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Editor's Note: This piece has been updated since its original publication to add further context to the situation not available at the time. 

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….Superman took on Darth Vader. 

Well, not quite. However, this almost happened. Believe it or not, Star Wars was going to crossover with the DC Universe. In 2017 writer Kurt Busiek revealed that he and Alex Ross had once developed a DC/Star Wars pitch, but the project fell apart due to corporate disagreements regarding the money. It’s unknown when this project was first pitched, but it was presumably sometime before Disney acquired Lucasfilm. While details of the pitch are scant, some of Alex Ross’ concept art has been released, including the Superman vs Vader image that acts as a headline for this article. 

Speaking to a crowd at Tampa Bay Comic Convention, former DC publisher Dan DiDio elaborated on why he canceled the project, which apparently was about more than money.

“I was brought a DC Universe and Star Wars crossover. There was fighting over what you could and couldn’t do, and who gets the better shot, and who gets the hero moment…it wasn’t worth it. Honestly, it just wasn’t worth it.”

While DiDio didn’t name Busiek, he noted that the creator was not happy.

“The creator who came onboard got really angry because he brokered the deal and brought it to us. I just didn’t want to do it at that time, because it didn’t make sense.”

After the original version of the article was posted, Kurt Busiek responded with a post on Bluesky. “I think Dan is remembering some other project. This one didn’t get to the point of that kind of argument, because the money details got in the way before anyone would have approved a story.”

“There was no feedback at all on the story that I ever heard, certainly not any back and forth argument. DC wanted half the money, which was standard in a crossover deal. Lucasfilm wanted half the money, which was standard for their licensing deal. Dark Horse wanted some of the money, and so did Alex [Ross] and I. So you can see where the math didn’t add up.”

While Didio may have been misremembering, it’s also possible that he was having conversations on the publisher level that Busiek as the writer wasn’t aware of. Either way, the Force wasn’t strong enough to break through the red tape.

Now that Disney owns Lucasfilm, it’s highly unlikely that this project will be revived. After all, if Disney was going to have Star Wars crossover with a fictional comic book universe, it would probably be the one that they own. Unless corporate lawyers become more relaxed, it looks like the closest we’ll get to DC/Star Wars is the cool Alex Ross concept art. 

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