Star Wars Reportedly Won’t Let Writers Make Fan-Favorite Legends Character Canon

Star Wars reportedly isn’t letting writers tell stories about one specific Legends character.

In the years since Star Wars canon was reformed after Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, various characters and concepts from Legends have gradually trickled over. One of the most prominent examples of this is Grand Admiral Thrawn, a fan-favorite character first introduced in Timothy Zahn’s 1991 novel Heir to the Empire, who made his debut in the new canon in Star Wars Rebels season 3. This has led to speculation about others who could return as well.

According to Popverse, during the Writing the Star Wars Universe panel at MegaCon 2026, author Claudia Gray shared that “A couple of times I was like, ‘Really? Really, no Mara Jade?’ And they were like, ‘[Stern voice] Nope.'” Zahn, who was also on the panel, added that “I asked them too,” but was not given permission either.

As with Thrawn, Mara Jade was introduced in Heir to the Empire, with Zahn being the creator of both characters. In her first appearance, Mara Jade was a ruthless assassin and operative known as an Emperor’s Hand, and her last command from Emperor Palpatine before his death was to kill Luke Skywalker. As her story continued, her loyalties shifted, and she went on to become a Jedi, Luke’s wife, and the mother to their son Ben Skywalker.

Gray and Zahn not being allowed to write about Mara Jade, which would make her canon, presents two likely possibilities. The first is that Lucasfilm does not want her to become canon under any circumstances. This would align with George Lucas’ sequel plans not involving Mara Jade. Lucas allegedly was not a fan of the character, especially the idea that she would get married to Luke, as it would conflict with what had been established about the Jedi Order’s rules of attachment.

Another possibility is that there is a long-term plan to introduce Mara Jade into canon, and in the meantime, Lucasfilm does not want any authors to develop their own version of the character. The Star Wars timeline continues to expand before, in between, and after the events of the movies, and there may already be a place in there saved for Mara Jade. Certain characters have been off-limits to the franchise’s publishing before because of what is planned for them in the films or television series.

If Mara Jade does come into canon, there will inevitably be changes from Legends, just as there has been for Thrawn. Any relationship she has with Luke would have to change based on how his canon story has already been fleshed out after Return of the Jedi. Zahn would be the ideal author to take on this challenge, not only because he created Mara Jade, but because he has already helped create a seamless transition between Legends and canon with his newer novels about Thrawn.

Zahn and Gray being authors who wanted to write about Mara Jade does the raise the question of what they wanted to do with the character. For Zahn, it may have been his books about Thrawn, but Gray has written stories all across the Star Wars timeline, from the High Republic era hundreds of years before The Phantom Menace to Bloodline set six years before The Force Awakens, making it more difficult to pinpoint where she would have wanted to include Mara Jade.

Cast

Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal

TV Show(s)

The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions

Movie(s)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order

Character(s)

Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren