Marvel will continue its Pride Month celebration by taking a rainbow colored spaceship to a galaxy far, far away.
Last week, the comics publisher revealed a series of variant covers that will honor some of the LGBTQ+ characters of the Star Wars comic book universe this June, including Doctor Aphra, Yrica Quell, Rae Slone, Jedi twins Terec and Ceret, Sana Starros, and last but certainly not least, pansexual icon Lando Calrissian.
The covers will also be illustrated by a group of all LGBTQ+ artists, including Babs Tarr, Jacopo Camagni, JJ Kirby, Javier Garrón, Jan Bazaldua and Stephen Byrne.
Camagni, who will illustrate bisexual Starfighter pilot Yrica Quell’s cover, said he was “honored to be part of this project” as an LGBTQ+ creator himself.
“Sketching Yrica Quell was a journey to expand that endless galaxy, on board with her as rebels against the Empire,” added Camagni, in a statement to Star Wars.
Garrón, who will depict Terec and Ceret, said that the cover was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t let slip away.”
“It’s a chance to highlight what I love about them and Star Wars: it’s an endless universe, immensely diverse and inclusive,” said Garrón to Star Wars. “With each story its limits are shattered and it becomes richer, more interesting and more fun to explore.”
Garrón also expressed a desire “to draw Terec and Cerec as the powerful characters they are, filled with determination and hope. Because that’s what a great Jedi means to me.” The twins are powerful in more ways than one—they also represent the very first “trans nonbinary” characters in the Star Wars universe.
While the covers represent a vast array of characters, they’re all sprinkled with Technicolor rainbow starbursts, and a Star Wars logo protruding from the rainbow flag can be found on the corner of each issue.
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The Star Wars movies, however, remain sadly straight. Director JJ Abrams promised in 2016 that the reboot of the beloved franchise would get an openly gay character. Many fans, and even actor Oscar Isaac, who portrayed Poe Dameron in the reboot trilogy, hoped that this would mean a relationship between the two leading men of the series. When that seemingly materialized in the form of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kiss between two women in a crowd, criticisms were sharp — especially since Disney, which owns both Star Wars and Marvel, edited the kiss out in Singapore to avoid a higher age rating.
Still, it perhaps represents a step forward that at least the comics will shine a light on some of the unsung queer heroes (and villains) of Star Wars. Spin-off movie Lando featured Donald Glover portraying a young Calrissian who was “very flirty” with a young Han Solo. It was later confirmed that the character is canonically pansexual, though more in the sense that “he’s coming on to everybody,” according to Glover’s comments to Entertainment Weekly.
The Star Wars covers join Marvel’s other previously announced Pride Month offerings, one of which will include a gay teenage Captain America in a spinoff series. Until then, you can check out all the Star Wars covers here.
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