Star Wars has always featured iconic female heroes, beginning with Princess Leia in the Original Trilogy. There have been several women in the Star Wars universe who have had a massive impact on the franchise, from Ahsoka in The Clone Wars to Jyn Erso in Rogue One, and beyond. However, Lucasfilm has deemed their most iconic female Jedi off limits in new stories— and it makes no sense.
Ever since Mara Jade was introduced in Timothy Zahn’s novel, Heir to the Empire, she’s been a fan favorite character. The expanded universe followed her journey from Imperial agent to Jedi Master, marrying Luke Skywalker along the way, raising questions about her ongoing exclusion.
Despite Mara Jade being a beloved part of Legends, it doesn’t seem like she’ll join Star Wars canon anytime soon. According to Gizmodo’s io9, Lucasfilm has told writers for several years that they aren’t allowed to incorporate Mara Jade in their books, which also means that Zahn, the creator of Mara Jade, isn’t even permitted to write her. There’s already a precedent for Legends characters in new canonized events, like another Zahn-created character, Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has appeared in Star Wars Rebels, Ahsoka, and multiple canon books. So why not Mara Jade?
The Expanded Universe’s Missed Potential
Lucasfilm should look at Legends as a trial run for new stories, giving the green light for the best characters and concepts to carry over into official canon when it makes sense. Even Star Wars: Bloodlines author Claudia Gray was denied the opportunity to write Mara when she asked the studio for permission. Considering the number of writers who actively want to feature the character in their work, it feels like a real missed opportunity for the franchise.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm and de-canonized countless Star Wars stories from the expanded universe, reactions were mixed. Although the former canon now known as “Legends” had its share of poorly reviewed storylines, there were a few standout novels that readers hoped might be adapted in future movies. Many still attest to Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy as the definitive Star Wars sequel story. Since elements of the books have made their way into the new canon, there’s no reason the same thing shouldn’t happen for Mara Jade.
Possible Future Plans for Mara Jade
It’s possible that Lucasfilm has secret plans to utilize Mara Jade in future stories. Fans have speculated that actress Amy Adams will portray Mara Jade in the upcoming movie Star Wars: Starfighter. It wouldn’t be the first time that a major franchise tried to keep a character’s identity under wraps to surprise audiences.
However, if Mara Jade were included in future films, it would bring up a series of other questions. Due to her personal significance in the life of Luke Skywalker, it would be strange in retrospect for her to be omitted entirely from The Last Jedi, without even a brief mention of her existence. But, there’s more to her character than just being Luke’s love interest. From Mara’s time as Emperor Palpatine’s right-hand assassin to her journey as a Jedi Master, she has enough story potential to warrant books, movies, and even shows that explore her adventures. There’s still a chance that Lucasfilm intends to utilize Mara in the future in a big way. If the studio never does anything substantial with the character, it makes their reluctance to feature her at all even more baffling.
In the expanded universe, Mara always served as the perfect bridge between the Original Trilogy and ongoing stories. Currently, Star Wars has been looking for ties from previous films to continue in new tales, without feeling too stuck in the past. Now that the Sequel Trilogy is over, there aren’t many options for Empire-era characters besides Thrawn, who was set up in Ahsoka as an Imperial villain. It seemed like the Grand Admiral might return in a movie directed by studio president Dave Filoni, but that project has been put on the back burner. For that reason, it would be a natural choice for Lucasfilm to bring the assassin-turned-Jedi into the fold.
Of course, Mara Jade’s inclusion in the new canon would require her to be reinvented to some extent. Writers would be challenged to incorporate the character into the Star Wars universe without making her exclusion in The Last Jedi feel awkward. She’d feel like she was missing something if she never had a significant connection to Luke, but authors like Timothy Zahn and Claudia Gray would be perfect candidates to update her and keep the spirit of her character intact.
Despite the reintroduction of elements from Legends material, such as Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Dark Troopers, and other concepts, Mara Jade remains neglected by Lucasfilm. It feels unfair for the studio to lock away such a beloved Star Wars character that both the fan base and writers want to see.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
