Interview | Being Cavan Scott - Future of the Force

Brad sat down with “From a Certain Point of View” author, Cavan Scott and discussed his involvement in Star Wars

Have you ever read three different things and separately loved them all, only to find out they were all written by the same author? That happened with me when I read Star Wars Adventures, Choose Your Destiny, and “Time of Death” in the From a Certain Point of View anthology. All three stories were from the one and only Cavan Scott, a true fan of the Star Wars saga. Cavan was kind enough to sit down and answer some questions from yours truly.

How long have you been a Star Wars fan?
Ever since my Grandma bought me my first Star Wars figure. Granted I had no idea who Obi-Wan Kenobi was at the time, but old Ben looked the coolest grey-haired grandad in the Galaxy. Then I discovered Marvel UK’s Star Wars Weekly, which reprinted the US comics in glorious black and white. This was all before I saw my first Star Wars movie in the cinema – The Empire Strikes Back. I was very upset that Jaxxon wasn’t in it!

How did you come to start writing Star Wars material?
I was asked to write an audition piece for what became Star Wars Adventures in Wild Space. It was quite a bit different to the final set-up. In my original sample, Lina was a Twi’lek!

You wrote one of the more complex stories in From A Certain Point of View. How did you come to develop “Time of Death?” We were asked to choose a character and moment we’d like to focus on, and I replied immediately with Obi-Wan’s death, thinking that someone must have already chosen it.

Amazingly, our editor, the wonderful Elizabeth Schaefer, replied that no-one had asked to tackle that particular moment. Then the fear set in. I was rewriting one of the most iconic moments in Star Wars history. What new could I bring to it? Around the time, I re-watched the Prequels and the thought occurred to me that I could have flashbacks to Luke’s childhood. The story span from there.

Let’s talk “Star Wars Adventures,” which is so much fun. What’s it like writing SW stories for a larger, younger audience? It’s a blast. The response has been phenomenal, and it’s so gratifying that its helping introduce a younger generation to both Star Wars and comics, especially as the old Marvel comics were my gateways into both.

Lately Han and Solo have been having issues with Zuckuss and 4-LOM. Is Zuckuss Force sensitive? We heavily hint that in the comic.

You also have the “Choose Your Destiny” series starring Han and Chewie, which my kids love. How do you like writing good old fashioned choose your own adventure stories? It was a challenge as I’d never done it before, so I had to reverse engineer how a gamebook works. But it’s a lot of fun. You can do a lot of things that would never be possible usually, like destroying the Millennium Falcon!

Of all the SW projects that have been recently announced, what are you most looking forward to? I’m a huge Rebels fan so I’m really interested in seeing what the team do with Resistance. There’s so much story to fill in during that time period. And I really hope we haven’t seen the end of certain members of the Ghost crew.

What are you currently working on and what can we look forward to in the future from you? Well the second Choose Your Destiny has been announced: A Luke and Leia Adventure… but other than that, I afraid I can’t say.

Your writing expands well beyond SW, what other work do you have out there? At the moment, my other big series is Pacific Rim Underworld, which is currently being published by Legendary Comics. Issue five hits comic stores soon!

Cavan, I wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. How can people find you? By visiting my website – http://www.cavanscott.com – or following me on Twitter @cavanscott.

Thanks again, Cavan, and as always, may the Force be with you!