Lucasfilm announced in 2024 that the “Star Wars” movies and shows headed our way wouldn’t include the Expanded Universe. Characters who had become fan favorites through a series of books were jettisoned into space, never to be seen again — until they were. One of the biggest characters to come over from the Expanded Universe was Grand Admiral Thrawn, who debuted in “Star Wars Rebels” and then later in live-action with “Ahsoka.”
After Thrawn’s introduction seemed to open the doors to lesser-known characters, fans began hoping they would eventually see the M.V.P. of the E.U., Mara Jade, who made her debut 35 years ago. Today, this character remains unknown to casual “Star Wars” fans – and Lucasfilm plans to keep it that way. During an appearance at MegaCon, “Star Wars” book authors Claudia Gray and Timothy Zahn revealed they’d pitched the idea of bringing Mara Jade back into the fold, only to be turned down. “A couple of times I was like, ‘Really? Really, no Mara Jade?’ And they were like, ‘Nope,'” recalled Gray (via Popverse). Zahn also revealed he’d asked about the character, only to get a response that was “some place between ‘no’ and ‘heck no.'”
But for the uninitiated, who is Mara Jade, and why is she a character the top dogs behind “Star Wars” are keen to avoid? Well, given that she was a longtime love interest of Luke Skywalker, a character who’s no longer with us, it’d prove to be incredibly difficult.
Mara Jade saw the light after escaping the dark side of the Force
Mara Jade made her debut in the “Star Wars” universe in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 book, “Heir to the Empire.” Revealed as a former secret agent devoted to Emperor Palpatine, Jade set off on a mission of vengeance to kill the man she believed to be responsible for her master’s death — Luke Skywalker.
Over time, the son of Darth Vader worked to help Mara sever her ties to the dark side of the Force, and they succeeded. From there, their relationship progressed to a romantic stage, and the two eventually married. She even helped extend the Skywalker family tree when she and Luke had a son, Ben Skywalker, named after Luke’s former teacher and Anakin’s friend, Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi.
Given her impact on the galaxy far, far away, it comes as no surprise that some fans think the “Star Wars” live-action universe should have some room for Mara Jade. The problem now is how to integrate her back into a world that is missing the three key figures with whom she spent the most time. Even if Jade were introduced as an old flame of Master Skywalker, it wouldn’t fit with the Luke we were reunited with and parted ways with: a recluse who had given up on reigniting the Jedi Order and never found love. Perhaps one of the biggest issues, though, is that it would mean bringing a character who, however popular with fans, the creator of the franchise didn’t have much to say about.
George Lucas wasn’t a fan of Mara Jade
Thrawn might’ve made it out of the non-canon era of “Star Wars Legends,” but Mara Jade is still stuck there and shows no signs of coming out. Besides the franchise’s top brass refusing to bring her back to the fold, George Lucas himself had little to say about the former disciple of Palpatine — even if fans were hoping that ignoring Mara Jade was one of the biggest regrets of the “Star Wars” creator.
During a 2024 panel at Dragon Con (via Popverse), Mara’s creator, Zahn, explained how he’d heard through the grapevine that she wasn’t held in quite as high regard by Lucas. “I never heard anything from George. I had heard later on from other sources that he didn’t like certain things about the book. He didn’t like Mara, didn’t like Ysalamiri, and such.”
Even after Lucas let go of the reins for his beloved universe, Jade hasn’t moved from within the pages of “Legends'” lore, and it might make sense to keep it that way. Now that Luke is dead, following the events of “The Last Jedi,” introducing Mara Jade into the universe with no mention of her up to this point might be more trouble than it’s worth. It also adds more issues regarding her son Ben, given that we’ve already had Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). As a wise Jedi Master once said: “Do or do not. There is no try.” In the case of Mara Jade, maybe it’s the latter.
