It’s been an insane couple of weeks for Star Wars fans. Not only was the Solo: A Star Wars Story teaser trailer released, but a number of announcements for future projects have set an unexpected new course for the future of the franchise.
On top of all that, fans of the old Expanded Universe are revelling in the announcement that more Legends characters will be pulled into Canon soon.
With Legends villain Grand Admiral Thrawn showing up in Star Wars Rebels, and the announcement that Legends characters Tag and Bink would be appearing in Solo, a fan reached out to Star Wars Story Group member Leeland Chee to ask him if we’d be seeing any more Legends figures in the near future.
Chee quickly confirmed that some of our favorite characters from the old Expanded Universe would be “cropping up in various media in the coming months. Hey, if Tag and Bink can show up, anything is possible.”
While this news is incredibly exciting to die-hard fans, there’s still very little we have to confirm which characters will be making the jump to Canon.
However, it’s also not too difficult to connect the dots and make some educated guesses, so here’s our best estimation of the 7 Star Wars Characters You Didn't Know Were Joining the Canon (And 8 Who Never Will).
Never Will: Mara Jade
While it’s possible that Mara Jade could make the jump to canon in some form or another, it’s also highly unlikely. As a central figure of the post-Return of the Jedi expanded universe, Mara Jade was an Emperor’s Hand who eventually turned to the light side.
She went on to marry Luke Skywalker.
Author Timothy Zahn originally created Mara Jade with the intention of adding a strong, complex female character to the Star Wars universe (something that was sorely needed at the time). This is why it’s unfortunate that she’s inextricably tied to the Legends version of Luke Skywalker.
Much is still unknown about Luke’s canonical, post-original/pre-sequel trilogy adventures, but we can be certain that he never married Mara Jade.
Yes, the folks at Disney’s Star Wars division could come up with a way to fit Mara into the canon, but for die-hard fans, her Legends relationship with Luke is probably too intrinsic to her appeal to even consider taking that risk.
Joining: Darth Plagueis
Darth Plagueis entered the background of the new Star Wars canon as soon as its parameters were defined. However, outside the “tale of Darth Plagueis the wise,” as told by Palpatine in Episode III, there’s not much else we know of the canon version of Plagueis.
For many fans, the Legends novel Darth Plagueis was a deeply informative text. It fleshed out the master/apprentice relationship of Plagueis and Palpatine, and it shed further light on Plagueis’ power over life and death.
The novel also had interesting implications on the immaculate creation of Anakin Skywalker.
It’s only a matter of time before we see more of Plagueis in canon material, and the Star Wars Story Group would be wise to use the Plagueis novel as a resource.
Never Will: Luuke Skywalker
Another casualty of the post-Return of the Jedi EU purge, Luke-clone Luuke Skywalker will almost certainly remain banished to the Legends timeline.
Luuke Skywalker was created by fellow Dark Jedi clone Joruus C’baoth as in the much-loved “Thrawn trilogy” of novels by Timothy Zahn. Created from the hand Luke lost to Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, Luuke Skywalker nearly killed Luke in a harrowing lightsaber battle, but was defeated at the last minute by an intervening Mara Jade.
Clones are an important element of every iteration of the Star Wars universe. They’re the central plot device of the entire prequel trilogy, and they popped up all over the old Expanded Universe.
However, an evil Luke-clone is probably something fans will never be ready to accept.
Joining: Tag and Bink
Solo: A Star Wars Story helmer Ron Howard has put a lot of effort into promoting his little-anthology-film-that-could. Virtually since Day One of taking over directing duties from Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Howard has curated the image of an exciting, warm-hearted production on Instagram and other social media platforms.
One of Howard’s most intriguing (for EU enthusiasts anyway) Instagram stunts during the Solo production is when he teased the inclusion of Legends favorites Tag and Bink in the movie.
Tag Greenley and Bink Otuana were a comedic duo from the Legends timeline.
Intendedly the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of Star Wars, the pair first appeared in the Tag and Bink comic series, depicted as catalysts in pivotal moments from both the prequel and original trilogies. We don’t know what role they’ll play in Solo, but we’ll venture to guess it’s of the comic relief variety.
