An unknown Star Wars villain returns after 40 years

40 years after he was conceived, the Star Wars villain who has never seen the sun returns. Admittedly, this is an obscure character even by die-hard fans’ standards. It’s as unknown as they come, but that only makes the character’s return all the more interesting.

Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm recently announced a new book called Star Wars: The Jedi Knights. The book belongs to writer Marc Guggenheim (“Arrow”) and artist Madibek Musabekov (“Star Wars”). In terms of overall timeline, this takes place around the Fall of the Jedi era. the events of The Phantom Menace. Aside from the rich narrative era that the prequel era turned out to be, the intrigue of the book comes from the fact that Atha Prime became part of the official canon. Readers may not know the name, but this is a villain that has its roots in the mid-1980s after the release of Return of the Jedi.

Ata Prime was supposed to be a figure released by Kenner to help keep Star Wars alive after the original trilogy ended. As toy sales dried up, Kenner’s idea was to preserve history through toys. Atha Prime was supposed to be the big bad in this abandoned storyline. Editor Mark Paniccia explained in a press release how it all happened.

“During the development of the series, Mark discovered this deep point, an antagonist from Kenner’s unrealized ‘The Epic Continues’ toy line.” We saw the original design and were immediately sold. What a cool character to bring into the canon and what a perfect book to do it in!”

You can take a look at the character on the cover above. In addition to this toy packaging cover, there is another one that adorns his large golden helmet. The character also appears on the cover of Star Wars: Legacy of Vader, which you can also check out below. Most importantly, Atha Prime now joins the Shadow of the Empire-like villain Prince Xizor. as abandoned characters who were later introduced into the official Lucasfilm canon.

This is far from the first time Lucasfilm has brought an old character back to the Disney era. quite famous Grand Admiral Thrawn makes his long-awaited return in Star Wars Rebels before becoming the main villain of “Ahsoka”. The difference here is that Thrawn was part of the very popular Heir to the Empire trilogy of novels. The same cannot be said for Atha Prime, who only the most die-hard fans know.

So who is Ata Prime? Naturally, Guggenheim is going to put his stamp on the character for his official unveiling. This was said by Kenner (trans Skull bow) originally described Ahtha Prime as follows:

“The Emperor’s death has unleashed a powerful force long exiled to the far reaches of the galaxy. Now it moves like a plague, enforcing control over the shattered remnants of the empire and re-enslave the newly freed worlds. Ata Prime, master of genetics, lord of the dark worlds and architect of the Clone Wars, is on the loose again. His advanced clone army has already destroyed rebel outposts along the galactic border. His goal is to destroy the Rebel Alliance forever and control the Galaxy.

The mention of cloning is very interesting a major factor in Palpatine’s resurrection after his death in Return of the Jedi. As for how Atha Prime will affect events in this era of relative peace in the galaxy? We’ll have to wait until the book comes out in March, but the series synopsis explains that he’ll be mixing it up with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s former mentor Qui-Gon Jinn

“Star Wars: Jedi Knight takes place before The Phantom Menace and stars legendary icons from the prequel trilogy such as Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and more, including fan favorites characters and all-new Jedi. Each thrilling episode follows a different Jedi duo on key missions across the galaxy, with an overarching threat that brings them together — a new villain bent on Qui-Gon Jinn’s death — and how will that force the Jedi Order to evolve for a new era?

Those interested will be able to get the full scoop when Star Wars: Jedi Knight #1 hits shelves on March 5, 2025.