A Major Character Just Returned To The Star Wars Universe In The Comics
***SPOILERS FOR 'STAR WARS: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS' ISSUE #1***
Happy Saturday, mothafuckas - we're gettin real nerdy today!
Marvel is currently filling in the gap between 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi' in the Star Wars comics with a massive crossover event entitled, 'War of the Bounty Hunters', and on the final page of the first mini-series issue, we saw the return of a major character to our beloved galaxy far, far away….so I figured I'd let everyone who hasn't been reading know what happened, as it could very easily have an impact on future Star Wars shows/movies!
Lady Qi'ra, who was played by Emilia Clarke in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story', is BACK….
In a very 'Shadows of the Empire'-esque manner, 'War of the Bounty Hunters' is essentially about Boba Fett trying to get Han Solo's frozen corpse over to Jabba's Palace while Luke, Vader, and all the bounty hunters from that era are trying to steal it away from him. We find out that someone was actually successful in taking Han's body from Boba early on, but she's kept hidden from us for the entire issue - until the big reveal on the final page.
Before this, the last we saw of Qi'ra was her lying to Han, telling him she was right behind him as he made his escape at the end of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' - but in reality, she wasn't planning on leaving with him at all.
Qi'ra stayed back and contacted her true boss, the leader of Crimson Dawn, Darth Maul….
Now, bear with me, but I have a theory….
In that above clip, Maul tells Qi'ra, and I quote, "Bring the ship and come to me on Dathomir; and you and I will then decide what to do with traitor Beckett and his accomplices. Qi'ra - you and I will be working together much more closely from now on."
Based on this blatant cliffhanger, the 'Lando' show currently in development at Disney+, and the fact that Alden Ehrenreich (who played Han) confirmed that he signed a three-film deal with Lucasfilm back in 2018, it's safe to say Disney had bigger plans for these characters than we've seen so far. 'Solo' flopping as hard as it did just probably put the breaks on everything for a while until Jon Faverau and Dave Filoni could come in and clean up the mess and map everything out for the future.
I think the time to expand upon Qi'ra, Crimson Dawn, and her newfound rivalry with Boba Fett is NOW tho - not only in the comic books, but in 'The Book of Boba Fett' as well….
….and THAT'S why I think they brought her back in the comics!
I mean, if we're gonna be dealing with crime syndicates and kingpins and ganglords like I think we are in that show, it'd certainly make a lot of sense, wouldn't it?! Set up a little pre-established beef with Boba, re-introduce Crimson Dawn ties?!
Emilia Clarke even gave an interview about Qi'ra returning here….
….and we know she's working with Disney for Marvel's 'Secret Wars', so I think there's a liiiiittle smoke here - and when there's smoke, there's fire. And this is Khaleesi we're talking about, so she knows a thing or two about fire.
I wasn't crazy about 'Solo' - in fact, I'd say it's easily my least favorite Star Wars movie ever made - but I am so confident in Dave Filoni's ability to right any wrongs in this universe that I just wanna see what HE'D do with her character.
Universe connections like that are also quite simply cool to me - call me a fanboy, call me whatever, I'd really like to see her meet Fennec and Boba and possibly Mando and the whole squad! That sounds really cool to me.