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[MadLaughter]

Move over, Boba Fett. Take a seat, Mitth'raw'nuruodo.

So, the people that make Star Wars happen released a novel about Captain Phasma earlier this month. Here's the synopsis:

One of the most cunning and merciless officers of the First Order, Captain Phasma commands the favor of her superiors, the respect of her peers, and the terror of her enemies. But for all her renown, Phasma remains as virtually unknown as the impassive expression on her gleaming chrome helmet. Now, an adversary is bent on unearthing her mysterious origins—and exposing a secret she guards as zealously and ruthlessly as she serves her masters.

Deep inside the Battlecruiser Absolution, a captured Resistance spy endures brutal interrogation at the hands of a crimson-armored stormtrooper—Cardinal. But the information he desires has nothing to do with the Resistance or its covert operations against the First Order.

What the mysterious stormtrooper wants is Phasma’s past—and with it whatever long-buried scandal, treachery, or private demons he can wield against the hated rival who threatens his own power and privilege in the ranks of the First Order. His prisoner has what Cardinal so desperately seeks, but she won’t surrender it easily. As she wages a painstaking war of wills with her captor, bargaining for her life in exchange for every precious revelation, the spellbinding chronicle of the inscrutable Phasma unfolds. But this knowledge may prove more than just dangerous once Cardinal possesses it—and once his adversary unleashes the full measure of her fury.

From childhood through the end of high school, I read pretty much two things: Stephen King and Star Wars novels. I would go to the library and check out multiple novels at a time detailing the many adventures of Han Solo's kids or post-ROTJ Rogue Squadron, and I kept up with that canon in some form pretty much until the day they axed it.

I'm not the harshest critic in the world to begin with, but I really enjoyed Phasma. I was one of the people that bought into the chrome-stormtrooper-played-by-rad-actress hype before TFA, and was a bit let down by the small role in the movie. I listened to the audiobook for the novel, however, and that was a 13 hour concentrated dose of this generation's Boba Fett.

Without getting into spoilery specifics, Phasma might be the most violent piece of Star Wars media I've ever experienced. Torture and murder are the tip of the iceberg with this thing. After watching Rogue One I recalled feeling that it had gone a step further than a lot of Star Wars media, but Phasma is a running leap in comparison. Based on the novel, I'd take Phasma pretty much 1v1 against any non-force user in the series, and feel pretty good about it.

The book actually left me pre-emptively disappointed in Episodes 8 and 9 to some degree because they obviously can't become movies about her, and that there'd be no way to convey how she became what she is in the amount of script real estate one can realistically allocate to a tertiary antagonist. I think that they could do "Phasma: A Star Wars Story" if they were willing to go R, but that's pretty unlikely. Though, to be fair, This book feels like something they wouldn't have greenlit, either.

Anyway, the best way I can convey the craziness in the book without outright stating it is gifs from other movies that vaguely hint at what you can expect with Phasma's backstory:

 

[Veelk]

Dammit, I'm halfway through reading it, and I was planning on making this topic.

*kicks can*

 

[Heroman]

Who in the world is captain phasma?

 

[kunonabi]

So how exactly does it make up for her godawful treatment in TFA? She was the main reason I saw it in the first place and they made her an even bigger joke that Fett was.

 

[peppermints]

So I gather this is worth reading? Always in for a decent Star Wars book.

 

[Bulby]

Who in the world is captain phasma?

That character you dont know if you only casually watched The Force Awakens.

She had some what of a build up before the movie which amounted to literally nothing.

 

[BlueTsunami]

Who in the world is captain phasma?

A throwaway character in a major film

 

[Haloid1177]

I bought so much Phasma shit from TFA, I love Gwen, but this book was so fucking weird. I wouldn't really recommend it (the comic is where it's at if the first issue is any indication), but like if you think Mad Max and Star Wars should have a crossover this book is for you.

 

[Tagyhag]

All that, and she was caught off-guard by a 7'6 old Wookie.

Maybe she should get a helmet with a bigger visor.

 

[Lunar15]

So, following the tradition of Boba Fett and General Grievous: Star Wars characters that are hyped up in the extended universe only to completely disappoint in the main films.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Maybe she'll actually do something in Episode 8. Maybe

 

[MiniBossBattle]

And then she told them the weakness of the planet base and got thrown into the bin.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

All that, and she was caught off-guard by a 7'6 old Wookie.

He isn't even that old by Wookiee standards.

 

[TheDinoman]

What movie is this from?

 

[ZiggyPalffyLA]

Does it explain why she's willing to betray her cause so readily and indirectly cause the deaths of hundreds of her own side?

 

[MadLaughter]

What movie is this from?

X-Men.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

What movie is this from?

I always covered my eyes during this scene as a kid, but even then, I recognized what it was from.

It's from the first X-Men movie.

 

[Heroman]

What movie is this from?

X-Men 1

 

[Haloid1177]

Does it explain why she's willing to betray her cause so readily and indirectly cause the deaths of hundreds of her own side?

It does actually.

 

[MadLaughter]

Does it explain why she's willing to betray her cause so readily and indirectly cause the deaths of hundreds of her own side?

Surprisingly, yup!

 

[Hopeford]

Gonna be honest, the Stormtrooper that yelled "TRAITOR" was way more interesting to me than Captain Phasma. Just wasn't feeling her. She barely did anything in the movie haha.

 

[BlackGoku03]

All that, and she was caught off-guard by a 7'6 old Wookie.