Never Will: Cade Skywalker
Unless there’s a Luke lovechild in the Star Wars canon’s future, we can all rest assured that the Skywalker bloodline officially ends with Kylo Ren. As a result, any chance of Luke’s Legends offspring crossing over to canon is completely null and void— including his descendant Cade Skywalker.
As the central protagonist of the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Legacy, Cade Skywalker was the progenitor of the Skywalker line 125 years after Return of the Jedi (vol. 2 of Legacy followed Ania Solo, descendent of Han and Leia, but was cut short following Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars).
His struggle with Darth Krayt and the new Sith Order was an intriguing addition to the Star Wars mythology.
So much so, in fact, that it’s a shame we’ll never see him in the canonical universe.
Joining: Darth Bane
Much like Darth Plagueis, a truncated version of Darth Bane already exists in the new canon. Bane’s ghost appeared to Yoda in the final episode of The Clone Wars (voiced by Mark Hamill no less), but from this meeting we only learned that Darth Bane created the Sith Rule of Two— a detail carried over from the Sith Lord's Legends storyline.
Darth Bane was a towering figure in the old expanded universe. Not only did he create the singular master/apprentice iteration of the Sith Order that would pave the way for the Galactic Empire, but his backstory provides some game-changing insight into the psychology of the Sith.
One can only hope that, as his canon story expands, Darth Bane’s personal history from Legends is heavily sourced.
Never Will: Jaxxon
As comic relief figures like Tag and Bink cross over from Legends into Canon, it’s good to remember that some throwaway characters are better left unused— especially those of the green space-bunny variety.
That’s right: once upon a time, there was a green space-bunny in Star Wars.
Lepi smuggler Jaxxon appeared in the original run of Marvel's Star Wars comics. He’s since become somewhat of a cult figure among seasoned fans. One might say Jaxxon was the precursor to Jar-Jar Binks— a misguided attempt at wedging in a loveable alien character that would appeal to children.
Needless to say, we won’t be seeing Jaxxon show up in the canon anytime soon— at least, not outside his brief, satirical inclusion in a variant cover of Marvel’s new, canonical Star Wars comic run.
Joining: Prince Xizor
Shadows of the Empire was a hugely successful LucasArts multimedia project. Partially an experiment in film marketing (without the presence of an actual film), Shadows of the Empire told the story of the events between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi through a novel, comic book, and video game.
The Shadows novel by Steve Perry introduced Star Wars fans to Prince Xizor, a villain of the galactic criminal underworld who sought to overthrow Darth Vader and become the Emperor’s right hand.
The inclusion of Grand Admiral Thrawn in the new canon practically necessitates the eventual inclusion Xizor.
For a certain generation of Star Wars fans, both Thrawn and Xizor are just as vivid in the universe as Vader, Palpatine, and Kylo Ren. Bringing Xizor into the canon is such a no-brainer that it’s not really a matter of if it’ll happen, but when.
Never Will: Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn was one of the earliest playable Star Wars characters to echo the archetypes of the movies in a new for fans to inhabit. More would come in future Star Wars games, but the Solo-esque Katarn was arguably the first one to make a sizable impact in the bigger Star Wars universe.
Katarn was the playable protagonist of the 1996 Doom-engine shooter Star Wars: Dark Forces. His first mission in the game was stealing the Death Star plans, a plotline that was famously used as the basis for Rogue One.
Katarn also went on to discover his own force sensitivity, become a Jedi Knight, mentor Mara Jade in the light side of the Force, and eventually join the Jedi council of Luke’s new Jedi order.
Needless to say, Kyle Katarn’s role in several pivotal moments of the old EU would make him a daunting character to bring into Canon.
Never Will: Jacen and Jaina Solo
Similarly to the way they’ve handed the baton to the new generation of characters in the sequel trilogy, Han, Leia, and Luke took a narrative backseat to their children for a while in Legends. Eventually, Jacen and Jaina Solo— the twin son and daughter of Han and Leia— became the central villain and hero of the Expanded Universe, respectively.
After the Yuuzahn Vong war, Jacen Solo turned to the Dark Side in an effort to bring law, order, and stability to the Galaxy.
