Star Wars Reveals the Sith Luke Skywalker Would Have Become If He'd Joined Palpatine

Summary Darth Vader's new Force vision shows Luke Skywalker as Palpatine's apprentice.

Recently, Luke has been experimenting with the Dark Side in Marvel's Star Wars comics, proving his immense potential.

Luke and Vader saw the same future coming, but ultimately they united to prevent it.

Contains spoilers for Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader!Fans finally get to see Luke Skywalker as a full-fledged Sith, as Star Wars shows what the galaxy's savior would have become if Palpatine had successfully tempted him to the Dark Side. Throughout the Original Trilogy, Palpatine toyed with Luke, seeing he had immense potential within the Dark Side. Palpatine intended to pit father against son, keeping whichever was able to triumph as his apprentice. Ultimately, Vader chose love, turning on his master in a final moment of redemption. However, without that transformation, Palpatine may well have been able to break and recruit Luke.

In Grek Pak and Ramon Rosanas' Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader story 'The Curse,' Darth Vader continues to move against Palpatine, planning his attack on Exegol after acquiring a huge haul of Force-diffusing kyberite. Due to his experiences at the Martyrium of Frozen Tears, Vader experiences a Force vision/hallucination, seeing the future if Luke replaces him. The two battle, with Palpatine attempting to redirect Vader's hatred back to his son. Ultimately, Vader hires Warba Calip to set up a trap for Luke, which will unfold in upcoming Marvel comics.

Close

Darth Vader's vision shows Luke in a black outfit with a red lightsaber, an arrogant sneer on his face. While the moment is presented as a hallucination, recent comics have confirmed that a connection to the Force means that Jedi and Sith hallucinations are rarely just within their minds. For example, the recent Star Wars #35 saw Luke's first use of Force projection in what he believed to be a hallucination of visiting Yoda. In this context, it's likely that Vader really is getting a glimpse of the future where Luke replaces him.

Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader Writer: Charles Soule, Greg Pak

Artists: Ibraim Roberson, Ramón Rosanas

Colorists: Guru-eFX

Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Joe Caramagna

Cover Artist: Phil Noto

Related Sith Yoda Wields Five Lightsabers in Jaw-Dropping Star Wars Fan Art Amazing fan art from Sebastián Píriz imagines Yoda as a Sith warrior, swapping his acrobatic fighting style for a Force-based lightsaber technique.

It turns out Darth Vader has his own vision of Luke turning Sith, suggesting the two Force-sensitives saw and worked to avert the same future.

Darth Vader's Vision Reveals Luke Skywalker's Sith Potential

Luke Gets His Own Red Lightsaber (Now He Just Needs Purple)

Close

Luke Skywalker's potential to fall to the Dark Side is a major theme in Star Wars. Most famously, when Luke confronts Darth Vader in Dagobah's Cave of Evil in The Empire Strikes Back, he beheads the Sith only to see his own face under the shattered visor. The imagery hints that in striking Darth Vader down, Luke will unlock his own darkness and fall to it. Now, it turns out Darth Vader has his own vision of Luke turning Sith, suggesting the two Force-sensitives saw and worked to avert the same future.

Related Star Wars Brings Back the "Anti-Force", As the Jedi & Sith Get a New Equal Anti-Force was originally introduced in Star Wars Legends, and now it's been reintroduced in canon, which is a problem for both the Jedi and the Sith.

Luke's recent flirtation with the Dark Side proved he'd be an incredibly powerful Sith.

Star Wars Is Exploring Luke Skywalker's Dark Side Potential

Luke Learned About the Sith in an Incredibly Dark Way

Close

While Luke Skywalker is a heroic individual, the Dark Side exists in everyone, and Luke is no exception. The sequel trilogy explored the darkness within Luke when he considered killing Ben Solo, however recent comics have explored his reckoning with the Dark Side between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The recent Star Wars #43 (Charles Soule and Steven Cummings) saw Luke attempting to purge a red Kyber crystal - one which fans have speculated will be used to create his iconic green lightsaber. While communing with the crystal, Luke encounters the trapped essence of an ancient Sith, taking the opportunity to learn about the Dark Side in an attempt to figure out a way to fight Vader.

While Luke ultimately helped to heal the Sith's trauma and purge the crystal, he did experiment with the Dark Side within it, tapping into the rage and loss he felt about Darth Vader cutting off his hand in Cloud City. Even this minor flirtation with his inner darkness unlocked an immense amount of power in Luke, blowing a cell door off its hinges. It's clear that Palpatine was right to covet Luke's potential for power, and this makes Luke and Vader's final battle even more satisfying. While Luke may have been able to beat Vader with violence, ultimately he would have only become Palpatine's thrall by doing so. Reaching out to Vader and prompting his redemption wasn't just the right way for Luke Skywalker to save the galaxy, it was the only way.

Related Palpatine's Nickname for Yoda Is the Ultimate Insult (& Yoda Knows He's Right) As Yoda confronts his guilt ahead of training Luke Skywalker, an insult from Emperor Palpatine gets to the core of how he failed the Jedi.

Star Wars Legends canon saw Luke corrupted by the Dark Side - only redeemed because Leia intervenes.

Luke's Turn to the Sith Echoes His Legends Fate

Luke Became Palpatine's Apprentice in the Original Follow-Up Comics

Of course, while fans are only now seeing Luke as a Sith in new canon, the same can't be said for his Legends adventures. In the iconic Star Wars: Dark Empire (Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy), Luke Skywalker became Palpatine's apprentice in order to stop the Imperial Fleet from taking countless lives, including his friends and allies. Luke is of course insincere in his desire to embrace the Dark Side, and Palpatine knows it, however the longer he spends as a Sith apprentice, the more he is corrupted and tempted by power. Ultimately, Luke grew so corrupted that he was genuinely claimed by the Dark Side, only redeemed thanks to Leia risking her life to bring him to his senses.

The alt-reality Star Wars: Infinities also planned stories where Luke became a Sith. According to writer Peter David, there was even a story planned where Leia became a Sith, taking Luke Skywalker as her "apprentice and lover" (despite fans at the time already knowing they were siblings.) In short, Luke Skywalker's potential as a Sith has always been part of the franchise, and now fans get to see what he'd look like in Palpatine's service.

Related Luke Skywalker's Childhood Nickname Is His Perfect Sith Title Luke Skywalker's mocking childhood nickname offers up the perfect word to twist into a Sith title akin to his father 'Darth Vader.'

Vader originally saw Luke as a potential apprentice, but vowed to kill him after witnessing Palpatine's plans on Exegol.

Star Wars Is Exploring Darth Vader's Perception of Luke Skywalker

Vader Originally Wanted Luke as an Ally, But Things Changed

Close

What's interesting about this story in terms of Star Wars' unseen years is how it yet again complicates Vader's perspective on Luke. In 2015's Star Wars #3 (Jason Aaron, John Cassaday), Vader - who doesn't yet know Luke's identity - schemes to recruit him as a way of slighting Obi-Wan. When Vader learned of his connection to Luke, he only doubled down on this intention, beginning to factor Luke into his ongoing plans to unseat and replace Palpatine.

However, this all changed when Darth Vader discovered Exegol in 2020's Darth Vader #12 (Greg Pak, Guiu Vilanova.) Seeing the scale of Palpatine's vision, Darth Vader accepted that the power of the Dark Side was even greater than he had believed and that only Palpatine could provide enough pain for him to truly harness it. At this point - and thanks to Palpatine's manipulation - Vader switched from seeing Luke as a potential ally to a rival for Palpatine's training, swearing to slaughter his son.

Related Darth Vader Comic Reveals Luke Skywalker's 'High Ground' Moment A telepathic attack suggests Darth Vader intended his Cloud City battle with Luke Skywalker to recreate his own dismemberment on Mustafar.

Vader's perspective just changed again in 2024's Darth Vader #45. At the Martyrium of Frozen Tears, Darth Vader was able to witness Luke's own visit to the Force-sensitive confessional. Luke admitted that despite spurning Vader at Cloud City, he does sometimes wonder if they could work together. This revelation seemingly reawakened Darth Vader's dark hope of corrupting Luke, kicking off his latest plan and the hiring of Warba Calip.

What's fascinating about Vader's shifting view of Luke Skywalker is how the Sith has yet to truly see his son as an individual. Whether planning to kill Luke or recruit him, Vader keeps perceiving Luke through the lens of his own ascension and abiliy to overthrow Palpatine. Adding new moments between Luke and Vader to official continuity is a major risk, but Marvel's Star Wars comics pull it off by accentuating Vader's darkness. While he's seen Luke as both a rival and a potential ally in the comics, he has yet to truly see him as his son - that moment will only come in Return of the Jedi, acting as the catalyst for Vader's redemption.

Related Darth Vader's Secret Moment of Mercy Shows His Biggest Emotional Weakness Despite all of the death that Darth Vader unleashed in the name of Emperor Palpatine, there were times when he showed mercy to his victims.

Seeing Luke Skywalker as a Sith Drives Home His Redemption of Vader

It's Easy to Forget That Palpatine Came Incredibly Close to Victory

While Luke Skywalker is undoubtedly a hero in Star Wars lore, Marvel's comics are right to bring fans' attention back to his potential for evil. Luke's temptation by the Dark Side is a major factor in his character, and Palpatine's plan to corrupt him is what makes his eventual victory so satisfying - by rejecting the Dark Side, Luke found a way to win in a situation where Palpatine believed either outcome would play in his favor. Seeing Luke Skywalker as a Sith is an awesome treat for Star Wars fans, while also making the dark future he and Anakin averted feel more possible than ever before.

Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars/Darth Vader is available now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Peter David