By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The ‘90s were a pretty heady time for Star Wars fans. The franchise experienced a resurgence in the form of an Expanded Universe of books, comics, and video games. At the time, all of this was considered canon, which made everything that much more exciting. We had new, official Star Wars adventures for the first time since the credits rolled on Return of the Jedi back in 1983. Plus, we had new characters, some of whom instantly became fan-favorites. Two of those characters came from prolific author Timothy Zahn: Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade.
Both of those characters, along with the rest of the Star Wars EU, were de-canonized once Disney bought the franchise. Thanks to sheer fan demand, the House of Mouse eventually brought Thrawn back into canon via Rebels and, later, Ahsoka. After that, many Zahn fans figured it was just a matter of time before Mara Jade was brought back. However, Zahn and other writers recently confirmed that Disney keeps turning down their attempts to bring this popular character back into Star Wars canon.
The Coolest Star Wars Character You’ve Never Heard Of
Mara Jade was introduced in Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire as a character who was once the Emperor’s Hand. As a Force-sensitive Imperial agent, she could enact Palpatine’s will all across the galaxy while maintaining mental contact with him. However, the death of the Emperor effectively ruined her career: because almost nobody knew what her role was, she had no real place in the Empire after Palpatine’s death. She had to build a new life for herself as a smuggler, but she is forever haunted by the last command given to her by Palpatine when he died: “YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER.”
She proved to be a very popular character and eventually married Luke Skywalker and gave birth to his son (who, very cutely, was named “Ben”). After Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, though, Mara Jade and all her misadventures were no longer part of official canon. Later, however, Thrawn was brought back into canon through appearances in Rebels and Ahsoka. Furthermore, Disney commissioned Timothy Zahn to write new, canonical novels about Thrawn, who is arguably the most popular Star Wars villain since Darth Vader.
If Grand Admiral Thrawn Can Come Back, Why Not Mara Jade?
Understandably, Zahn tried to pitch Disney on reintroducing Jade into the canon in any capacity. In 2024, he told a Dragon Con audience that she is the number one character he would like to bring back to Star Wars in just about any capacity. “I keep nudging Lucasfilm, asking them if I could write a book,” he said. “The answers come back basically some place between ‘no’ and ‘heck no.’”
The matter came up again at MegaCon this year. Prolific Star Wars author Claudia Grey told the audience that she had repeatedly pitched putting Mara Jade into her books. “A couple of times I was like, ‘Really? Really, no Mara Jade?’ And they were like, ‘Nope,’” she said, putting a stern emphasis on the final word. By happenstance, Zahn was at the same panel and chimed in: “I asked them, too,” he said, before revealing that his request was similarly rejected.
It’s Time For Live-Action Mara Jade
It’s possible that Disney is hesitant to introduce Mara Jade back into canon because so much of her story doesn’t really work in the wake of the Star Wars prequels and sequels. We never really saw anything like an Emperor’s Hand in any subsequent movies, and the Inquisitors seem to fill the role of “Force-connected Imperials outside the regular chain of command.” Plus, her post-Imperial life was spent building a career with Talon Karrde, a smuggler chief who is also no longer part of established canon. Finally, the whole idea of having her marry Luke Skywalker is completely off the table, both because of Mark Hamill’s age and the fact that Luke hardly had time for love after becoming a grumpy recluse.
However, modern Star Wars writers did a solid job bringing Grand Admiral Thrawn back and gently nestling him within existing canon. It seems like it would be easy enough to do that for Mara Jade, especially with her creator doing his best to help out. However, it seems like the powers that be have decided that this fan-favorite character will never grace the screen or even the page, ever again. Which is unfortunate, because bringing her back in her own show or even film would be the perfect way to appeal to Expanded Universe fans who have felt (ahem) “jaded” by the Disney era of Star Wars.
