Star Wars #9

History

The issue is part of the 2025 canon Star Wars ongoing series written by Alex Segura, a bestselling crime novelist who brought a thriller writer's instincts to the New Republic era for Marvel. Regular series artist Phil Noto covered the first six issues, after which Pete Woods and Luke Ross rotated in, with Ramón Rosanas — a veteran Star Wars penciller who had illustrated multiple prior Marvel Star Wars runs — stepping in as guest artist for issue #9. Editor Mark Paniccia oversaw the issue, with lettering by Clayton Cowles and colors by Chris Sotomayor. The series was conceived as an exploration of the New Republic period set approximately two years after the events of Return of the Jedi, a timeline Marvel had not previously sustained as a dedicated ongoing.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Written by Alex Segura with interior art by Ramón Rosanas (guest), colors by Chris Sotomayor, lettering by Clayton Cowles, and a cover by Phil Noto; published January 21, 2026.
• Ninth issue of the Star Wars (2025) ongoing series — confirmed by the final panel's 'To Be Concluded' caption to be the penultimate chapter, making issue #10 the series conclusion and this volume the shortest in the title's history across all publishers.
• The issue is set entirely during the climax of the Fenril crisis on the Nagai homeworld of Nagi, with parallel threads following Han Solo and Beilert Valance, Luke Skywalker and Tuula, and Leia Organa on Chandrila with Mon Mothma and infant Ben Solo.
• A major supporting character, the New Republic operative Bastion, is killed in action by Zantarrk Stormtroopers during the ground battle — the shocking 'hero death' teased in solicitation copy.
• Luke Skywalker deploys the Crown of Verity, an ancient Jedi relic collected across the arc, to neutralize Reyna Oskure by compelling her to tell the truth; Oskure then reveals she sabotaged the junk fleet the Nagai were forced to construct, triggering its self-destruct and destroying the Fenril fleet.
• Reyna Oskure — an Anzati dark-side mystic and Acolytes of the Beyond member who had been draining Rynn Zenat's life force — is confirmed as the true puppetmaster behind the Fenril Consortium and the Zantarrk Gang throughout the series.
• Ben Solo (infant) and C-3PO appear in cameo during Leia's Chandrila scene; Mon Mothma overrides Leia's instinct to go to the battlefield, a sequence reviewed by critics as intentional retroactive foreshadowing of Ben's eventual fall.
• The issue carried three variant covers: a standard cover by Phil Noto, a 1:25 incentive by Luke Ross, and an Action Figure variant by John Tyler Christopher, with a Leinil Francis Yu variant also available.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Star Wars

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#1 1st appearance — C-3PO

Variants (3)