In 1977, Marvel published a series of comics claiming to be the adaptation of the films Star Wars in comics. The purpose of these stories was thus to bridge the gap that could exist between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Except that theone of the storylines of the comics almost spoiled an important element of the last film of the original trilogy.
An idea immediately refused by Lucasfilm
Indeed, in these Marvel comics, the creative teams seemed to have a deeper understanding of the various characters in Star Wars and on the universe imagined by George Lucas. It would also seem that Marvel teams even accurately anticipated the trajectories and narratives of the trilogy.
For these comics, Marvel had then imagined a scenario taking place after The Empire Strikes Back. The film had not yet been released in cinemas, but cartoonist Walter Simonson and screenwriter David Michelinie had come up with the idea of stage a second Death Star.
However, when this item was announced, Lucasfilm decides to veto it without specifying the reason. On the other hand, the authors of the comics have the authorization touse a stripped-down version of the Death Star that Marvel will name Tarkin. But the authors quickly understand that if the idea of a second Death Star should not appear in the comics it is quite simply because George Lucas planned it for Return of the Jedi.
The Tarkin: A Death Star 1.5
Unlike the Death Star, the Tarkin is a much smaller model reduced to a mere orbiting superlaser. Commanded by the Emperor, the Tarkin was therefore a prototype to test the second model of the Galactic Empire’s military space station without having the weak points that we know, namely the ventilation shafts which caused the loss of the first one. Additionally, the Tarkin received improved protection from an experimental shield generator.
With the denial of a second Death Star appearing in Marvel comics, it shows that although the Star Wars Expanded Universe was still in its infancy, Lucasfilm took what happened there extremely seriously.. If this had been the case, then it would have been in total contradiction with the continuity of the Return of the Jedi. But still Marvel almost spoiled us the Death Star II before the end of the trilogy in the cinema !
