In addition to his own stories, Wendig has written Star Wars novels and comics for several years, including the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy and the comic book adaptation of The Force Awakens. He also wrote Hyperion: Daddy Issues for Marvel. Wendig assertsed in his social media posts that because he included LGBTQ characters in the Aftermath novels, he also became subject to online harassment to the point where he had to, in his own words, “contact local police and warn them of SWATting attempts.”
Wendig has regularly defended himself and others against online harassment, often employing profanity to do so, but also seemingly with the support of Lucasfilm. He writes in his blog post that “...privately, I was told by folks inside LFL that there was no worry here, that they valued that I spoke out both speaking up for myself and for STAR WARS, which has always honestly been a progressive brand and company.”
Wendig notes that he thinks the decision was Marvel’s, not Lucasfilm’s, and the editor claimed responsibility for the termination. Regardless, Wendig remains supportive of the project. “If they honestly feel that my presence will damage the book, I don’t want that, Wendig said. “I want the book to shine, and artists like Juanan Ramirez and Greg Smallwood to do their amazing thing. Artists like that are gods in my mind, so I’m happy to not distract from their literal magic.”
In his statement, Wendig expressed concern over the “chilling” effect that his firing might have, and drew parallels to the recent removal of James Gunn from Guardians of the Galaxy over years-old offensive tweets from the director (see “Disney Fires James Gunn”). But in further posts on Twitter, Wendig offers the reassurance that “I'll be okay, I've got books coming out and some other cool stuff in the works.”