Maybe she should get a helmet with a bigger visor.

Was gonna mention that.

 

[HStallion]

She is like a non character in the Force Awakens so this seems like it's making up for that fact. Another Boba Fett

 

[Litan]

Gonna be honest, the Stormtrooper that yelled "TRAITOR" was way more interesting to me than Captain Phasma. Just wasn't feeling her. She barely did anything in the movie haha.

That was Daniel Craig, I think.

 

[elrechazado]

And then she told them the weakness of the planet base and got thrown into the bin.

And escaped because a wizard did it

 

[Haloid1177]

That was Daniel Craig, I think.

Craig was the trooper who Rey mind tricks into letting her out.

 

[MadLaughter]

Gonna be honest, the Stormtrooper that yelled "TRAITOR" was way more interesting to me than Captain Phasma. Just wasn't feeling her. She barely did anything in the movie haha.

Another interesting thing about the book is that it goes into pretty deep detail about the entire process of becoming a modern stormtrooper. How they're chosen, trained, named, perceived. For example, they are micromanaged to the exact way they should shave. Not the end result I mean, but the exact order and timing of their hand movements.

 

[HStallion]

Another interesting thing about the book is that it goes into pretty deep detail about the entire process of becoming a modern stormtrooper. How they're chosen, trained, named, perceived. For example, they are micromanaged to the exact way they should shave.

So they're the Yankees?

 

[Boem]

That was Daniel Craig, I think.

Craig was the Trooper that Rey does the mind trick on. I think they even called his character something like JB-007 (although not on screen).

You can tell it's him if you know actually.

 

[QuantumZebra]

Star Wars x Mad Max???

Fucking sold.

 

[J_Viper]

It's too late. Trying to Phasma back for Ep 8 just seems silly.

Her character was so hyped up, only to end up as a joke. I don't know what the fuck JJ was thinking.

Cool armor though.

 

[MadLaughter]

Star Wars x Mad Max???

Fucking sold.

x Fallout, in a few ways.

 

[Sesha]

A throwaway character in the movies becomes super badass in canon side material. It's the Star Wars way.

 

[Forerunner]

Who in the world is captain phasma?

Someone that gets thrown in the trash.

 

[sphagnum]

This book really caught me off guard with how Mad Max it was. I wasn't a big fan of the frame story initially but In really liked Cardinal by the end.

Love Brendol, hate his bastard son.

Also I need to know if Sloane is still alive thia close to TFA - they were very vague with how they worded things!

edit: I found it hilarious how the book is obviously an attempt st creating a reason after the fact for why Phasmashut the shield down so easily, since she's now portrayed as being someone in it for herself. Gets pretty brutal. The

Spoiler

part where she briefly becomes the ruler of the city

was done very well.

 

[adj_noun]

A throwaway character in the movies becomes super badass in canon side material. It's the Star Wars way.

Throwaway character > Badass > Wacky death for belch joke

 

[kc44135]

Who in the world is captain phasma?

Brienne of Tarth, yo.

 

[Shirke]

Phasma's backstory also explains her current actions in her solo comic directly after escaping the trash compactor,

Spoiler

where she erases all evidence of her sabotage, then proceeds to find and kill a scapegoat to blame said sabotage on. All while Starkiller Base is blowing up around her

 

[SummitAve]

Seems like a desperate way to make something out of nothing.

 

[TheBowen]

A throwaway character in a major film

reminds me of someone

 

[Lifejumper]

The phasma comic was pretty great. Did not expect that.

 

[SuperBanana]

Who in the world is captain phasma?

The bad arse character that did nothing, opened the shield so the resistance could blow up their station and was then thrown in the trash. So cooooooolllll.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

reminds me of someone

it's like poetry.

maybe they will explain it in the next trilogy which is a prequel set.

 

[Doukou]

Gonna be honest, the Stormtrooper that yelled "TRAITOR" was way more interesting to me than Captain Phasma. Just wasn't feeling her. She barely did anything in the movie haha.

This should of been Captain Phasms's scene

 

[shoepolishsmelling]

The fact that the franchise did basically next to nothing in the first movie after touting the character in that trailer was disconcerting, hopefully they make up for it in The Last Jedi.

 

[BlackGoku03]

Phasma's backstory also explains her current actions in her solo comic directly after escaping the trash compactor,

Spoiler

where she erases all evidence of her sabotage, then proceeds to find and kill a scapegoat to blame said sabotage on. All while Starkiller Base is blowing up around her

Oh boy. This should have been in the movie. No more than a minute.

 

[Monocle]

I refuse to see Captain Phasma as the joke character that some GAFers makes her out to be. She looks and sounds too badass.

It's the Boba Fett effect all over again.

The OP's gifs sold me a dozen times over. I'll definitely read this book.

 

[HStallion]

It's too late. Trying to Phasma back for Ep 8 just seems silly.

Her character was so hyped up, only to end up as a joke. I don't know what the fuck JJ was thinking.

Cool armor though.

That was a lot of things from The Force Awakens. Remember when they said they got several of the actors from The Raid into the movie like it was going to amount to something cool then have them do absolutely nothing but pose then get killed by a CGI hentai monster with a terrible pun name.

 

[Flux]

What a wasted opportunity in the movie. Good actresses, cool looking armour, (literally) tossed into the garbage bin.

 

[jett]

Is there anyone at Lucasfilm that actually signs off on this stuff, or does nobody really care?