James Earl Jones most iconic role was probably Darth Vader (not his best, but, I mean, it's Vader). If you compare them, Vader and Kuma have very similar character arcs.
Darth Vader was originally a war hero, Anakin Skywalker, fighting in the Clone Wars (hmmmmmmm?), who lost his humanity to an evil force that took over the government, Darth Sideous. Vader would become a cyborg, who would go on to commit horrible war crimes and crimes against humanity (and aliens) as a slave to the government and its ruler.
In the end, Vader regains his humanity by fighting back against the monster that destroyed him (Sideous/Saturn), and protects his child, Luke Skywalker (or Bonney), from him.
If this is a serious hint, and James Earl Jones is the main part of the hint, then it looks like Kuma is showing up this chapter.