Lucasfilm continues to block the return of popular Star Wars extended universe character Mara Jade — despite attempts by various writers to bring her into the saga’s Disney-sanctioned canon.
Introduced in Timothy Zahn’s beloved Star Wars novel Heir to the Empire, set years after Return of the Jedi, Mara Jade is initially depicted as a Force-sensitive assassin allied to Emperor Palpatine. But over the course of Zahn’s subsequent novels, Mara Jade evolves into a character who respects Luke Skywalker — and ultimately marries him.
Jade went on to appear in numerous later books, graphic novels, and video games, and became a key character in Star Wars’ ongoing legacy storyline. She received officially-licensed action figures and other merchandise, including replicas of her iconic purple lightsaber. But all of her appearances are now deemed non-canon by Disney, which of course established its own version of what happened post-Return of the Jedi with the Star Wars sequel movies. And now, while numerous other elements from the Legends stories have been successfully re-introduced, Lucasfilm reportedly remains resistant to Jade returning in particular.
Speaking at MegaCon 2026 (via Popverse), Star Wars: Bloodline author Claudia Gray said she had asked Lucasfilm about using Mara Jade in her canon story, only to be given a swift “nope.”
“A couple of times I was like, ‘Really? Really, no Mara Jade?’ And they were like, ‘[Stern voice] Nope,'” Gray said.
Talking as part of the same panel, Zahn said he had also asked about bringing back the character he created. “I asked them too,” Zahn added, confirming he had also been told no.
This isn’t the first time that Zahn has commented on Lucasfilm’s reluctance to bring back Mara Jade. “I keep nudging Lucasfilm, asking them if I could write a book,” Zahn said during a similar panel back in 2024. “The answers come back basically some place between ‘no’ and ‘heck no.'”
It’s a frustrating response for fans of the character, and particularly surprising since Zahn remains a prolific author for the franchise, even in its Disney canon era. Indeed, Zahn’s recent canon Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy centers on his other hugely-popular character introduced in Heir to the Empire — Grand Admiral Thrawn — who has been fully integrated into Disney canon and appears in various Star Wars TV series, such as Rebels and Ahsoka.
So, what is the issue with Mara Jade? It’s true that George Lucas previously expressed dissatisfaction with the character — and once said that, in his mind, Luke Skywalker never married. But with Lucas no longer involved in Star Wars’ story, this seems unlikely to be the reason.
Some fans have suggested that Mara Jade is tied so intrinsically to Star Wars’ old, sidelined “Legends” canon that simply mentioning her in any capacity would only remind fans of what they once had. Others, meanwhile, have stated that it would now be near-impossible to retroactively add her story into the bits of Luke Skywalker’s post-Return of the Jedi life we’ve already seen in Disney canon, with the idea of a secret relationship (and potentially a marriage and child) likely now being seen as a major plot retcon. Indeed, the end of Episode 9, when Rey assumes the Skywalker surname and sets off to restablish the Jedi, seems specifically designed to negate the need for Luke’s bloodline to continue.
“I genuinely don’t see how they could without heavily changing her,” Star Wars fan Sladepool64 wrote on social media in response to Gray and Zahn’s comments. “She cannot be some right hand of the Emperor when the Inquisitors exist and she was not one of them. If she is portrayed as having a relationship with Luke it cannot end with them together either.”
“I’m honestly fine with them never touching her,” agreed another fan, Sladepool64. “Bringing into canon would change her character so much she would basically be a new character. We already have plenty of books and comics about her. Disney should focus on making their own characters at this point.”
But others still hold out hope, and have suggested that Lucasfilm still has a grand plan for Mara Jade it’s just not yet ready to set in motion. “I’m assuming it’s because they want to use her in a show/movie sooner or later and using her in a book/comic now would limit their ability to do the former,” wrote CaptUnbalanced.
Certainly, it is a time of change within Lucasfilm, with nothing yet announced for the franchise’s big screen or TV releases beyond a second season of Ahsoka, and the two Star Wars movies that have already been filmed. (The Mandalorian And Grogu is due out next month on May 22, while Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter arrives on May 28, 2027.)
Could the reign of new Lucasfilm co-CEO Dave Filoni change the company’s response to Mara Jade? It seems unlikely. Filoni has long been deeply involved in the story direction of the franchise, and there are no signs of any big creative pivot now he has the top job. Indeed, the status of his New Republic team-up movie that was announced years ago remains uncertain. And despite a change at the top of Disney, too, there’s no sense that the previously-abandoned Hunt for Ben Solo movie will be revived.
Image source: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
