from Chris Snelgrove
| Published
As a child of the 80s, I grew up during this interesting period between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace. It was a time when all new Star Wars content came in the form of books, comics, and video games.
This led to the creation of some great original characters, including two fan favorites from writer Timothy Zahn: Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade. After Disney destroyed the past (Kylo Ren would be proud) by removing the Star Wars Expanded Universe from the canon, they brought back Thrawn in a big way, but if Disney hopes to save Star Wars, they also need to bring back Mara Jade.
Who is Mara Jade, you ask? Introduced at Zahn’s Heir to the EmpireJade is a talented woman whose intelligence and sensitivity to the Force brought her into Imperial service as the Emperor’s Hand. Her life is thrown into chaos when the emperor dies, and she is later forced to reluctantly work with Luke Skywalker (whom she blames for Palpatine’s death) against Thrawn and his resurgent Imperial forces.
Jade’s popularity with fans helped her become one of the most famous Star Wars characters in the EU, and she became Luke’s wife and mother to his child. Now, based on everything we know about Luke’s life after that Return of the Jediit seems the hermit-like Jedi Master had no time for love. But Disney+ could easily adapt the rest of Mara Jade’s story for future shows and movies, and this kind of olive branch for older fans might be all that can save Star Wars.
As for why Star Wars needs saving, where do we begin? The sequel trilogy was a muddled mess that left most fans unsatisfied, and most of the Disney+ TV shows ranged from mildly disappointing (The Boba Fett Book) to offensively boring (The Acolyte). Now that the solo Rey movie has lost screenwriter Steve Knight, it seems clearer than ever that Disney really doesn’t know what it’s doing with a franchise it paid billions to secure from George Lucas.
However, making Mara Jade the focus of her own solo movies and TV shows could help correct that dip starshipand it’s not just my nostalgia for the fans. Jade is like Grand Admiral Thrawn in that it is a known quantity. The hero already there is legions of fans thanks to her great backstory. It stands to reason that her story will gain new fans as well, thanks mainly to her cool relationship with both Palpatine and the Force.
Also, reintroducing Mara Jade back into the Star Wars canon would mean that Disney has a strong female character, something the franchise has struggled with recently. Daisy Ridley’s Rey was supposed to be that hire, but her character divided audiences rather than uniting them. With the production difficulties of a Rey solo film potentially jeopardizing that film’s release, there’s no time like the present for Star Wars to focus on a female character without as much controversy or baggage.
Since Mara Jade was an Imperial spy long before she became a smuggler, it would be easy to insert her into any Star Wars time period. For example, it can easily be entered Andorthe final season of an Imperial agent since Palpatine recruited her as a toddler. Alternatively, she may appear in a time slot on shows like The Mandalorian as someone who weighs the empire she once proudly served against the ragged remnant she has become.
Speaking of The Mandaloriansome fans believe that the show has already secretly introduced Jade in the form of Elijah Kane (Kate M. O’Brien), someone whose name and apparent loyalty to Moff Gideon may be cover stories. While this would require a bit of a tweaking of Jade’s past from the books, Disney would be lucky to have an artist as talented as O’Brien (best known for his excellent Love bleeds) plays one of the most famous characters in Star Wars.
Regardless of who plays her or how she’s introduced, Mara Jade needs to become an official part of the Star Wars canon once again. She’s a great character with unlimited storytelling potential who won over fans long before the prequels came out. With her on the roster, Disney may be able to do something that now seems nearly impossible: create good Star Wars content again.