Jaina would eventually be forced to kill him in an epic lightsaber battle. When Disney announced they would be negating the old Expanded Universe and starting with a clean slate, Jacen and Jaina Solo were forever banished to Legends status.
However, they have clearly served as partial inspiration for sequel trilogy characters like Kylo Ren and Rey.
Joining: Bastila Shan
Bastila Shan was a Jedi from the Knights of the Old Republic video game.
She was the first Jedi to defeat Darth Revan prior to the events of the game.
Also, depending on the player's game choices, she was Revan’s love interest.
The beloved Knights of the Old Republic video game series was given Legends status following the creation of the new canon, but it’s only matter of time before that changes, if only partially.
With the news of Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss creating a whole new series of Star Wars movies, near-universal speculation that the pair are working on an Old Republic-era storyline is in full force.
Fans have been calling for a canonized KOTR-inspired project for quite a while now, making the chances of central Old Republic Jedi like Bastila Shan reappearing incredibly high.
Never Will: Cindel Towani
Believe it or not, but Rogue One wasn’t the first live-action Star Wars spin-off movie to exist. In 1984 and ‘85, George Lucas commissioned two made-for-TV movies focused on the Ewoks, set on the forest moon of Endor prior to the events of Return of the Jedi.
The central human character of both movies was Cindel Towani, an orphan child who joins the Ewoks in their fight against opposing forces. Though not as maligned as the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, both Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle of Endor are little more than a silly tidbit of Star Wars trivia in the minds of most fans.
Sorry Cindel, you were cute, but there’s really no chance for you to achieve canonical status. To date, neither Ewok Adventure has been added to Canon. Unless Kathleen Kennedy suffers a serious head injury that impairs her judgement, they never will.
Never Will: The Yuzahn Vong
If you were an Expanded Universe fan back in the day, you remember the Yuuzhan Vong. A significant chunk of the Legends novels revolved around a galactic war with this alien species from outside the known galaxy.
The Yuuzhan Vong were a humanoid race with perplexing biotechnology and the ability to exist outside the influence of the Force.
They nearly destroyed the entire New Republic, forever changing the course of Expanded Universe history.
Despite their enormous presence in the Legends timeline, most Star Wars fans who remember them are severely less than partial to the Yuuzahn Vong. As the new canon expands and more Legends characters are brought in to fill it out, there’s really no place for the Yuuzahn Vong in the future of the Star Wars universe.
Joining: Dash Rendar
For fans who were youngsters in the mid to late-'90s, the Shadows of the Empire video game was a formative space in the Star Wars universe. It paved the way for the 1997 Special Edition release of the original trilogy, as well as the The Phantom Menace.
It also introduced fans to Dash Rendar, another charming rogue with an idiosyncratic look and Han Solo-like propensity for fast vehicles.
As the canon expands, the need for more snarky, Solo-esque space pirate characters will likely necessitate the inclusion of Dash Rendar.
With the current wave of movie trilogies, comics, novels, animated shorts, and multiple Star Wars TV shows in the works at Disney, it’s only a matter of time before Dash shows up somewhere in the canonical criminal underworld.
Joining: Revan
A fan-favorite from the Old Republic era, there’s virtually no question that Revan will be popping up in Canon at some point. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it easter egg in The Last Jedi strongly points toward that fact.
A quick shot of a few ancient Jedi knick knacks in Luke’s home on Ach-To includes a red crystal that the Last Jedi Visual Dictionary calls a “Jedi Crusader pendant”— a label that could only point to Revan.
Revan was a powerful Jedi of the Old Republic and central figure in the Mandalorian War. He earned the title “Crusader” after leading a resistance to the Mandalorian threat, and eventually turned to the dark side, becoming one of the most notorious Dark Lords of the Sith in Star Wars history.
Revan is a towering figure in the Legends universe, and there’s very little room to doubt that the Jedi Crusader pendant from The Last Jedi points to anything except Revan’s jump to Canon.
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Are there any other Star Wars characters you think will join canon? Are there any who you think will be avoided? Weigh in on the Legends-to-canon exodus in the comments!