If Star Wars expanded universe character Mara Jade appears in any of the new movies, the man who created her, Timothy Zahn, would not like to see her in just a cameo role. His belief is that if Mara Jade should fit into the new Star Wars canon, she deserves to fit into the story in a way that makes sense.
Mara Jade is a character from the Star Wars expanded universe (now known as Star Wars Legends). That includes any books, novels, video games and other media Disney dismissed as non-canon when it took over the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the book Heir to the Empire, Mara proved herself as a strong and independent, yet flawed, female character. In that book, she was a smuggler with a history of working with Emperor Palpatine. Mara continued to appear in several other novels, too. Although Mara swore to kill Luke Skywalker, he eventually shows her that she has a way with the Force, leading her to become a Jedi Master. Luke and Mara eventually fall in love and have a child, Ben.
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In the Star Wars movie franchise, though, none of this matters. Mara Jade is ultimately forgotten, with Luke remaining single to become reclusive and bitter after the events of the original trilogy. But Mara has her share of fans. Many would love to see her added to the new Star Wars canon in some way. When asked about it, though, the man who created her in Heir to the Empire, author Zahn, commented on the Talking Bay 94 podcast about the possibility of her appearing in the new movies.
"If there was a generic, or organic, spot for her to fit into a story ... I promise people, I will pitch it to the Lucasfilm story group, and then, it's their decision whether to allow it or not."
Zahn stated, though, that he "just doesn't want to have her shoot someone, or walk in the background, or something." He would veto any appearance of the character if it's just a mere cameo like that.
Disney has allowed some expanded universe stories to slip into its new canon. In one of the new books, The Rebel Files, some previously non-canon details got a mention, making them canon once more. The new Star Wars universe also added Grand Admiral Thrawn back into its canon. He played a large part in the animated Star Wars Rebels, as well as another new canon Zahn novel.
Bringing Mara back into Star Wars, though, would mean a drastic change to much of her backstory. In the new canon, Luke never married, or so the new films suggest. The two also would not have a child named Ben since that name belongs to Kylo Ren, the son of Han and Leia. Fans might love to see Mara in the new universe, but it's unclear if they would want to see her in such an altered way.
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Source: Talking Bay 94
