Star Wars Confirmed How Close Luke Came To The Dark Side (Thanks To Darth Vader)

Warning: Contains spoilers for "Darth Vader" #45

The original "Star Wars" trilogy is full of pause-worthy moments, but narratively speaking, it's hard to beat the various times Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker is tempted by the dark side of the Force. Luke's path to becoming the last Jedi standing is crucial to the film series' dynamic between good and evil. As such, the movies explore the possibility of Luke breaking bad several times, from the dark side cave of Dagobah in "The Empire Strikes Back" to the final face-off with Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) in "Return of the Jedi." 

However, there's no greater moment of the dark side tempting Luke than when Darth Vader (David Prowse and James Earl Jones) reveals he's Luke's father in "The Empire Strikes Back" and offers to take the kid under his wing. And while Luke famously turns Vader down, a new "Darth Vader" comic reveals just how close he came to a very different reply.  

"Darth Vader" #45 revisits the iconic moment with a Force image of Luke, who confesses that for a moment, he genuinely considered the possibility of switching sides during this pivotal moment. The clear implication here is that the temptation to join Vader in "The Empire Strikes Back" — however brief — is genuine. Though Luke still ends up refusing to join the dark side in the scene, the confirmation that he takes a moment to assess his options could be monumental news for fans who have been wondering how close the young hero comes to giving Vader a different answer ... and it also goes a long way toward bringing added meaning to his anguish in the scene. 

"Darth Vader" #45 also references the other famous Vader-Luke scene from the movies — the climactic "Return of the Jedi" scene where Vader finally breaks free from the emperor's influence and saves his son from the evil ruler's Force lightning, thus reclaiming his identity as Anakin Skywalker during his last moments. In the comic, Vader's first response to seeing the Force vision of Luke is just about as violent as you'd expect from a Sith lord. However, when he finds out Luke has genuinely entertained the idea of joining him, Vader mellows and even says, "Luke ... I'm coming." 

When Vader tells Luke the truth in "The Empire Strikes Back," he's still in full Sith mode and doesn't mind cutting off Luke's hand or attempting to strike him down on multiple occasions. However, "Darth Vader" #45 seems to imply that Vader's true fatherly instincts — which ultimately kill his Sith persona and bring back Anakin — start returning far earlier than the movies have shown. This is an interesting parallel to the issue's revelation that Luke considers joining the dark side in "The Empire Strikes Back." 

In one fell swoop, "Darth Vader" #45 reveals Luke's dark side close call and a glimmer of light inside Vader's Sith heart — thus bringing a hint of darkness to the younger Skywalker while simultaneously revealing that Anakin's eventual redemption shines through well before the throne room confrontation in "Return of the Jedi."