Important Star Wars Character Returns In War Of The Bounty Hunters Comic

This week, Marvel kicked off a new Star Wars comic book event. War of the Bounty Hunters, which debuted with preludes in May, takes place after The Empire Strikes Back and follows the various major players in the galactic underworld as they compete for the greatest prize: Han Solo’s carbonite-frozen body. The first issue released this Wednesday and it reveals who ends up getting their hands on Han. And it’s someone from the smuggler’s past that fans have been waiting to see return for several years now.

War of the Bounty Hunters #1 ends with the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate stealing Han from Boba Fett, with the organization planning to deliver Solo to Jabba the Hutt themselves. The issue’s final page then reveals who’s in charge of the Crimson Dawn at this point in the timeline – it’s Qi’Ra, Han’s former flame, as played by Emilia Clarke in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Check out the shocking reveal below:

This is a huge deal, as Qi’Ra has not featured anywhere in the Star Wars universe since Solo came out – and subsequently flopped hard, causing the planned sequels to be cancelled. But this new comic finally teases what happened to her after her parting from Han in that movie. Qi’Ra was last seen becoming Darth Maul’s right-hand woman and his second-in-command of the Crimson Dawn. Clearly, after Maul’s death, Qi’Ra took over in his stead, becoming a formidable figure in the underworld herself.

Obviously, this is exciting for fans, but does Qi’Ra’s return in the comics mean that Lucasfilm has given up on any attempt to bring her back on screen? Well, Clarke has jumped ship to the MCU – she’ll appear in the Secret Invasion TV series – but maybe we should look at this in a positive light instead, as it could be viewed as a tease that there’s more of the antiheroine’s story still to tell.

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #1, by Charles Soule and Luke Ross, is available now.