The secret which kicked off the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover in a big way back in June was the surprising return of Qi’ra, last seen diving further into Crimson Dawn under Maul’s rule at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story. The crossover looks to be just one part of her larger comeback, as while we’re still in the middle of it’s story, we know Qi’ra will at least survive it thanks to the excitingly big announcement today: Qi’ra stars in Crimson Reign, a comic miniseries written by Charles Soule with art by Steve Cummings, now slated for arrival in December, picking up with her after the events of the crossover! Even more surprising and delightful is the knowledge this new miniseries will be Part 2 of a whole trilogy of content planned for her! Head below for all the gorgeous new covers and sparse details below!
Beyond Soule mentioning this series will explore the why beyond Qi’ra’s return and using Han Solo’s carbonite frozen body in an auction, details we’ll uncover in the crossover soon, there’s not much to go on with Crimson Reign’s story other than some intriguing faces on the first issue’s cover:
- Way on top, you can see TIE Defenders, a program initiated by Thrawn during Star Wars Rebels that lost funding to the Death Star project. So why are we seeing them again? The first hints of what Thrawn’s been up to since Ezra whisked him away in the Rebels finale before Ahsoka battled the Magistrate for information on him?
- On the right hand side is the most surprising face, or well mask, of them all: Ren, the leader of the Knights of Ren before Ben Solo takes over many years later! We were first introduced to Ren in Soule’s The Rise of Kylo Ren comic, which showed Ren’s fall to the young Solo, and also revealed technically Ren was the saber, not the man, believe it or not. Why is he involved with Qi’ra’s story?! Why are the Knights involved at all!? And will the group make their first appearance in the crossover sometime soon? Bonus: Ren will appear in October’s LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, voiced by Christian Slater!
- Below him there’s Deathstick, the Dathomir assassin currently chasing Valance and Dengar in the Bounty Hunters series’ crossover tie-in issues, attempting to lure them to the auction for Han Solo, though we don’t know why Qi’ra wants them there yet.
- In the middle bottom is one of the many reasons I’m excited for Crimson Reign: Chanatha Cha, a bounty hunter Soule introduced in his Lando miniseries 6 years ago! She’s not been seen often afterwards, but she was a stellar character who somehow garnered the respect of Emperor Palpatine but probably has his ire after that comic’s events.
- Of course it’s a delight to see Doctor Aphra, my favorite Star Wars character featured on the cover, meaning she’ll have some role to play in all this and it’ll likely be a very chaotic one.
- Luke and Leia are a bit of a surprising choice though I believe they’ll be in it less than we all think.
- And while Darth Vader doesn’t seem like much a surprise to be in it, thanks to their little duel in War of the Bounty Hunters #3 and whatever else will happen between them soon, but the Emperor as well? What does Qi’ra do that might draw out his attention too?!
The full November Star Wars comics solicitations should drop 8/19 (as we have an obviously incomplete set as of this article publishing!), a day after this news was announced, so we might expect more details once that releases, but expect mostly silence until at least the end of crossover in October. UPDATE: The solicit for Reign arrived and it didn’t include anything new compared to the initial announcement.
Crimson Reign begins its 5-issue run this November December and make sure to check back at the Manor for new updates about it and eventually our reviews.
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.