Due to the Star Wars Expanded Universe being passed off as the alternate Legends timeline when Disney bought up Lucasfilm and proceeded to make new movies set in that galaxy far, far away, many fan favorite characters from the novels have been wiped from continuity.
One who managed to survive, though, is Grand Admiral Thrawn, the sinister Imperial officer created by Timothy Zahn in his bestselling novels. Thanks to Star Wars Rebels, Thrawn was folded back into canon when Sherlock actor Mads Mikkelsen played the role on the third and fourth seasons of the animated series. Now, it seems that the character might be about to make another leap – into the movies.
Speaking at a panel at Comic-Con Revolution, Zahn explained that he has two new novels starring Thrawn in the works. However, they’re currently “in limbo” until Star Wars: Episode IX is finalized. Could this mean that Lucasfilm has kept Zahn’s upcoming books on hold because they have their own plans for the villain in J.J. Abrams’ closer to the Sequel Trilogy? It definitely sounds like it.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time a Legends character has been rumored to show up in Episode IX. Last month, a casting call for the movie revealed that the production was looking for a female lead, 40-50 years old, to play Mara. This immediately got fans theorizing that Mara Jade, Luke Skywalker’s wife in the EU, could be making the jump into canon.
If both Thrawn and Jade are indeed coming to the movie universe, it sounds like Abrams and writer Chris Terrio are more keen to dig into the wealth of material already open to them than the last two installments – The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi – did.
Star Wars: Episode IX is set to blast into cinemas December 20th, 2019 and as soon as we hear more on this latest scoop, we’ll be sure to let you know.
