My interest in Bounty Hunters, a new Star Wars comic from Marvel and writer Ethan Sacks in early 2020, was never very high, especially as I had zero attachments or interest in Beilert Valance, but I was mildly intrigued and ready to be wrong. A few issues in, the feeling didn’t change, especially after the pandemic paused the series, but then things turned sour and distasteful: T’onga, a female, queer, person of color was murdered for shock value so Boba Fett could have a “memorable” entrance. She would return, several issues later, but there were no steps from the editorial team or really the writer, beyond some random Twitter DMs, to mitigate the situation or speak to the outcry and outrage over the event and therefore the damage was already done. I’ve not covered the series on the Manor since the offending issue, besides to discuss the situation or mention its monthly solicitations, but as the mega-crossover War of the Bounty Hunters looms, Bounty Hunters is set to be important to the expansive story and I wanted to discuss this whole situation again, especially as things have changed to some extent, before I began covering the series again.
The biggest, obvious problem with this whole situation is one that’s entertainment industry-wide: fridging of LGBTQ+ and female characters. It, like the aspect I want to focus on first, is an avoidable one, though continues in its practice and harms all those who identify as LGBTQ+ or female, cutting them off from inclusion in an already inclusive-less space. As for what I want to discuss first: the lack of mitigation from anyone involved with the Bounty Hunters, or from Marvel and Lucasfilm itself. Regarding Lucasfilm, it’s only until recently they’ve offered support or taken a stand regarding social justice issues, as actors and actresses like John Boyega or Kelly Marie Tran can attest to after being chased off social media or bullied without so much as a whisper of support (though they come out to support Boyega since {and he’s had a chat with Kathleen Kennedy}, while parent company Disney offered Tran the lead role in Raya and the Last Dragon, which are both nice but a little too late), but now with Black Lives Matter, Trans Day of Visibility, and refusing to work with Gina Carano after her hateful comments, they’ve begun to take a step in the right direction. A small step, mind you, as most of it has felt like the bare-minimum reaction, and typically isn’t taken when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack, but after something else drops, like with Carano’s anti-Semitic comments. Having Lucasfilm comment on the situation wasn’t expected, which is an unfortunate assumption to make, but when T’onga’s death happened it was the easy assumption about them to make.
So if it wasn’t going to come from Lucasfilm, why not Marvel’s Star Wars editors or writer Ethan Sacks, putting out a public message or letter, telling fans they hear them, know their concerns, apologize for those it has harmed, and for them to stay patient? With Sacks, he attempted a few DMs on Twitter to address people’s concerns, but it was due to an NDA regarding the upcoming plot point of T’onga’s return from ‘death’ that he was unable to tell any specifics. But specifics weren’t necessary or needed, just any type of public apology or note regarding the situation, with the acknowledgment they need to do better, could’ve quelled negative opinion on the series and helped assured LGBTQ+ and female fans they were wanted and needed in Star Wars fandom. Instead, for concerns over spoilers, no one would specifically step up and say anything to address the situation, an egregious error and oversight considering spoilers are a concept that means little in the end and their protection is absolutely unnecessary compared to the feelings of a marginalized group once again being marginalized in an industry prone to do so.
The call for any type of mitigation after the fact brings on two more points: 1) why wasn’t anyone consulted beforehand and 2) why hasn’t there been a public apology since, considering the NDA/spoilers don’t apply anymore? 1) One quick glance at the creative team behind the comic, from editors Mark Paniccia and Tom Groneman to the writer shows, as far as we have been made aware, a team of white, cis, straight males. With a queer character involved in the comic, why wasn’t a sensitivity reader, someone in the LGBTQ+ community, or even a woman consulted before the choice was made to use T’onga’s ‘death’ for shock value? Why only reach out afterwards, if truly sincere in wanting to not hurt fans this might effect? Sensitivity readers are an important and easy resource to consider when writing about characters/identities not your own, and I imagine consulting one would’ve probably resulted in steering them away from this story decision; especially preventing the grotesque way the whole thing is drawn, furthering the distasteful, nasty feeling the scene leaves. 2) And as for there being no apology since, with the NDA/spoiler problems out of the way, and T’onga’s return clear as day for all to see, maybe they believe her return is enough of one, but that’s never enough and some form of statement about the whole thing would be an easy, simple thing to do now to make up for how it all still looks and can harm those who will discover it still.
