Reaction to the new Star Wars comic has been, in a word, mixed. There’s been the expected asides about canon and continuity from the usual quarters, of course. (I’ve already said all I need to say on that.) But today, the headline news from this has been, unquestionably, this from Wood on Tumblr: “Oh yeah, Leia’s an X-Wing pilot.”
In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Wood elaborated:
Leia is not going to be sitting around in a gown attending a lot of meetings — she has her blaster and an X-wing and is out there with Luke and Wedge working on building the Alliance back up after losing so much. I really wanted to put Leia into the mix, holding her own in battle.
On the one one hand, of course I would like to see Leia get more of a role. On the other hand, we already know Leia’s a badass and a better shot than most of the dudes: Does putting her in an X-Wing really show a new dimension to her character?
Yes, this again. Here’s the thing: We are constantly told Leia is a brilliant politician, but how often do we actually see that aspect of her – her actual career? Every once and a while in the books, right before things go sour and the blasters (or, more recently, the lightsabers) come out?
I’m not against putting Leia in an X-wing. This is not really specific to Star Wars, the Comic. (And a comic book is almost certainly not the place for that sort of Senator Organa anyway.) I just wish when we got more Leia, it would be less about the size of the lasers she’s shooting and more about adding some dimension to an aspect of her character that’s been shamefully neglected.
And hell, maybe Wood will go there between battle scenes. Obviously, I have no idea. I just wish we could click off a box other than Action Girl every once and a while.