fans have been clamoring for more of Oscar Isaac’s X-wing pilot Poe Dameron — and, come April, their wish will be granted with a new ongoing Marvel comic book series centering around the character.

The new series will focus on Dameron’s mission that leads to his first appearance in The Force Awakens, according to a report from USA Today, with writer Charles Soule promising a new villain from the First Order as the antagonist for the first storyline.

“Sometimes it can feel like the Star Wars universe is so well trodden and so many stories have already been told,” Soule told the newspaper. “But the way the Episode VII galaxy is set up, there are opportunities for new archetypes almost, and the bad guy we’re working with is going to feel fresh and cool.”

The writer — who has previously written the Lando and Obi-Wan and Anakin mini-series for Marvel’s Star Wars line — admitted that writing the character was “not as instinctive in some ways as writing a story about, say, Lando Calrissian was for me – I’ve been thinking about Lando Calrissian for 30 years, whereas Poe Dameron I’ve been thinking about for six months.”

Soule will be joined on the title by an artist with an impressive Star Wars pedigree: Phil Noto, who illustrated Marvel’s Star Wars: Chewbacca series, as well as providing cover art and illustrations to a number of the prose Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens tie-ins.

While the series marks the first time the character has appeared in comic book form, it’s not the first appearance for his family; Poe’s mother, Shara Bey, was the protagonist of Marvel’s Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens — Shattered Empire series, released ahead of The Force Awakens last year.

Star Wars: Poe Dameron launches April 2016.