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How Marvel & Lucasfilm make Star Wars comics, from an executive editor’s POV
Asked about the possibility of an Acolyte comic (no, there hasn’t been one announced), Marvel’s Tom Brevoort broke down the way comics get made for a Galaxy Far, Far Away
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Marvel’s Executive Editor frequently shares “how it gets made” stories on his weekly substack, Man with a Hat. In the most recent post, dated August 25, the longtime editor and comics vet specifically got into the process of creating Star Wars comics, which is a collaborative effort between Marvel editorial and Lucasfilm story developers. Read on for more.
The topic came up when a subscriber by the name of Mark Paglia asked a question about the possibility of a The Acolyte comic, continuing (and completing) the storyline from the Disney+ series of the same name which, as you know from our reporting, has just been canceled. Before we go any further - and in case you didn’t read the top of the page - no, Tom Brevoort did not even hint at a confirmation of such a comic, nor are we implying that one will exist in this article.
What Brevoort did do, though, is explain how a Star Wars comic gets greenlit.
“In the case of, say, Star Wars,” he writes, “our editorial team meets with the Lucasfilm Story Group a couple of times a year to work out what it makes sense to publish over the coming months.”
For context - the Lucasfilm Story Group is a coalition of writers formed when Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney in 2012. A CNN profile on the group calls them a “central authority on all things Star Wars,” while Wired refers to them as “a ‘Star Wars’ writers’ room and as the guardian of its timeline.” Long story short, if you want to make a licensed Star Wars story, you need their OK.
“In those meetings,” Brevoort continues, “ideas may come from either side, but by the end of [them], we’ve typically aligned on a particular publishing plan, one that fits into Lucasfilm’s larger overall plans for Star Wars across all media.”
So as you can see, the situation Brevoort is depicting here is not one where Marvel “works for” Lucasfilm, or vice versa, but a kind of meeting of the minds.
“I don’t know whether that makes a Marvel The Acolyte follow-up any more or less likely,” Brevoort concludes, as if anticipating how some Reddit user will skew this very article, “but there you go.”
Not done with Star Wars yet? Dive into the films and TV shows with our Star Wars watch order, or debate on which was the best with our ranked list of the best (and worst) Star Wars movies. And since it's now upon us, follow along with Popverse's coverage of The Acolyte.
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