When Disney killed off the Star Wars expanded universe, one of the most tragic casualties was Mara Jade. Created by author Timothy Zahn, she made her debut in the 1991 novel Heir to the Empire. After that, she rapidly became a firm fan favorite, her character starting out as an Emperor’s Hand (a Dark Jedi entrusted with secret missions), before turning to the light side, sitting on the Jedi Council and eventually marrying Luke Skywalker. In a fan poll, Jade was even named the 20th most popular Star Wars character, beating out many others who’d appeared in the movies.
But then came Disney and their new continuity. Mara Jade’s adventures were relegated to the Legends canon and there wasn’t so much as a hint of her in the Sequel Trilogy. But all this may change soon as Kevin Feige is currently hard at work on his mysterious Star Wars project. He’s known to be a fan of Jade, too, and according to our sources – the same ones who said [SPOILERS] would be revealed as a traitor in The Rise of Skywalker and that Rey is Palpatine’s [SPOILERS] – the character will make her live-action debut in his film.
As previously reported, top contenders for the role are Brie Larson and Emily Blunt, with the studio currently leaning towards the former. Larson has previously made it known that she’d love to step into a galaxy far, far away, too, so if they offer the part to her, she’ll no doubt snap it up.
Of course, questions remain as to where Mara Jade will fit into the Disney continuity. The Legends version is intrinsically woven into the fabric of the original trilogy, so they can’t just transplant her into a new movie as is. Instead, they’re going to have to write around the fact that she hasn’t been mentioned in any recent material. It’s plausible that she could still be the Emperor’s Hand during the Galactic Civil War era, but is there also room for her to be Luke’s wife? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
