The Corellian DP20 gunship: another spacecraft that owes a debt to Colin Cantwell
Just as kit bashers like Colin Cantwell love to recycle bits and pieces of models to create new things, movie and TV show designers love to riff off what’s come before when creating something new, especially in the science-fiction genre. A great example of that is Colin’s original pirate ship design, before it became the Millennium Falcon we all know and love, which eventually fed into the creation of multiple ships in that far, far away galaxy.
Below are three views of Colin’s original pirate ship model. You can buy these autographed prints in our online shop.
We’ve previously discussed Colin’s original pirate ship design, which underwent an evolution that eventually became Princess Leia’s ship, the Blockade Runner known as the Tantive IV, as seen in the opening shot of the first movie.
And we’ve also given you the inside scoop on a new ship, Bill George’s Millennium Eagle, which is a mash-up of the original pirate ship and the Eagle ship from Space: 1999 that caused Lucas to radically rethink the design of Han Solo’s spacecraft. (And as wonderful as Colin’s work is, it’s hard to imagine that endearing itself to fans the way the Millennium Falcon has.) The Millennium Eagle popped up in the background of an episode of the Disney+ series Skeleton Crew, although we’re not aware that it has been given an official name yet.
But what about the DP20 gunship?
We’d be remiss if we didn’t also discuss the Corellian spacecraft known as the DP20 gunship, which also evolved out of Colin’s original pirate ship design. It was originally an iteration on the pirate ship created by Joe Johnston, and it made its first semi-official appearance in the old Marvel Comics Star Wars comic book series. Specifically, it popped up in the twelfth issue as a spacecraft piloted by the pirate Crimson Jack when he commandeered an Imperial Star Destroyer not long after the Battle of Yavin.
Those old Marvel Star Wars comics were actually pretty good sometimes, although they had to keep the characters in a kind of stasis between movies, which was a bit strained post-The Empire Strikes Back as Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca wandered the galaxy looking for Han Solo, rather than heading straight to Tatooine.
The DP20 appeared in several other issues of the Marvel Comics series and was officially added to the galaxy in 1990’s The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, which was part of the Star Wars role-playing game published by West End Games. It was originally known simply as a “Corellian gunship” and then later earned the “DP20 frigate” model name as the multitude of Star Wars spacecraft became organized by manufacturer, line, model, and type, much like cars.
In recent years, the DP20 gunship has been woven into the official Star Wars canon established during the Disney era, starting with its first appearance in issue 23 of the new Marvel Star Wars comic book series. It’s been established as a ship manufactured for the Galactic Republic, seeing action during the Clone Wars before being discontinued by the Galactic Empire. However, several DP20s found their way into the possession of various people who joined the Rebel Alliance, and the ship played a role in the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi.