Lucasfilm Keeps Telling Authors Not to Bring Back Mara Jade
It’s been over a decade since Disney and Lucasfilm rebooted Star Wars canon and consigned the former Expanded Universe to the status of “Legends”—and in that time, many parts of the old EU have found their way back to contemporary Star Wars continuity, recontextualized to fit the current vision. But one of the most major characters of the EU has still not made it over… and it seems like she might never make it. That, of course, is Mara Jade—the former girlfailure Emperor’s Hand, turned Master of the New Jedi Order and wife of Luke Skywalker. Mara Jade is one of the most notable characters of the whole EU to still not even get so much as a reference in current canonical material, even as she’s occasionally been resurrected for merchandising purposes here and there.
All that does is serve to whip Star Wars fans up into a frenzy where they imagine every potential new mystery female character added to Star Wars could be some form of Mara Jade. Remember when everyone freaked out, convinced that the Last Jedi novelization had canonized Luke’s wife, thinking Mara Jade was back, and it just turned out to be people misreading a vision added for the book? That wasn’t even meant to be Mara at all, but Camie Marstrap from the cut scenes of A New Hope! But maybe those fans can stop seeing redheads in every shadow, because it turns out—and not for a lack of trying, it seems—people have tried to bring Mara Jade over into current continuity, and failed. Including the man who created her, Timothy Zahn.
“A couple of times I was like, ‘Really? Really, no Mara Jade?’ And they were like, ‘[Stern voice] Nope,'” Claudia Gray, who’s written several canon Star Wars novels, including the Leia-focused Bloodlines as well as several entries in the High Republic publishing initiative, revealed during the “Writing the Star Wars Universe” panel at MegaCon 2026 recently (via PopVerse).
“I asked them too,” Zahn added in reply, although that’s not the first time Mara’s creator has been on the record as saying he’s attempted. A few years ago at Dragoncon 2024, Zahn described his pitches to bring Mara Jade back into continuity being met with answers from Lucasfilm ranging “some place between ‘no’ and ‘heck no.'” In some ways, it’s not too surprising. Current Star Wars canon has shied away from giving Luke any really enduring romantic relationships, instead focusing all that on characters like Han and Leia, and as well as the general hands-off approach to the character post-Return of the Jedi thanks to the establishment of his fledgling Jedi Order, only for tragedy to send him into exile by the time of The Force Awakens, it probably feels like too much of a headache to try and squeeze in a form of Mara Jade that Luke could have had a marriage with.
Zahn lucked out in some ways, being able to introduce Mara in the earliest parts of what would become the Expanded Universe with the Heir to the Empire trilogy, and from there, Luke was allowed to have a much longer and active life than he has been given in current continuity, with time to establish his New Jedi Order, marry Mara, and even have a son together. But while that meant Mara Jade was given the time to grow and develop into a vital figure in the EU, it makes it a very difficult challenge to satisfyingly transfer her over to the current canon. The answer might be no for now, and it might be no for a good while yet, but it’s better to never say never when it comes to Star Wars. Stranger things have happened. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