I don’t think Sacks (as we’ll talk about more soon) or the editors had any malicious intent with the entire endeavor, but the scene only perpetuates a repugnant trope,“Bury Your Gays,” regardless that T’onga returned since it’s prevalent across all types of entertainment. When I was younger, while it happened in many movies and TV shows I watched, it never quite hit me because at the time I wasn’t aware since I used to think it was just part of what happened, but as I got older and began to understand how it marginalized people simply due to their orientation or identity, I began to notice it more and more and as much as I felt angered and saddened by its continuation, I can’t even imagine what it means for those within the LGBTQ+ community; The 100’s death of Lexa was definitely one I’ll never forget, especially since it was creatively chosen simply due to scheduling conflicts. The scene in Bounty Hunters with T’onga also hits on “Stuffed Into the Fridge,” as it feels meant to give Boba Fett a big, cool entrance, but at the expense of a queer female POC; Boba actually got a proper, controversy-less entrance later that year on screen in The Mandalorian (a show with it’s own fridging of Fennec Shand before her return alongside Fett). It also felt like, until T’onga’s eventual return, the scene was going to be another entry in the “Out of the Closet, Into the Fire” trope, where a queer character dies right around the same time we learn they are queer. Comics have had a long and troubled history of LGBTQ+ inclusion, and while things have gotten better in the last decade or so especially, like with DC having a full Pride issue this year or Marvel recognizing Pride as well, the fact this scene with T’onga could still happen shows we’re far from out of the woods; in fact, it only seems to build on problems with this specific editing team allowing the fridging issue from 2019 (which I discussed the harmful effects of in greater detail as well).
With T’onga’s survival, which seems planned all along considering a small, hidden moment in issue (#5) foreshadowed the moment, it begs the question: why even play this up for shock or do something so blatantly perverse and damaging if she would be returning anyways? It makes the whole situation feel even more unnecessary in hindsight, while recognizing and understanding how such a scene would harm a community already often harmed or misrepresented in media should’ve made it unnecessary from the start. And as we saw with Carano’s comments and later with the deplorable vote at Wookieepedia, the LGBTQ+ community to this day, no matter the amount of representation growing in the Saga, is belittled, ignored, and discriminated against at all levels of fandom; thankfully, the situation at Wookieepdia is turning around, especially with the excellent new WookeepediaProject: Pride. And that’s not even taking in account for how the greater world still discriminates against the community, like in the harmful bills being considered or passed around the United States alone. The LGBTQ+ community deserves acceptance just like any other group of human beings and making sure fandoms are a safe space for them is something we should all strive to do, and one can hope the creative teams behind our favorite Saga do so as well.
Like I said earlier, I don’t believe ill-intent was behind T’onga’s ‘death,’ and due to how the series has continued with its characters, plus recent comments from its writer, have felt like a minor, but vital step to trying to do better. Let’s make this clear, nothing can make up for what happened or wipe away how the scene made people feel, absolutely nothing, but the team can now attempt to be better and avoid such situations in the future. T’onga’s return is one of those corrections, especially as she grows in importance to the story and the upcoming War of the Bounty Hunters crossover. And then there’s Sacks’ recent comments about a fan’s (Wesley aka @SskeerMadness) hopes for series’ original character Vukorah being trans, as he says, “Trans inclusion and diversity are very important. I hope you are satisfied on that front as BH unfolds.” It’s a big hint that Vukorah, or at least someone in the series, might be coded trans, which would be an excellent new step in representation in the Saga. As I said, with comments like those, and a general look at his Twitter account, it’s clear Ethan Sacks didn’t have malicious intent and he does seem to want to do right by fans of many different persuasions, so hopefully he and the editing team have learned from their mistake and a situation like T’onga’s won’t ever happen again…but it’s hard not to assume it might, somewhere, unfortunately happen again; Let’s at least hope it doesn’t happen in Star Wars, comics or otherwise, ever again.
I bring this all up to address how the situation regarding the Bounty Hunters series hasn’t necessarily changed, nor can it ever make up for what happened, but it has grown for a better, though small and important degree, and I wouldn’t feel right covering the series again in the upcoming crossover without addressing the latest developments while also discussing the larger conversation they are involved in. Just because Star Wars takes place in a Galaxy Far, Far Away doesn’t mean the stories it tells happen in a vacuum, so it’s always important to talk about and address the repercussions in the hopes it’ll help prevent it happening again and hold those involved accountable, making them remember their actions and how it affected fans.
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.