In Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" trilogy, Star Wars fans met Mara Jade and soon learned she was once the Emperor's Hand. Undercover in Jabba the Hutt's palace during the events of Return of the Jedi, she failed to make it onto the sail barge in time and failed to assassinate Luke Skywalker.
Palpatine's loyal soldier subsequently blamed him both for her Master's defeat and the fact she lost everything, prompting her to hunt Luke down years later.
Despite initially setting out to kill the Jedi, Mara ultimately realises that Palpatine planted the idea in her head at the moment of his death and embraces the idea of being a Jedi too...after ridding herself of the Sith's voice by dealing the killing blow to Luuke, a clone of Luke created by Dark Jedi Jorrus C'baoth (it's a long story).
Eventually, she and Luke marry and have children, something we know can't happen thanks to the Star Wars sequel trilogy. We could, however, still get a compelling new female protagonist who is front and centre in this next era of storytelling, and the hope is that Dave Filoni will introduce her in his upcoming Star Wars movie (rumoured to also be titled Heir to the Empire).
Cosplayer Rei Kennex recently shared her take on Mara Jade (via SFFGazette.com), delivering what she describes as a "modernized live-action adaptation" of the character. It's a more fitting approach to the Jedi than much of the 80s and 90s-era artwork that exists of the villain-turned-hero and we could quite easily see this working on screen. We just need Lucasfilm to make it happen.
With so many Disney+ characters expected to be put front and centre in Filoni's Star Wars movie, chances are there won't be room to throw Mara into the mix. There's always a chance she could appear elsewhere, though, with the upcoming Rey project a solid possibility even if it would completely alter her place in the overall Star Wars timeline.
To leave an incredible female character like this on the shelf feels like a major missed opportunity on Lucasfilm's part, and we're sure Filoni is aware of the interest fans have in seeing Mara make the leap from page to screen.
How would you like to see Mara Jade factor into live-action Star Wars storytelling? Let us know in the comments section below.