Rogue Squadron is the answer to the question: "What is the theatrical future of Star Wars?"  Rogue Squadron will be the first movie of the new Star Wars film series.  Set to be directed by Patty Jenkins, the director of the two recent Wonder Woman films, there is much buzz about this film scheduled for release in theaters on December 25, 2023.  Obviously, this is another long look ahead at what will be a key film for a new Star Wars series.

What are the rumors and what is the potential spec from this movie?

Rogue Squadron: The Movie

Disney announced that the film Rogue Squadron will be based on the 1998 video game of the same name and a series of books written by Michael Stackpole.  Let's start there and dig into both of those sources for some spec possibilities.

The Star Wars: Rogue Squadron video game was very successful back in the day.  By August of 1999, there were one million sales.  The popularity of the first video game led to two sequels: Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader and Star Wars Squadron III: Rebel Strike.  The first game focused on Luke Skywalker and not Wedge Antilles, who had been an earlier consideration by designers.  The second and third games featured Wedge Antilles, and the third game also featured Tycho Celchu.

Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston wrote the ten-book series Star Wars: X-Wing.  The first book was published in 1996.  The series focused on Wedge Antilles and introduced the character of Corran Horn.

Any tie-ins to the book series will bring Corran Horn into the mix in a big way.  Corran Horn was a Corellian Rogue Squadron ace and eventually a Jedi Master in the New Jedi Order (nice move up!).

Confused about what to chase?  Let's go down the rabbit hole and see some possibilities for spec between now and the release of Rogue Squadron.

Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron

Let's start with the first X-Wing titled comic book series published by Dark Horse in 1995.  There are several issues to keep an eye out for.

Issue #1 had a regular cover and a signed Dynamic Forces variant.  A 9.8 has an FMV of around $45 with not many recent sales.  Wedge Antilles is featured on the cover and this issue also has the first appearance of Tycho Celchu, the renowned starfighter pilot.

Another issue to consider from the series is issue #25, the first mention of Corran Horn.  No appearance in the issue, but a mention.  This book is also the origin of Baron Fel and has a Thrawn appearance (which is always a bonus).   Issue #26 is the first appearance in the comics of Corran Horn.  Neither issue has any graded sales at this point (surprising) and raw listed prices are around $50 for this book (hmmm?).

A Luke possibility is the 2018 Star Wars #52, the first canon appearance of the Rogue Squadron.  Luke is the leader here, not Wedge.  No FMV on cover A. There are a few variant covers for this issue from 2018, but not many sales at all.

Wedge Antilles

Star Wars #5 is Wedge Antilles' first appearance.  The FMV of 9.8 is $170 and 9.6 is $90.  He is featured big-time in the Star Wars: X-Wing book series, so he is a strong contender to be on your spec radar.

Star Wars #6 is Wedge Antilles' second appearance.  A 9.8 comes in with an FMV of $260 and a 9.6 is sitting at an FMV of $90.

The Take-Away

Although there aren't many details about the film Rogue Squadron, now is the time to be searching and buying spec opportunities on the cheap.  Unless the setting of the film is far in the future, Wedge Antilles appearances are well-worth getting and holding on to, since he is a key character in the source book series.

Chasing Corran Horn appearances seems like a good possibility since his introduction came from the book series that is the movie's source material.  Not many of those are being graded yet, but raws of his first appearance are already trending up.

"Don't make me go Vader on you"--Wedge Antilles

GoCollect is searching for social media aficionados!